Attention, parents and grandparents: With the year-end holidays approaching, it’s again time to add a few books to your young person’s gift list.
Luckily, there is a wonderful supply of recently published holiday books for kids, tweens and teens.
Just ask Kathy Short, who manages the award-winning children’s program at the Tucson Festival of Books. Here are some of her favorites this year:
“The 13th Day of Christmas” is a hilarious picture book by Tucson’s own Adam Rex. It features a confused man who receives a house-full of strange gifts from his true love in a wildly funny take on the familiar Christmas carol.
“A Dragon Called Spark: A Hanukkah Story” by Lily Murray and Kirsti Beautyman is a heartwarming picture book blending the magic of dragons with the traditions of Hanukkah. When Eva moves to a new town, she finds comfort in her imaginary dragon, wishing for a Hanukkah miracle of friendship and imagination.
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“The Gathering Table” by Eady Antwan and London Ladd features a Southern family that has gathered around the backyard table to celebrate all the important moments throughout the year. It is a time to share food, traditions, and love.
“The Gift of Words” by Peter Reynolds. Surrounded by words of frustration and impatience, a young boy strings together joyful words on a tree to share holiday wishes with his community. This is a powerful picture book about the gift of words.
“Hanukkah” by Leslea Newman and Rotem Teplow. Lior’s mother explains the joy and meaning of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, in this engaging picture book. We are introduced to the Hebrew calendar, multilingual holiday greetings, historical details, crafts and recipes.
“The Kwanzaa Story” by Alliah Agostini journeys through history to trace the history of Kwanzaa to the holiday celebrations we enjoy today. Readers revisit the painful realities of Black history, the contributions of Black historical figures, and the holiday’s symbols and principles.
“Lost and Found Hanukkah” by Joy Preble and Lisa Anchin follows Nate, whose beloved menorah has been lost in a family move. The search for a lost cat leads him on a journey that leads him to the light, comfort and companionship that sets everything right again.
“Once Upon a Kwanzaa” by Nyasha Williams and Sawyer Cloud is a colorful exploration of the many roots and routes to Kwanzaa. The book is a series of short vignettes showing the diversity of people who observe this holiday. We are introduced to the seven principles of Kwanzaa, and learn some Swahili words and phrases.
“Weiwei’s Winter Solstice: A Dongzhi Story” by Michelle Jing Chen introduces us to a Chinese family that has moved to a new, frozen place, far from the hummingbirds and palm trees that surrounded their winter solstice in years gone by. Weiwei misses the sunny warmth of their Chinese celebration on the longest day of the year, leading her to wonder if she can still find light and color on the darkest day of winter.
“Juniper’s Christmas” by Eoin Colfer and Chaaya Prabhat is a heartwarming middle-grade novel following Juniper, who seeks the help of a mysterious man in a local park. She suspects he is Santa, and hopes he can help find her missing mother.
“Let it Glow” by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy features identical 12-year-old twins adopted into different families. They decide to switch places one year to experience each other’s holiday traditions of Hanukkah and Christmas.
“Only for the Holidays” by Abiola Bello is a fake-dating holiday romance in which the lives of a city girl and country boy collide as they both deal with recent breakups.
“Twelve Classics of Christmas” is a collection of 12 classic short stories about Christmas by Frank Baum, the Grimm Brothers, Louisa May Alcott, Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, and others.
“Earthrise” by Leonard S. Marcus is the story of a photograph that changed the way we see our planet. Taken by orbiting astronauts on Christmas Eve, 1968, it showed the Earth rising above the moon’s horizon. This one spectacular photo inspired the environmental movement and Earth Day. The book is rich in period details and timeless insights about the space race. (One of the NASA astronauts on that Christmas Eve orbit was hometown Tucson hero Frank Borman, who grew up here.)
Kathy Short is a Regents Professor and director of the World of Words Center of Global Literature at the University of Arizona. She also manages the children’s program at the Tucson Festival of Books, the largest and most prestigious literary event for kids in the United States.
Keep current with news from the Tucson Festival of Books by visiting tucsonfestivalofbooks.org.
