It’s December 1st which means it’s time to start reading books with a chapter a day between now and Christmas. I could fill this week with books just by the King Of Christmas – Mr Alex T.Smith, but there are so many more to explore!
I’m starting with The Christmas Chronicles by John Townsend and James Newman Grey which contains 24 magical Christmas stories set in the snowy North Pole as Santa prepares to deliver presents round the world on Christmas Eve.
Open each door in turn on the beautiful advent calendar-style cover to find the page number that will lead you to the next story in the series. The stories feature a cast of memorable characters, including Mr and Mrs Santa, elves, reindeer and polar bears, and are filled with humorous and breath-taking adventures.
Family, friendship and festivities are woven together to create a cosy blanket of a book that deserves to be shared with loved ones in L.D. Lapinski’s Step Father Christmas.
It’s 25 days until Christmas, and 10-year-old Harper gets a surprise when Mum announces she’s bringing her new boyfriend Nick home for the holidays! Nick seems nice enough. But why do strange Christmassy things happen whenever he’s around? Like snow falling only in the family’s garden? Or a reindeer suddenly appearing on the roof?! Harper’s convinced that Nick must be Father Christmas! And if her mum and older brother won’t believe her, she’ll just have to find a way to prove it herself…
With 25 chapters, it’s an advent calendar in book form that will leave you with a warm glow in your heart, and hunger for gingerbread and hot chocolate. And even better, this isn’t the last we’ll see of the Halls, which has made not only this Christmas but next year’s too!
My next pick is a non-fiction title, and makes the perfect gift to spread joy this Christmas – Welcome To The Museum: A Christmas Pop-Up Advent Calendar by
In conjunction with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, fans of the bestselling Welcome to the Museum series can now countdown to Christmas with this beautiful pop-up advent calendar. Inside, readers will find a beautiful pop-up tree, alongside a 28 page mini booklet detailing all the wonderful flora and fauna there is to discover during the autumn and winter months, from reindeer to red robins, and pear trees to poinsettia.
Hidden in compartments beneath it are 25 removable and displayable cardboard ornaments – including pine cones, holly leaves, cinnamon bundles and acorns. This is the ideal sustainable gift, and would look stunning as a centrepiece year after year. I’ll be opening this one in the library everyday so why not see if you can spot what is added each day.
And finally, I can’t choose between adventuring with Winston and friends, The Grumpus, or Clara and Fritz Strudel. What I do know is all of these books are fizzing with the essence of Christmas, full of daring friends, dazzling escapades and are a fabulous way to count through December days to Christmas Day itself.
In Alex’s latest festive treat, The Nutcracker And The Mouse King’s Christmas Shenanigans, the Mouse King is up to some very sneaky shenanigans. The night before Christmas, he steals the key to the Kingdom of Sweets and sets out to cause as much festive mayhem as he can! Clara and Fritz Strudel, and their new friend the Nutcracker, are the only ones who can stop him. But when a magical curse is put on Fritz, it’s a race against time to make it to the Kingdom of Sweets and find the Sugar Plum Fairy – the only one who can break the spell! Can the adventurers stop the Mouse King’s naughty plan and save Fritz, before it’s too late?
Happy reading!