Introducing the Mended Wood Literary Society
Back in the dark ages of Substack, before everyone and their brother had a newsletter on that site, I began a feature in my Substack called “The Book Basket.” It was a monthly list of the best children’s books I could recommend, arranged around a theme. It was a good chance for me to return to my college days in my beloved children’s literature class, plus I often heard from young moms that they appreciated some direction when they headed to the local library or shopped online.
Now that I’m here with Story Warren, The Book Basket is getting an upgrade. I’ll still be bringing you monthly book recommendations. However, in addition to my book list, every month, there will be a really delightful giveaway of some of the titles featured.
Alongside the books, the winner will receive a beautiful, heavy-duty Mended Wood tote! You guys, this is no ordinary freebie giveaway tote bag. This is a heavy-duty, survives-trips-to-the-library, can-be-washed-and-used-forever kind of tote. Trust me. I’m picky about these things.
The first giveaway is looking toward December to fill out your Advent and Christmas book collection. Then we’ll pick up again in January with monthly giveaways. What fun!
Without further ado, here’s your first list of recommendations from The Mended Wood Literary Society: children’s books for Advent and Christmas!
Books for Advent and Christmas
Nativity: Cynthia Rylant. You might know Cynthia Rylant from The Relatives Came or When I Was Young in the Mountains. This book is simply a retelling of Christ’s birth and the Sermon on the Mount, adapted from the King James Bible. There is not much text. The beautifully painted illustrations are the star of the show here. They are lovely.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, written by Barbara Houston, illustrated by Barbara Cooney. This book has a treasured spot in our collection. Ruthie and her mom bravely undertake a celebration of Christmas without Ruthie’s dad, who is away fighting in World War I. The story is set in the Appalachian mountain community of Pine Grove, North Carolina.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P.J. Lynch. A moving story about a lonely widowed woodcarver and his gift of a new nativity set for a young boy. Again, beautiful illustrations. I have a hard time reading this one without crying.
FOSW (Friend of Story Warren) Joe Sutphin gave the world a great gift last year: an illustrated version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Joe’s illustrations depict the familiar tale with animals as the stars. The Fezziwigs are owls! The Spirit of Christmas Present is a joyful lion. And the narrator, Charles Dickens himself, pops in as a friendly moth from time to time.
Those are the four books included in the giveaway. In addition to these titles, here are a few other recommended titles:
Other Titles
This is the Star, by Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Gary Blythe. The pictures are the “star” (sorry) here. These illustrations are photo-realistic, featuring people and places that are historically accurate to the time of Christ. The baby Jesus does not look Anglo-American, for example. Refreshing!
Shooting at the Stars, by John Hendrix. This one is good for your older elementary students. It’s about the Christmas Truce of 1914, told in letters home from a British soldier. Hendrix gives us an excellent retelling of a poignant moment in history.
Great Joy, written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. A beautiful book about generosity and mercy, this story tells the tale of a young girl’s desire to care for a neighbor in need.
How to Enter
There are a few ways to enter this giveaway:
On Instagram: Follow @story_warren, like the giveaway post, and share the giveaway (be sure to tag us!). You’re welcome to tag a friend in the comments for extra entries, too!
On Facebook: Follow Story Warren, like the giveaway post, and share the giveaway (be sure to tag us!). You’re welcome to tag a friend there in the comments for additional entries.
No social media? Leave a comment on this post, naming one of the titles here that you’d love to own or give away!
It’s a joyful time of year to curl up with a beautiful book! Happy reading, everyone!
When she’s not behind her laptop, Kelly enjoys live music, baseball, reading great books, and traveling with her husband, David. Kelly hails from beautiful snowy New England, but after nearly two decades in North Carolina, she feels right at home.
She invites you to subscribe to her newsletter, On the Common, or to follow her on Twitter or Instagram.
- Story Warren Weekend, Vol. 13, Issue 46 - December 6, 2025
- Story Warren Weekend, Vol. 13, Issue 45 - November 29, 2025
- A Table Blessing - November 26, 2025
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is one of my favorites since I was in college. I remember reading it to my Bible study group and ending in tears, struck by the beauty of it all. I’d love to gift it to a friend this adventure season.
These all sound beautiful, but the Nativity book is the one that interests me the the most!
I would love to own the Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, but really they all sound fabulous!
I love Mr. Sutphin\’s illustrations in The Wingfeather Saga (I used to copy them as art studies), so the Christmas Carol adaptation looks really cool, but I\’m a Southern girl… so The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree is equally interesting.
I love this idea! Anything by Cynthia Rylant is a winner, and who doesn’t love Charles Dickens?! ♥️
How delightful!
I’d love that Cynthia Rylant book and the tote is lovely!
I love many of those titles! Would love our own copy of The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree as we usually get that one from the library.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is one of my favorites at Christmas time. I just love a powerful story told in a way that engages the children, paired with beautiful illustrations that captivate us all. It\’s usually on my library holds list, but maybe we\’ll get a copy of our own some day! Thank you for this fun giveaway idea!
I would love the illustrated Christmas carol!
The Christmas miracle of Johnathan Toomey is genius and a wonderful message for all!
Love it! This is great! I’m excited for Nativity! Beautiful Illustrations are a fantastic conversation starter!
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is an annual favorite here at our home. Thank you for the reading list. There are a few titles we have not read yet.
Ohh I’d love the Christmas Story of Jonathan Toomey- what a wonderful idea! I’ve heard great things about this story and it seems like a precious book to own ❤️
I think my 8yr old would love Shooting at the Stars!
I would love the Nativity by Cynthia Ryland to share with my kids as they get older.
We love The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. I am now off to find the other recommendations. Thank you!
A Little Christmas Carol! Love Joe Sutphen’s artwork.
We love the Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey! And now I am off to find the other recommendations. Thank you!
I love all of those suggestions! I’m especially excited about The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.
All the books look wonderful! We love Joe Sutphin’s Little Christmas Carol! I would gift it to my best friend for her kids.
The Charles Dickens \”Christmas Carol\” sounds like a great book ❤️.
We have read a lot of these, but haven\\\’t read The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree yet! I would be really interested to read that one!
The Nativity sounds like a wonderful book! I can’t wait to read it!
I had no idea Cynthia Ryland had a Christmas book, so that would be my choice!
We would love to own a copy of The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree! We\’re studying American History and it would go so well with our study of WWI. I would give away/share the copy of The Christmas Miracle as we already have that one – and yes, it is a sweet book. Thanks for the chance to win!
Perfect Christmas trees and Barbara Cooney\’s illustrations are both greatly enjoyed in this house!
Great Joy by K. DiCamillo. We really enjoy her style of writing and the themes in her books, but have never read this one!
Great list! I\’d love to own Shooting at the Stars.
The Christmas Truce brings together some of the most poignant themes of modern history.
The Little Christmas Carol looks like such a delight! An excellent way to introduce the classic to younger readers. And I’m always looking for copies of Jonathan Toomey to give away! Thank you for including the illustrators; several of these are among my top ten favorites!
I would love to see the adaptation of Dickens\’ \”A Christmas Carol\”! Thank you for telling us about it!
“Shooting at the Stars” is of particular interest to me for two reasons. One, I am an admirer of Mr. Hendrix’s work and two, my grandchildren are getting older and are showing interest in more mature reading material when they spend the night. John’s work bridges that gap between picture books and lightly illustrated chapter books. BTW: this concept is great and I appreciate the suggestions.
I have been wanting to get my hands on the Little Christmas Carol. It looks beautiful and engaging.
What a beautiful idea! My 25 years of homeschooling ended about 10 years ago but my (homeschooled) granddaughters introduced me to the Green Ember series which I am currently reading with great delight!! Thank you for the quality literature you are providing for me to enjoy with the next generation!
We’d love to add Shooting at the Stars, sounds fascinating ! Of course , The Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomey is a favorite in our Christmas book basket.
Little Christmas Carol has been on my list since last Christmas and I have a feeling this just might be the perfect year to pick it up with the boys!! – Shannon
My five children and I love to snuggle up and read Christmas books together. The Nativity looks lovely and is one we would love to add to our Christmas book collection!
They all sound wonderful & who doesn’t love a great & sturdy tote!
This is a wonderful idea. I would love what sounds like a delightful rendition of A Christmas Carol!
It is so hard to pick only one book to mention! I am going to choose Shooting at the Stars by John Hendrix. Thank you for creating beauty, adventure, and highlighting courage in your inspiring stories!
I think my boys would love the illustrated A Christmas Carol and Shooting at the Stars!!!
Is this a U.S.A only contest?
I would love to give these books to a young church family…especially Jonathan Toomey…
I\’ve been shopping for Christmas gifts for my grandchildren. So I looked on Amazon for This is the Star, and added it to my cart. I appreciate high quality realistic illustrations.
Cynthia Rylant is one of my absolute favorite authors. My family owns several of her picture books, but I have never heard of Nativity. I would love to add it to our shelf!
\”The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree\” and \”Great Joy\” are two advent/christmas books that I\’ve never read before! As a person (not unlike Abraham Lincoln **wink wink**) I am a great fan of finding good books that I have not yet read. \”The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey\” is also one of my favorite Christmas books as well.
Great list of books. Shooting at the stars sounds great
The Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomey is such a wonderful story that we enjoy getting from the library each Christmas season. We\’d love to add it to our Christmas book collection at home!
Great list of books! Shooting at the stars sounds great
Absolutely love Sutphin\\\’s Little Pilgrim\\\’s Progress so looking forward to A Little Christmas Carol!
I’d love to win the book giveaway!!
I love Kate DiCamillo and look forward to introducing my granddaughter to her books — including Great Joy — in the not too distant future when she’s old enough for sleepovers and lazy days at the beach with Lola.
Oh we would love the Christmas Carol. We have the Little Pilgrim’s Progress book and loved it so much. Beautiful illustrations and precious story. I love Joe Sutphin’s work.
I love this idea! My youngest daughter would enjoy The Christmas Carol illustrated. She loves Joe Sutphin\’s artwork!
What a wonderful list! We have never read Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo.
What a great list and a great idea for a SW feature! I love Christmas books as well and have a bunch, but I love that there are so many on this list that are new to me. I will definitely be checking them out. I will especially keep This Is the Star on my list for future reading/gifting. A non-Anglo/American Jesus is a big selling point for me!
What a great collection! I\’d love the illustration Christmas Carol!
“I have a hard time reading this one without crying” is convincing enough for me to add to cart now! The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey has gotten a lot of love here in the comments and now I’m curious as to how I have never heard of it!
I am reading a Christmas Carol for the very first time right now (gasp! I know! Why did I wait so long???) and would love to have the picture story version for my littles!!
I would love The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
My kids love Joe Sutphin’s Little Pilgrim’s Progress and his illustrations in the Wingfeather Saga so I think they’d be most excited for his Little Christmas Carol.
We\’re big fans of Joe Sutphin\’s illustrations, so Little Christmas Carol would make a perfect gift!
These are lovely recommendations. The illustrated version of A Christmas Carol featuring animals as the characters would be a delightful addition to our family library.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is such a gem! I’d love to pass that on to a young mama, and enjoy some of the other books with my kiddos. That tote looks fantastic too!
I love several of these books at Christmas time! I read a different Christmas book a day during December to my 4 children. We especially like the \” Christmas Carol\” so a \” Little Christmas Carol\” sounds really neat!
We love all those books! We read Little Christmas Carol as part of our Christmas school last year! I would love a copy of it to give to our church\\\’s hybrid school!
We loved the Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. Such beautiful illustrations. I loved the illustrated retelling of a Christmas Carol as I was able to share it with my young kids. Loved the woodland creatures and beautiful illustrations.
The only one we don’t own is Nativity by Cynthia Ryland and would love to try that one!
I would love to add the illustrated Christmas carol to our collection
I have loved Joe Sutphin\’s Little Pilgrim\’s Progress (have read it in the past to my daughter, foster daughter and school library classes!) and was excited to see he has brought us another beautifully illustrated classic, Little Christmas Carol.
Cynthia Rylant and Dickens are always favorites, especially with Joe Sutphin!
Shooting the Stars – while we’ve ready it, I’d love to add it to our library.
The Christmas Miracle is one of our favorites and I would love to share that one with a friend! But a sturdy book bag that won’t break down from heavy library trips sounds like an absolute gem!
I\\\’ve had the Little Christmas Carol on my list ever since I saw that it was out. We loved the Pilgrim\\\’s Progress one!
Illustrated Christmas Carol would be my top puck. We love that story in our home
Oo! I\’ve been eyeing the books from Joe Sutphin for awhile! That would be a fun way to do our Dickens tradition this year!
Shooting Stars looks like a great one to add as my children get older! This is a great list and I love the tote bag!
Definitely have had my eye on the Little Christmas Carol for a while now. We love Sutphin\’s version of the Little Pilgrim\’s Progress and made sure we had it both at home and in our church library!
We would love the illustrated A Christmas Carol! The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey is on our December literature course list so that would be delightful to own a copy of too!
I just recently heard about The Year of thr Perfect Christmas Tree. Would love to read that one!
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo sounds very sweet. I think we all need more of these kinds of stories to spur us on to good works as God calls us to. Thank you so much for this list!
Thanks for this list! I am about to see if my library has any of them. I would love to get the illustrated version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Love this story and would love to see this adaptation.
I would love the illustrated version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. thanks for this list!
I have never read Shooting at the Stars, but will definitely need to seek it out!
Goodness, hearing about The Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomey brought back some deep memories for me. What a great story, and so it’s understandable that it’s the first on the desired list of most folks here (and mine also!).
Thanks for a wonderful resource (both in this site, and this idea)! We’ve just found out we’re expecting our first, and I’ll be taking as much advantage as I can of all your recommendations.
Little Christmas Carol and This is the Star would be my picks! I love children\’s books!
Can\’t wait to check out Joe Sutphin\’s Christmas Carol!
This is so nice! I am loving this blog and Green Ember community. My 11 year old daughter has never been captured by a book like she has The Green Ember series. Since my daughter loves to woodcarve herself, I would love to gift her The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. I am so thankful to hear about these great books I normally would not have heard about! Thank you!
A Little Christmas Carol would be lovely to have. The tote looks fantastic! Thank you for providing a way to enter that doesn’t involve social media.
We love the Little Christmas Carol and it would be so fun to get a copy to pass along to a friend.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree sounds like such a lovely book!
The year of the perfect Christmas tree! Love Barbara Cooney’s illustrations.
Very excited for booklists! Thank you! I have 4 kids 8 and under and all of these sound right up our alley. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree sounds delightful!
This is our favorite time of year and books surrounding Advent make the season extra sweet! Love this reading society idea-thank you for the opportunity!
I’m most interested in reading “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.” I’ll be sure to pick it up at the library, and maybe I’ll even win a copy here! Merry Christmas.
I’d love the illustrated A Christmas Carol! My son, in particular, loves any story with animal characters. (And thank you for making it possible for those without social media to enter!)
We have read and love several of these, but haven’t read The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree yet and would love that one too!
As a fifth grade teacher and a Mama, I love all of those suggestions, but I am most excited about the Christmas Carol book! That just sounds delightful!
AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I would love to read A Christmas Carol illustrated by Joe Sutphin! I know his work from the Wingfeather Saga, and the sample illustrations are adorable… It would also make a great gift.
The Nativity book looks beautiful! I\’d love to put that one on our bookshelf.
I have both Facebook and Instagram accounts, and I follow Story Warren on both, but I cannot find the posts about the giveaway to like and share on either of your accounts! I’d still like to enter the giveaway, and would be happy to share the posts on my 2 accounts if you can actually put the posts up for those of us with social media accounts.
In case I still can’t find the social media posts to like and share, I would love Joe Sutphin’s illustrated A Christmas Carol to add to my library.
I would love Joe Sutphin\’s illustrated \’A Christmas Carol\’! (also struggled to figure out how to enter on social media)
I\’d love to read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey! Need to see if our library has any of these – love a good book on a winter evening with the kids!
I would love to own the illustrated A Christmas Carol! It\’s a great story, and I love Joe Sutphin\’s artwork, especially from the Wingfeather Saga.
Nativity and This is the Star are the only ones in this list of which I am unfamiliar. They will be going on my library holds list now! Thank you for sharing!!
I love Christmas books! We read one every day in December – my 4 children and I. The Christmas Carol is a favorite, so we would enjoy a Little Christmas Carol very much!
The Christmas Carol with illustrations by Joe Sutphin is the only one I looked for that our library doesn’t have, so I’d love a copy to share with my kiddos 🙂
This is the Star is a new one to me and sounds wonderful! So rare to find books that are historically/Biblically accurate!
Shooting at the Stars
If love to read Nativity and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey with and to my own children and our 2 year old niece! It is always so wonderful to share good books.
Such lovely recommendations! Nativity is the one I\’d choose if I could only choose one. 🙂 I\’d like to take a copy to read to my grandchildren.
What a sweet giveaway- so glad you shared this post with us Kelly!
We have yet to read any of these, and I would be particularly excited to read he boys the Miracle of Jonathon Toomey!
Also off to find the Christmas truce story- right up our alley!!
This is beautiful and wonderful! Thank you all for all you do! Advent and Christmas is such a precious time of year and we loooove all the books, of course! I’m especially interested in the Shooting the Stars books. We’ve not read this one and really like Hendrix’s other books.
I love the simple, beautiful illustrations in Nativity. Would love to share it with my little nephews. We love getting out all the picture books at Christmastime!
I usually get a big stack of Christmas picture books from the library each year; I’d love to own a copy of Little Christmas Carol (I hear it’s great!) and Shooting at the Stars!
What a lovely idea and how excruciating to choose only ONE favourite book! Joe Sutphin\’s Illustrated A Christmas Carol has been on my wish list for some time so perhaps it slightly wins out. I\’m looking forward to exploring some of these other titles that I\’m not familiar with – thank you!
This is the Star – I would love to read this one!
I want to see the Fezziwigs as owls. ❤️ I think my kids would love that! Shooting At the Stars sounds beautiful… I\’d love to read that as well.
We love Christmas books and have read most of these! Our family especially loves to read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and we would love the opportunity to share it with someone we love!
I would love to own Joe Sutphin\’s Christmas Carol! I love his adaptation of the Little Pilgrim\’s Progress, and I\’m sure CC would be just as lovely!
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey was one of my favorite Christmas picture books when I was younger, and I still love it. I\’d love to be able to gift it to someone I knew would enjoy it just as much.
These all sound so fantastic! My daughter and I are huge fans of Kate DiCamillo. Id love to read Great Joy with her!
Haha, I had to scroll down through so many comments, I’ve forgotten the titles now. I’m looking forward to reading John Hendrix’ story, Kate DiCamillo’s about the girl loving on her neighbor, and absolutely love Joe Sutphin’s work! I think I missed that he did The Christmas Story. That would be so delightful to read to my little brood of homeschooling kiddos. These all would! Thank you for this opportunity!
We love \”Little Pilgrim\’s Progress\” – what fun it would be to have a matching \”Little Christmas Carol\” edition to accompany it in our library!
A Christmas Carol! Anyone else always think of the Muppets version? 🙂
What delightful book recommendations. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is a favorite of ours and one that I\’d love to gift someone with if i should win. Thank you.
Definitely an illustrated Charles Dickens! What a great idea
I\’m adding the illustrated version of \”A Christmas Carol\” to my wishlist! My kids are finishing up a unit study on the book in their homeschool co-op, and will doing an adapted play in December. My oldest is playing Fred and my middle will be the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Love your recommendations!
Oh how fun!! The illustrated Christmas Carol sounds like such a fun way to introduce the story to my little one! I’m also a sucker for any children’s book with beautiful artwork
We love Barbara Cooney\’s work, but I\’m not familiar with Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree! I\’ll definitely have to look for that!
I love the Christmas Carol and would love the illustrated copy =)
Haven\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’t heard of several of these. Thank you for the recommendations. Going to have to head to the library. The description of the Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey drew me in the most.
I\’ve got all of these requested from our library, so we\’ll be finding some new favorites!
We have picked up The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey from the library several times.
Jonathan Toomey and Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree were both on our library list last year but we never got to them (new baby in the house), maybe this is our year!! …and where does one go for that tote bag if one is not a contest winner…? I’d happily put that on my Christmas list….
All of the books look wonderful but Nativity grabbed my attention – would love to own that one!!
Quite honestly, I don\’t own any of those books so I would love them all! I am particularly excited about the Christmas Carol since it has a special place in our family.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. I read it for the first time last year and cried through the last half of it.
Thank you for putting together a list of such wholesome & wonderful looking books! Nativity by Cynthia Ryland sounds like a perfect book for my daughter! We love books with beautiful illustrations!
While all of them look delightful the retelling of A Christmas Carol has my heart! Also the tote bag looks like perfection!
So fun! Who doesn\’t love good Christmas stories? I have loved Jonathan Toomey ever since a friend loaned her copy to us. But I\’m also a sucker for A Christmas Carol. There are several others on your list that I\’ve never heard of and will have to look up!
We have read and love several of these titles, what a treasury! Great Joy is on my list to add for this Advent reading season! Also, please say the tote will be available to purchase?
Little Christmas Carol would be a lovely addition to our Christmas books! Thank you for the other suggestions as well, a few new ones for me to look into.
I love Christmas tree stories. I would love to read the Perfect Christmas Tree. Thanks for a few recommendations.
I would LOVE to read the Little Christmas Carol! It\’s such a great story, and I\’d love to have a way to share it with a younger audience!
Shooting at the Stars looks very interesting! I know about the event but never heard of this book. I’ll have to search it out.
Rylant and Cooney are two of my favorites!
I would love to share \”The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree\” with my younger siblings!
I love Barabara Cooney and Cynthia Rylant! I\’ve missed these books somehow!
I would love a copy of The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree! They all sound great! 😀
I would greatly delight in reading the Little Christmas Carol to my grandkids.
\”Little Christmas Carol\” makes a wonderful gift and family keepsake. Thanks for the list!
I love the illustrated Christmas Carol but all of them sound like amazing reads!
Oooo I would love any of these books for my classroom! The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey was one of my favorite Christmas books growing up and I still read it every year!
We have read a couple of these. They all sound amazing. We have not read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. My girls love Kate DiCamillo and would love that book!! Thank you for a wonderful list. Here is hoping our library has some of these titles, if not, shopping it is!!
Nativity by Cynthia Rylant. All of them look great!
I’ve heard many great things about The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey! I’d love to read it!
We love adding new Christmas books to our library every year. We added Little Christmas Carol last year and loved it! I think my boys would love The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. We are fans of Barbara Cooney’s illustrations.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is a wonderful tale, beautifully woven, and fills me with great hope! I would indeed enjoy to give away a copy of this book!
I would love to own Joe Sutphin’s version of A Christmas Carol. It sounds like such a fun adventure to go through the old familiar story but have animals as the characters.
Both the Jonathan Toomey and Shooting the Stars would be wonderful additions to our home library! I first heard of the Jonathan Toomey story a few years ago from a friend. She then invited us to her home to show us the movie and it was so hard holding back tears!!
I would like to enter and would love to own “Green Ember: Helmer and the Dragon Tomb.”
Great Joy, by Kate DiCamillo looks like it would be a good book to read a have on the shelf. I haven\’t read any of the books recommended.
Gosh, they all sound good! I\’d love The Little Christmas Carol to add to my collection of Christmas Carol editions.
I would love \’Little Christmas Carol\’ for our school library!
I would love Little Christmas Carol!
Little Christmas Carol sounds lovely, especially for my owl loving boy!
I would love to own Shooting at the Stars. We love reading that book every year at Christmas. Thankfully our library has it. Then we watch the reenactment video made by Sainsbury commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the Christmas Eve truce of 1914.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree sounds lovely. I\’d love to add it to our home library! I actually think I\’d be most excited to win the tote, though. It looks amazing and I know my teens would love it!
We would love to add Little Christmas Carol to our library!
We love The Little Christmas Carol and would love to gift it to our cousins! The other books have been on our list for adding to our Christmas book collection. So fun! The tote is fantastic and would be put to excellent use in our home.
Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is an absolute yearly favorite in our house that I\’d love to gift to a friend. Little Christmas Carol is one I\’d love to read with my own kids and own.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is an all-time favorite for me! I love wrapping Christmas books each December for the children to open each day (mostly the same books each year) and am so excited to see some new recommendations here that we don’t have!
I would love to read Nativity by Cynthia Rylant! Her books are so rich!
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is so sweet! I love this one!
I would love to have Shooting at the Stars for our home library.
I’m excited to see the Nativity book by Cynthia Rylant, it’s one I have not read yet. My children and I thoroughly enjoy picture books, especially at Christmas time.
The Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomey has been on my list for a while. I know my children would love all these books though!
I would love to own The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree! It sounds like a wonderful story
All beautiful titles but would love The Year of the Perfect Tree for my kids this year.
They all look wonderful! The Nativity & Christmas Carol books look especially good to me:)
All of them but especially the little Christmas carol!
They ALL look wonderful! Nativity & Christmas Carol look especially good to me.
All of the books are some of our favorites! We\’d love to add Little Christmas Carol illustrated by Joe Sutphin to our collection. His illustrated Little Pilgrim\’s Progress is a repeated gift selection.
Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey – I’ve heard many recommend it and I would love to read it
I would love to have Nativity by Cynthia Rylant we love her books!
Shooting at the Stars sounds wonderful! One of my husband’s favorite movies is Joy De Noel and he has always told my kiddos about that moment in history. I’d love to have a picture book to show them it. ❤️
These are beautiful recommendations!
Love the illustrated Christmas Carol, it\\\’s beautiful!
I love The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey It\’s been a family favorite for a long time. It\’s actually currently upstairs, I\’d love to share it with a friend.
We read A Little Christmas Carol last year and would truly love to gift a copy to some friends!
I would love to read The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree!
A Little Christmas Carol has been on my wishlist for awhile now! Our family would love to have this book!
Oh it\’s a toss up between Nativity and Great Joy. So fun! Thanks for the recs.
They all look lovely, but I’m most looking forward to getting a copy of the Little Christmas Carol. Joe Sutphin’s illustrations are so inspiring to me as a fellow animal artist. I’ll definitely look for these books at my library!
Howdy, fellow animal artist (and enjoyer of Joe Sutphin\’s illustrations)! Do you do realistic (Beatrix Potter-style) or kind of Zootopia-ish animals? I love drawing animals in little fancy historical outfits–usually Zootopia-mixed-with-a-little-bit-of-anime style.
Hi Star! I mostly do realistic animals from life or photos, but occasionally attempt cartoon-style animals when I want to work quickly. I’ve never tried clothing though!
I have the illustrated Christmas Carol on my boy’s Christmas list right now!
We are huge Sutphin fans here! We would love the Little Christmas Carol.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomy sounds like a beautiful story!
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Dial is a picture book that I would like to own. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is heart-warming and sweet.
What a wonderful list of books! I am interested in The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. Barbara Cooney\’s illustrations are wonderful and I love stories of hope that take place during times of war.
Thank you for this website and book list! It is so refreshing to find like minded individuals when it comes to the all important task of raising God loving families!! I look forward to future lists to help my at home library!
We don’t have Nativty or Great Joy so would love to add to our collection!
We have read many Christmas books over the years, but I don’t think we’ve read any of these! Would be interested in all of them, and hoping our library has some available!
What a splendid list–thank you for the recommendations! The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree particularly catches my interest…always thinking of our soldiers and their families at this time of year, and I suspect it was even harder back then, pre-technology.
\”The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey\” was one of our favorites in our house. It got lost when we moved and I\’d love to revisit it with our children (ages 14-23) and share it with my grandchildren. Do you also take suggestions for good children\’s books?
I\’m drooling over the Sutphin illustrated Christmas Carol! My kids are obsessed with his Little Pilgrim\’s Progress. #can\’t get enough
Wow! This is so exciting! We are a family of readers and can’t get enough good book recommendations. It’s a tough choice, but our family would probably most appreciate “Shooting at the Stars” or the illustrated “The Christmas Carol.” My husband can almost recite the original by Dickens. 🙂 We already own “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.”
I\\\\\\\’d love Nativity by Cynthia Rylant!
That tote is absolutely fabulous! My family loves the story of Jonathon Toomey. I would gift this book to my dear friend.