Illustrated Stories For Christmas

A collection of seasonal readings features "The Night Before Christmas," a retelling of "A Christmas Carol," contemporary holiday stories, and traditional fairy tales.

Illustrated Treasury of Christmas Stories is a remarkable large format storybook that children aged 7+ will cherish and love forever. It is packed with heartwarming stories and extracts of Christmas magic, adventure and charm from renowned authors such as Charles Dickens, Susan Coolidge, Johnny Gruelle and L Frank Baum. Each story is accompanied by beautiful artwork and page decoration, designed to accentuate a format that will capture the imaginations of children everywhere.

The bestselling author of When God Made You and When I Pray for You captures the wonder of Christmas and the joy of Jesus' birth in a lyrical exploration of what makes the season so colorful, magical, and personal. In his trademark style, Matthew Paul Turner celebrates the Christmas season, particularly the colors that infuse the holiday and all the memorable sensations and experiences—including a festive market, sledding, and nativity scene—connected to those bright hues. Matthew draws his readers into a whirling ribbon of the familiar reds and greens of Christmas, as well as other festive hues, including white, gold, blue, and brown. Christmas is RED. It's a bright shiny sled. It's candy canes, and toy store lanes. It's sprinkles on sweet bread. Christmas is BROWN It’s pinecones scattered round… It’s a cradle soft with hay And a donkey’s gentle bray. It’s God within a baby’s skin on that very first Christmas Day. All the colors come together when readers are reminded that Christmas is YOU—you’re a part of the story, the joy and the glory! Matthew shows us again and again that the holidays are nothing without being with the people we love, celebrating treasured traditions, and making new memories—all in vivid color.

“The tale is unfolded with such mastery, humor, and emotional force that we are entirely within its power.” —The New York Times Book Review Features an audio read-along performed by James Earl Jones! Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows about the mementos of his lost wife and child that he keeps in an unopened drawer. But one early winter’s day, a widow and her young son approach him with a gentle request that leads to a joyful miracle. The moving, lyrical tale, gloriously illustrated by P.J. Lynch, has been widely hailed as a true Christmas classic.

“Delicate paper-cut illustrations provide a lovely, solemn backdrop to the King James Bible’s account of the Nativity story” in this delightful book (Publishers Weekly). Deeply reverent and richly detailed, Pamela Dalton’s exquisite scissor-cut illustrations follow The Story of Christmas from the appearance of the Angel to the shepherds who came from the fields, and to the three wise men who followed the star to pay respect for their new king. Working in a Pennsylvania-German folk-art tradition, with lovingly rendered animals and figures, Pamela Dalton has created a book that takes a deserved place among the finest celebrations of Christmas. A New York Times Book Review 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011

"Christmas magic is in the air. Open these pages and find yourself in the Snow Queen's palace, on Santa's sleigh, or wandering through Victorian London with the Ghost of Christmas Past" (publisher).