‘Tis The Season To Read

The holiday season can be very hectic and children may need a little extra encouragement to keep reading. One way to motivate your children to read over the holidays is to join a winter reading program. Many branches of the Mercer County Library System will be offering winter reading programs during December 2013 and January 2014. Details can be found at your local library or online.

Maybe you could surprise your children with a book hunt. Hide a special book in the house and provide your children with simple clues to find it. Once discovered, sit down and read it together.

Have a winter read-along with the whole family. Take turns reading aloud from a favorite book. Be sure to make it fun by using different voices or acting out the story as you read.

Finally, stir up some excitement in your children by sharing one or more of these new holiday books from our collection:

Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift by Dara Goldman
Boris and Stella are in love but do not have much money, so Stella sells something very important to her in order to buy Boris a Hanukkah gift, and Boris does likewise to buy Stella a Christmas present.







 
Sadie's Almost Marvelous Menorah by Jamie Korngold
A little girl breaks her handmade Hanukkah menorah but learns that, even broken, it can still have a role to play in the holiday celebration.






                                   
Little Santa by Jon Agee
A resident of the North Pole with the ability to slide up and down chimneys meets a flying reindeer and some industrious elves, in this fictional biography of Santa Claus.







                                   
Hanukkah Bear by Eric Kimmel
On the first night of Hanukkah, Old Bear wanders into Bubba Brayna's house and receives a delicious helping of potato latkes when she mistakes him for the Rabbi. Includes a recipe for latkes.







     
Gifts of the Heart by Patricia Polacco                              
Kay Lamity, Trisha and Richie's new housekeeper, shows them how special it is to give Christmas gifts that come from the heart.








     
Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean Pendziwol
The beauty and wonder of a northern winter night unfold.









     
Hanukkah in Alaska by Barbara Brown
A little girl describes the short, harsh days of winter in Alaska and her efforts to keep a moose from destroying trees and the swing in her back yard, which she finally succeeds in doing with the help of a Hanukkah treat. Includes facts about Hanukkah and the aurora borealis.






     
Big Snow by Jonathan Bean
An excited and frustrated boy watches hopefully as wintry weather develops slowly into a big snow.








     
A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea
Little Pyn finally persuades her gruff father to find the perfect Christmas tree in the snowy forest and, after bringing it home, decorates it with him.








     
A Pair of Friends in Winter by Megan McDonald
The author of the Judy Moody series teams up again with award-winning illustrator G. Brian Karas to show that true friends can weather whatever comes their way -- even if one is feeling antsy and the other has blissful hibernation in mind.







   
Deck the Halls, We're Off the Walls! by Dan Gutman
A. J. and his friends from Ella Mentry School are in for a weird Christmas surprise when they head to the local mall to see Santa Claus.








   
Nickel Bay Nick by Dean Pitchford
When eleven-year-old Sam gets into trouble and is forced to work for his reclusive neighbor Mr. Wells, he soon finds out that his mysterious new acquaintance hides many secrets of his own--including one that will change Sam's life forever.







     
The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson
A century after a yeti captures Lady Agatha Farlingham and takes her to a hidden valley to raise his motherless children, tourism threatens their peaceful existence and young Con and Ellen take these educated and civilized yetis across Europe to Lady Agatha's home in England.

- Briana C.