Holiday Favorites (Especially Children's Books)

Vee wrote about favorites, as did Jill, and it got me thinking...  Here are a few of my holiday favs!

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY BEVERAGE:  a shot or two of orange juice, added to a glass of diet Sierra Mist "Cranberry Splash" on the rocks.  Try it.  You'll like it!  (And I confess -- I like to drink this whenever I can find the Cranberry Splash -- but it's usually around the holidays, depending where you shop.)

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY MOVIES:  "White Christmas" and "Home Alone" (the first)

MY FAVORITE SACRED HOLIDAY SONG:  "O Holy Night" :: As a kid, I learned to play it with my piano teacher and when I practiced at home, I would sing along.  Still love it to this day!

MY FAVORITE SECULAR HOLIDAY SONG:  "Silver Bells" :: I can just hear my Gram singing it in her low alto voice.

~ and because I could never pick just one ~

MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY CHILDREN'S BOOKS:  Though our children don't look at these books much anymore, I cannot bear to part with them as they hold so many memories of curling up together during the holiday season.  When Christmas came, I would put all of the holiday books in a big basket in the living room so that they weren't forgotten.  The kids would pick out a different story each night before bed.  It wasn't that many years back that I was reading a Christmas storybook to our daughter, when our son (presumably too old to be bothered) came and camped out on her bedroom floor while we read.  "Tradition!"  he claimed -- and the tears sprung quickly to my eyes making the book page a kaleidoscope of words, unreadable.  Now you understand.  These books have made an impression on my kids, and the time spent cannot be measured in value.  These books will be saved for grandchildren!

One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth

How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Reiss

Illustrated by David Catrow

The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs

Illustrated by Nancy Munger

The Nativity Play by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen

Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard H. Schneider

Illustrated by Elizabeth J. Miles

Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera

Many additional Christmas books sit on our shelf, but these were some of our kids' favorites.  I've been grinning as I think back through the reading of these, and the voices I used for different characters that "sold" the story.

What's your favorite Christmas storybook?  {From your childhood, your children's or your grandchildren's...}  I'd love to know.  Perhaps it's one I should collect for my... grandchildren?

P.S. Just stopped by THIS CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR, and thought you might like to take a look...