CHRISTMAS 2016 RECOMMENDED READS
RECEPTION - YEAR 3
Christmas Jokes - Macmillan Children's Books
The Lighthouse Keeper's Christmas - Ronda Armitage
Mr and Mrs Grinling are looking forward to an extra-special Christmas with their great-nephew, George. But on Christmas Eve, Mr Grinling and George get stranded in the middle of a storm!
Mrs Pepperpot's Christmas - Alf Proysen
Mrs Pepperpot is looking forward to the Christmas Market, and plans to buy lovely presents, but Mr Pepperpot isn't so keen. But when Mrs Pepperpot shrinks, the adventure begins!
Squishy McFluff: Secret Santa - Pip Jones
Squishy McFluff is a kitten – an invisible one – and Ava’s best friend. They have lots of adventures and it seems that the harder they try to be good, the more mischief they cause.
Mess Monsters at Christmas - Beth Shoshan
Features mischievous monsters. Now, they really see the errors of their ways and Mummy's Christmas may just yet run smoothly.
Father Christmas - Raymond Briggs
A great twist on the Father Christmas story, really funny with some breath-taking illustrations.
The Jolly Christmas Postman - Janet and Allan Ahlberg
It's Christmas Eve and the Jolly Postman is delivering greetings to various fairy-tale characters.
The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsberg
Late on Christmas Eve a boy boards a mysterious train that waits for him: the Polar Express bound for the North Pole. When he arrives there, Santa offers him any gift he desires. The boy modestly asks for one bell…
The Tailor of Gloucester - Beatrix Potter
Tells the story of a poor tailor trying to survive in his freezing workshop over a hard winter. He has an important commission to complete for a wedding on Christmas Day.
The Christmasaurus - Tom Fletcher
This is a story about a boy named William Trundle, and a dinosaur, the Christmasaurus. It's about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure. It's about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa….
Christmas Quiz Book - Usborne
Christmas Doodles - Usborne
Santa Claude - Alex T. Smith
A brand-new festive tale about Claude, the bestselling beret-clad canine hero.
The Best Bear In All The World - P. Bright, B. Sibley, J. Willis and K. Saunders.
Brand-new stories from some of the most beloved children's authors writing today. Each will transport you back into the Hundred Acre Wood to be reunited with a very special bear.
The Snowman and the Snow Dog - Raymond Briggs
This enchanting book reunites readers with the Snowman and introduces them to an adorable new puppy-friend, the Snowdog.
Mog's Christmas - Judith Kerr
The classic story of everyone's favourite forgetful cat at Christmas.
One Snowy Night - Nick Butterworth
Percy the Park Keeper helps his animal friends when heavy snow falls in their park.
Pugs Of The Frozen North - Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
The Race to the Top of the World! Competition is fierce. The path to victory is littered with snow trolls, sea monsters, and a gang of particularly hungry yetis.
The Snow Cat - Holly Webb
A seasonal story of snow, cats and happy endings!
Hilda and the Stone Forest - Luke Pearson
Not really very festive but this new and exciting graphic novel is fast paced and fun! Hilda may be grounded, but that won’t stop her from heading off on another daring adventure! But everything is thrown off course when her mother catches her and is dragged along for the ride. Furious with each other, the bickering pair find themselves lost in the land of the trolls, forced to embark on a dangerous journey to make their way home.
The Night Before Christmas - Clement C Moore
Magical, festive and deeply nostalgic. Perfect family reading.
YEAR 4-8
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean-spirited old man who hates everything - even Christmas! But when three spirits visit him one Christmas Eve, Scrooge is taken on a journey into the past, present and future that will change him forever.
Razzle Dazzle Unicorn - Dana Simpson
Another new book that isn't exactly festive but its fun and a little bit bonkers! Phoebe and Her Unicorn is the story of an unlikely friendship. Phoebe is a precocious child and Marigold is an arrogant unicorn, but their paths cross in the woods one day, and nothing will ever be the same.
The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
The Snow Queen endures as a tale of love and loss, good and evil, and loyalty in the face of great hardships.
The Wolf Wilder- Katherine Rundell
Feodora's mother is a wolf wilder, and Feo is a wolf wilder in training. A wolf wilder is the opposite of an animal tamer: it is a person who teaches tamed animals to fend for themselves, and to fight and to run, and to be wary of humans. When the murderous hostility of the Russian Army threatens her very existence, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. What follows is a story of revolution and adventure, about standing up for the things you love and fighting back.
The Christmas Star - Eva Ibbotson
Three seasonal stories set in Vienna as the preparations for Christmas take place.
The Midnight Gang - David Walliams
Midnight is the time when all children are fast asleep, except of course for… the Midnight Gang. That is when their adventures are just beginning…hailed as Walliams’ best book yet and perfect for Christmas.
A Boy called Christmas. - Matt Haig
A tale of how a weedy little boy called Nikolas became the jolly bearded figure we know as Father Christmas.
The Girl Who Saved Christmas - Matt Haig
When Amelia wants a wish to come true she knows just the man to ask - Father Christmas.
But the magic she wants to believe in is starting to fade, and Father
Christmas has more than impossible wishes to worry about. Upset elves,
reindeers dropping out of the sky, angry trolls and the chance that Christmas might be cancelled.
The Story of Holly and Ivy - Rumer Godden
It is Christmas Eve and, for the toys in Mr Blossom's shop, it is their last chance to be sold. Holly, a small doll dressed especially for Christmas, wishes hard for her own special child. But the day ends and Holly is left in the window.
On Christmas morning a little lost orphan girl finds herself outside the toyshop. Ivy has never had a doll to love, but when she sees Holly, she knows at once that this doll is meant specially for her.
Mistletoe and Murder - Robin Stevens
Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas hols in snowy Cambridge. Hazel has high hopes of its beautiful spires, cosy libraries and inviting tea-rooms - but there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of ancient Maudlin College.
Odd and the Frost Giants - Neil Gaiman
Prize-winning Neil Gaiman tells a witty and touching story about gods and magic in Viking times.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C S Lewis
This book tells the story of the four Pevensie children, Lucy, Peter,
Edmund, and Susan, and their adventures in the mystical world of Narnia.
A Poem For Every Night Of The Year - Allie Esiri
This anthology ranges widely through classic and modern poetry and, where there is a link to a particular date, it appears on that page in the book. Therefore, J. K. Rowling’s The Sorting Hat Song which first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is the poem for 10 September – the start of the school year for many, even those not at Hogwarts.
An Eagle in the Snow - Michael Morpurgo
The powerful novel from the master storyteller - inspired by the true story of one man who might have stopped World War II.
The White Fox - Jackie Morris
Full of magic, myth and a wonderful sense of family, and illustrated throughout with Jackie Morris’s beautiful, atmospheric paintings, this is perfect winter reading.
Winter Magic - collection of short stories - Various authors.
Travel in time to a fair on the frozen River Thames, discover captured snowflakes forever preserved in elvish glass, stolen voices and first loves, avalanches and underground villages hidden from the world, Nutcrackers, beautiful music, magical wishing books and so much more.
The Christmas Truce - Carol Ann Duffy
Down at the front, on a cold winter's night in 1914, amidst the worst war the world had ever seen, an inexplicable silence spread from man to man. Belief was in the air. Then the soldiers ceased fire and the magic of Christmas took hold . . .
Murder in Midwinter - Fleur Hitchcock
A roller-coaster adventure packed full of action and mystery unravels at a breakneck pace after Maya takes a photo from a bus one wintery afternoon. In Maya’s photo there is a man with a gun in the middle of Oxford Street. That’s scary enough. But worse is that both he and the woman he is talking to have seen her.
Winterkill - Kate A Boorman (12+)
This is such a gloriously different and delightful read. The storyline sucks you in whole and clamours to be read as quickly as possible, while the beautifully bewitching writing encourages you to savour every word.
The Winter Horses - Philip Kerr (12+)
A breath-taking tale of survival set in Ukraine during the dark days of WWII. Based on true events, a young girl must set out on a treacherous journey through the frozen Ukrainian forest to save the only two surviving horses and herself. This sensitive, inspiring tale captures the power of sacrifice, the endurance of the human spirit and the astonishing loyalty of animals.