Do you have a favorite children’s Christmas book? Mine isn’t a typical one. I just read it to my kids two nights ago. The book is Jingle the Christmas Clown by Tomie dePaola. When I was in second grade, my grandmother gave me this book for Christmas. She had gone to a book signing with Tomie dePaola and had him autograph the story for me. She also trimmed an article out of her local paper about Tomie and the book signing and laminated it. The article is still in the book like a bookmark.
I believe this is the first autographed book I received, and it meant so much
to me that my grandma would go to the book signing and purchase a copy of this little book for me. It means so much more to me now! It was a perfect story choice because the book has lots of baby animals, and I was obsessed with animals when I was young. It’s about a little clown who wants to make Christmas special for a town of people who are having a tough Christmas. It’s a very sweet story and Jingle is a very caring little clown.
I love Tomie dePaola’s illustrations! Even though the book is cute, it means so much to me because my grandmother gave it to me. She has passed away now, and it’s nice to remember her when I read this story with my children.
This year, my daughter is in second grade, and her class did an author study on Tomie DePaola last week. She was able to share the autographed copy of the book with her class on Zoom and I was able to share with my daughter how I got the book from her great-grandma.
I hope you all have a Christmas full of warm memories and lots of love!
Twelve Words of Christmas
Fave Christmas book? Sure, I will share it,
though you’ll find my choice quite odd;
’twas written by William E. Barrett
and it is “The Left Hand of God”,
the tale of an American pilot
who works for a warlord, postwar China;
he wants to leave, and keep it quiet,
but what you flee is gonna find ya.
Posing as a priest in a Romish mission
he seeks to keep his skin intact,
but it’s poor tactics to be wishin’,
and he must become a priest in fact,
putting vain hope on the shelf
and putting flock before himself.
What a beautiful thing to pass down to your own children!!! That is such a special thing your grandmother did and such a wonderful way to remember her. We have our own Christmas story favorites: The Shine Man, The Angel of Mill Street, The Nativity Story (beautiful photos from the movie paired with scripture), The Shepherd The Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry. But besides reading Christmas scripture, the only Christmas story that was passed down to me from my parents and grandparents was The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We read the whole thing with my grandparents and parents one year on Christmas Eve, passing the book to different adults at each chapter. I remember my dad saying that he wanted to make it a tradition. They never did, but I told my husband (then boyfriend) about the fizzled tradition and he bought me a copy of the book for Christmas. I read it to our sons every year as well as A Christmas Carol, The Nativity Story picture book, and that hilarious Dave Barry book!
This is so special, Rachel! My mom took me to a Tomie dePaola book signing at our local toy and book shop when I was quite a little girl, and we got several books signed by him–I vaguely remember it. 🙂 One of our beloved Christmas books growing up was another one of his, An Early American Christmas–such a special story. I haven’t read Jingle the Christmas Clown, but that sounds really precious too!
Others I remember loving as a child were a Tasha Tudor Christmas book, A Tomie dePaola illustrated version of The Friendly Beasts, Papa Panov’s Special Day, and a beautifully illustrated version of The First Christmas. Now we are establishing our own favorite Christmas books with our 19-month-old son, including The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, which my sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave him at Thanksgiving–so beautiful.
Thanks for a lovely Christmas post, and Merry Christmas, Books & Such Family!
How dear! I have a poster that he signed during a Cedar Rapids Museum of Art (Iowa) feature in 1995! My son and I loved all the Strega Nona and Big Anthony stories. In fact, our I made puppets (with women’s sheer stockings for the heads) for our Cub Scouts den to put on shows during a Scouts day at a local mall. Oh my, I guess I’m gonna have to do a blog post about this!
The only thing better than an heirloom is an heirloom with a story. – Joy Neal Kidney
When I was a kid my parents read The Night Before Christmas to me and my brother every Christmas Eve so that’s my favorite.
Our family favorite is “If You’re Missing Baby Jesus,” the true story of a family whose ordinary Christmas is transformed when they bring the love of “Baby Jesus” to a desperate mother and her children. We call it, “the book that makes Dad cry.”