Christmas books (with cookies on the side)

The Three Thinking Mothers are hosting a roundup of favorite family Christmas reads this year. The list could go on and on of course, so I’m restricting myself to the top 5. These are books that we return to each year, and they always charm us.

1.) There’s just something about Tasha Tudor. The Dolls’ Christmas delineates the festivities of two antique dolls in an enormous and lavishly furnished dollhouse. My girls are both into miniature worlds, so this is always a hit. I wrote a bit more about Tasha Tudor, and about the first two stories on my list, here.)

2. A Time to Keep is another Tasha Tudor favorite, though it’s not confined to Christmas; it includes other holidays too. But the section on Christmas is wonderful and evokes a sense of holiness. The family in the story ventures into the snowy woods to see a live Nativity. The warmly detailed illustrations are typical Tasha Tudor, as is the book’s ability to reach into the past to a time not necessarily simpler, but suggesting more spiritual and community wholeness.

3.) Next is The Fourth Wise Man, a picture book adaptation of Henry Van Dyke’s The Other Wise Man. It’s a lovely story about the best offering we can give the Christ child — compassion to “the least of these” in his name, not just at Christmas, but all our lives long. The illustrations in this children’s version are beautiful.

4.) Some things you never outgrow, and this story is one of them. The Grinch is a regular visitor to our shelf at Christmas time, even though my reading can never live up to Walter Matthau’s definitive performance on our audiobook of Dr. Seuss tales. (I wrote about this audiobook here.)

5.) Good King Wenceslas is a comparatively recent discovery that tells the story of the figure in the Christmas carol. It pairs the text of the song with beautiful illustrations, and includes a historical note at the end about Wenceslaus of Bohemia.

I’ve seen some posts on other blogs featuring their cookie-making traditions, and I thought I’d squeeze in a few of our favorites with this post. What’s better than curling up with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate, and a cookie (or two)?

First, we have to have sugar cookies. This recipe goes back to my childhood. I haven’t gotten around to them yet this year, but I will. Or rather, we will — making a mess on a grand scale but alas, it’s necessary to get from here to there.

Next, there must also be haystacks. This is a tradition inherited from my husband’s side. It involves butterscotch chips, melted and mixed with chow mein noodles and cashews.

Finally, we make these, which we call Supercookies. I use the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the butter-flavored Crisco can as a base and add in mixed nuts, peanut butter m&m’s, regular m&m’s, and mini semisweet chips. They’re completely decadent.

We’ve made some others, but these three are enough for a satisfying snack.

What are some of your favorite family reads? Share them in the comments or link up at Three Thinking Mothers. The invitation is open all week.