Reading on Break

Variety of books for holiday reading

When the holiday break comes at school, you'll have more time to read something besides textbooks and homework.

At the request of Young Saint Louis.com, the St. Louis Public Library has compiled a special list of books for kids with holiday themes.

Melissa Pillot is the young adult librarian for the St. Louis city libraries. She works to make sure kids have good reading opportunities.

YSL.com asked her to recommend books that would be good reading during this holiday season. Some of the books are new and some are classics. She's picked books, which make good general holiday reading as well as special ones for religious holidays.

Classic holiday reading:

"December," by Eve Bunting.
A homeless family's luck changes after they help an old woman who has even less than they do on Christmas.

"A Christmas Memory," by Truman Capote.
A reminiscence of a Christmas shared by a seven-year-old boy and a sixtyish childlike woman cousin, with enormous love and friendship between them.

"Christmas with Anne: and other holiday stories," by L.M. Montgomery.
A collection of Christmas and New Year's tales in addition to chapters about Christmas taken from the Anne books, all of which present the spirit of giving.

"The Legend of Holly Claus," by Brittney Ryan.
Santa Claus's daughter, Holly, comes to Earth seeking an end to the curse cast upon her and the Land of the Immortals by an evil wizard, whose own punishment will end only if Holly willingly gives him her pure heart.

"Little House Christmas," by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Accounts of a pioneer girl's Christmases in the big woods, on the prairie, and on Plum Creek.

Humorous Holiday

"The Last Holiday Concert," by Andrew Clements.
Life is usually easy for popular sixth grader Hart Evans. But when his music teacher puts him in charge of the holiday concert, Hart must use all of his leadership skills to unite the other students.

"A Garfield Christmas," by Jim Davis.
During the Christmas holidays, Garfield, the irascible and irrepressible feline, and his friends, Jon and Odie, discover what the season of giving is all about

"Horrible Harry and the Holidaze," by Suzy Kline.
Miss Mackle's third graders share December holiday traditions--Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, and Korean New Year--with each other and with Harry's great grandfather, who has just moved to a nursing home.

"Pippi Longstockings's After-Christmas Party," by Astrid Lindgren.
Pippi Longstocking's after-Christmas party includes such activities as undecorating the Christmas tree, opening presents, and sledding.

"How Santa Really Works," by Alan Snow.
Santa Claus has a complicated and sophisticated Christmas operation, which includes the training of and numerous jobs for his elves to the celebrations at his own Christmas Day party.

"Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf," by Wendelin Draanen.
Sammy is pressed to pet-sit a prize Pomeranian dog, which is subsequently dognapped.

Hanukkah

"While the Candles burn: eight stories of Hanukkah," by Barbara Diamond Goldin.
Eight stories which illuminate the meaning and miracles of Hanukkah.

"The Gift," by Joseph Kertes.
It is Christmas and Hanukkah 1959 in Toronto. Young Jacob Beck, a Jewish Hungarian immigrant boy, is invited by his best friend, Larry Wilson, to Christmas lunch, and he tries to find an appropriate Christmas gift to bring with him.

"A Confused Hanukkah: an original story of Chelm," by Jon Koons.
The villagers of Chelm, in the rabbi's absence, send a messenger to a nearby village in order to be reminded how to prepare for the coming Hanukkah.

"How I saved Hanukkah," by Amy Goldman Koss.
Marla, the only Jewish student in her fourth-grade class at a California school, wishes she celebrated Christmas like her best friend Lucy, until one year when she decides to learn all about Hanukkah and to teach her family about it too.

"Tie Man's Miracle: a Chanukah tale," by Steven Schnur.
On the last night of Hanukkah, after hearing how an elderly survivor lost his family in the Holocaust, a young boy makes a wish that is carried to God as the menorah candles burn down.

Kwanzaa

"Imani's gift at Kwanzaa," by Denise Burden-Patmon.
As a young African-American girl prepares for Kwanzaa with her family, she learns the meaning of the celebration and presents a gift to a new friend.

"A very special Kwanzaa," by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate.
Charlie realizes this year that Kwanzaa can be a pretty special time for everyone, despite his memories of embarrassment during last year's Kwanzaa Festival.

"A Kwanzaa Miracle," by Sharon Gayle.
Ashley and Darryl Parker find out why their neighbor, Mrs. Jackson, is so unhappy and invite her to be the special honorary ancestor at their apartment building's Kwanzaa celebration

"The Kwanzaa Contest," by Miriam Moore.
Even though he lacks the confidence of his older sister Latrice, third-grader Ron makes himself enter the Kwanzaa contest in which he reveals the talent of his hands.

"Have a Happy ….," by Mildred Pitts Walter.
Upset because his birthday falls on Christmas and therefore will be eclipsed as usual, and worried that there is less money because his father is out of work, eleven-year-old Chris takes solace in the carvings he is preparing for Kwanzaa, the African-American celebration of their cultural heritage.