Christmas Books to Share during Advent

By Elizabeth Foss
HERALD Columnist
(From the Issue of 11/29/01)

Following is the first in a four-part Advent series.

In this column and the next one, I’d like to share with you some beautiful Christmas books for children and a plethora of ideas for activities inspired by the books. First, a warning: don’t try to do them all. Don’t even think about them all! Just choose a few and do them well. Longtime readers will recognize old favorites here, but, hopefully, even they will find new ideas.

Begin the first week of Advent with two books by Tomie de Paola that set the tone for preparing for the feasts to come. In Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, many children will recognize dear old "Grandma Witch" who begins preparing for her traditional Christmas Eve feast on the first Sunday of Advent. She staunchly refuses to use the magic she employs during the rest of the year, insisting that Christmas has a magic of its own. Big Anthony, her bumbling helper, has a Christmas surprise planned for the old lady and the entire town turns out to help him make the holiday a special one for her.

Strega Nona fans will enjoy making a list of all the Advent activities your family does. Compare the list with another family. Are there any new traditions you would like to adopt? Early in the season, write a family Advent prayer. Pray that this will be a special time to prepare for Jesus’ birthday.

With some craft sticks, paper and markers, make puppets to dramatize Merry Christmas, Strega Nona. Perform the show for family and friends on Christmas Day. De Paola’s style is easily imitated by children. If you are really inspired by Strega Nona, you might attempt a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner. Throughout Italy, traditional dinners include 12 courses, in honor of the 12 apostles.

The next book in line is Country Angel Christmas. I introduce this one on the Feast of St. Nicholas, Dec. 6. There is definitely a sense of Advent as a time of preparation as all the angels in heaven are preparing for the celestial Christmas celebration. The littlest angels are told to be scarce while the barn angels ready the animals for the procession, the kitchen angels bake and the music angels rehearse carols. It is St. Nicholas, in heaven, who finds the littlest angels the all-important job of providing light for the celebration.

With this book, we like to compare an icon of St. Nicholas with de Paola’s drawing in Country Angel Christmas. I encourage the children to draw their own renditions of the patron saint of children. The ambitious among us would take a field trip to an Eastern Orhodox church or a museum to really study icons.

No conversation about St. Nicholas at Christmas time is complete without reading The Miracle of Saint Nicholas. Alexi is a Russian child whose grandmother tells him of the soldiers who closed St. Nicholas Church many years ago. When he asks why they can’t celebrate Christmas there this year, she tells him that it would take a miracle. The little boy believes in miracles. I purchased this book to give to my children on the feast of St. Nicholas. We have dear friends who are Eastern Orthodox and, among other things, the boys are learning a true appreciation of Eastern religious art. I am especially pleased with the icons throughout the text. It is nice to see both the art and the faith of the Russians so beautifully depicted here.

The other theme to follow in Country Angel Christmas is the star theme. You might want to make apple star prints. Cut an apple in half width-wise (surprise! there is a star inside) and use tempera to print the stars on paper. Or print them on canvas bags and give as a Christmas gift. Make glitter glue stars to hang on the Christmas tree. Draw stars in glue on wax paper. Sprinkle with glitter. When the glue dries, peel away the wax paper. Use gold thread to hang them on the tree.

The country angels harnessed a star to shed light on the Christmas celebration. During Advent, we await Christ, who is the Light of the world. Make an Advent meditation candle to remind you throughout the season that it is Christ’s light that is a "light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet" (Ps 119: 105). Decorate a large pillar candle with colored beeswax cut into figures that represent biblical events from the time of Adam and Eve until Jesus’ birth. (Supplies are available from Hearthsong 1-800/325-2502.)

This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar is a lovely story of the birth of Jesus that builds on itself. The book works well as a read-aloud because it is rhythmic and employs rich, poetic language and gorgeous illustrations that hold the older listeners while younger listeners absorb the story. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful.

To extend the angel theme, you might enjoy Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers. The nativity story is told from the perspective of an angel — not really an original story line. What sets this book apart is the ability of the author to discuss the interaction of the supernatural world with the natural world and to shake off the constraints of time and embrace eternity. The supernatural and eternity are not usually within the grasp of children but this book makes them so. Readers young and old gain a greater appreciation of how the earth was made ready for the glorious night when Jesus was born. The pictures add depth and warmth to the ethereal quality of the story.

Dec. 12 is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and de Paola has an exquisite picture book by that name. The author is both a gifted artist and a superb storyteller. This is the story of the Aztec peasant Juan Diego, who sees our Lady as a pregnant Mexican woman and hears her tell him to build shrine in her honor. He must convince a skeptical bishop. Mary graciously provides a miraculous sign, captured beautifully in de Paola’s pictures.

Hispanic parishes always have a large picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe and carry it in procession on her feast day. True to his love of detail, de Paola depicts such a procession in The Legend of the Poinsettia. Lucida is a little girl who is helping her mother weave a blanket for the Christmas crèche at church. When her mother suddenly falls seriously ill, the child tries to finish the blanket herself. She tangles it miserably and is bereft at the thought of having nothing to bring to the manger. An old woman mysteriously appears outside the church and suggests she carry a bundle of weeds inside. The picture of Lucida kneeling by the crèche, surrounded by glorious poinsettias, is guaranteed to inspire you to run out and buy many, many of these flowers to adorn your mangers at home. You can also help your children to make tissue paper flowers in red, white and pink, traditional poinsettia colors.

The Night of Las Posadas is the story of the traditional procession Las Posadas in Santa Fe. Traditionally, people of a nearby village re-enact Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter, going from door to door in the village until they are at last welcomed into the homes, and hearts, of the people. In the story, all sorts of things go wrong at the last minute, and it is the statues of Mary and Joseph in the church, come to life, who knock on doors. The author has a knack for introducing children to varied customs without seeming to preach a contrived lesson in multiculturalism. Readers who may be inspired to have a procession of their own will be especially appreciative of the glossary and the notes from the author. All these books are available in Spanish.

With a group of other families, have your own Las Posadas procession. If you are unable to go from door to door, stage it in one house, with different adults behind every door. Celebrate with flan and churros and hot chocolate. Use felt to make a large banner of Our Lady like the one in the book.

The crèche is an important part of the Legend of the Poinsettia. Read about the beginning of the crèche tradition in Francis, The Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie de Paola. Then, take a field trip to a working farm to visit real animals in a real stable. Blow the cover off the romantic notion of sweet-smelling and fluffy lambs. Our King was born in a noisy, smelly stable.

For the very youngest child, Who’s Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate is an engaging and endearing book about the animals who welcomed the Christ Child. The book follows a pattern so predictable that my son Christian, who was not even really a fluent talker at three, had the entire book memorized so that he could "read" it to Patrick, one. All the animals in the stable take part in preparing their house for a very special visitor.

King of the Stable, by Melody Carlson, is the story of Matthew, who leaves his father’s affluent home to live with relatives in Bethlehem. Not accustomed to working, Matthew is a bit discouraged when he is made "king of the stable," in charge of feeding, watering and cleaning up after the animals. Since this is Bethlehem and Matthew is in charge of a stable, wondrous things are certain to happen. Older children will enjoy making a manger scene of their own using old-fashioned clothespins, doll head beads and felt (all supplies are readily available in craft stores).

One activity that is much anticipated in our house this year is a Scandinavian tradition on the Feast of St. Lucia, Dec. 13. On this morning, Mary Beth, who is our only girl, will dress in a white nightgown with a wreath of candles (not real, we’re working on a battery operated version) on her head. She will wake the family with fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee. This tradition is described in Kirsten’s Surprise from the American Girls series.

So, now we are up through the second week in December. Next time, we’ll get to Christmas and beyond.

Foss is a freelance writer from Northern Virginia.

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