In Case You're Keeping Track Today...

And just where is Santa now?

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Fuzzy-Wuzzy Wuz A Santa

Our question of the week was about favorite holiday books from childhood. My personal favorite is one that I remember not for its plot but for its texture: an oversized (quite tall) paperback Christmas story, which I believe but cannot swear to was an edition of The Night Before Christmas. The crucial feature of the book? The fuzzy Santa on its cover. To me, he's the Santa to whom all other Santas must be compared.

It might have been a Whitman edition, circa 1950s or 1960s. It's still extant at my parents' place; I'll have to take a look at the publication info when I'm there next week.

(...but not until after I've finished my annual convening with its cover.)

Still More Good News

We're delighted to announce that TIME in partnership with CNN chose The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen, pictures by Dan Hanna as one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2008.

Congratulations, Debbie!

Just Enough is Plenty

by Ann

When my boys were small, our favorite holiday book was Just Enough is Plenty: a Hanukkah Tale by Barbara Diamond Goldin, paintings by Seymour Chwast (Puffin Books, 1988). I remember sitting in the big chair with Jeremy in my lap, and Sam squeezed in beside me, reading this book and singing along with the characters. (It’s been at least a decade since the three of us could fit in that chair at the same time.)

Today, as I reread the book, I was amazed at the amount of text, and I squirmed a little at the heavy handed explanations of Jewish culture. Yet, the story rings true. What do we look for in holiday books but a depiction of our culture and the retelling of a miracle? The story is also a reminder that long before our current economic crisis, people survived hardships with generosity and grace.

Just Enough is Plenty takes place in Poland, probably in the 1800s. It illustrates life in a small Jewish village during the Hanukkah celebration and retells the story of Elijah the Prophet.

Question of the Week

The holiday season brings a slew of new holiday fare from publishers, including reprints of old favorites. I ask the Write Brainers:

What is your favorite holiday book or story from your own childhood? A version of 'Twas the Night before Christmas? Dickens? O. Henry? Or maybe you want to talk about a current favorite. The Latke who Couldn't Stop Screaming? Oh, and tell us why you like it, of course.