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More on Christmas Traditions

christmas 2006 - 1

Another collection I bring out every year at Christmastime is our Christmas picture books and music.  I don’t know about you all, but I always put away the Christmas books during the rest of the year so they are fresh and exciting to look at every Christmas  season.  That’s what my mom did, so that’s what I do!

We enjoy using these story books and Christmas carols to teach our children our beliefs about the birth  of Jesus and God’s redemptive plan.  We also enjoy reading stories that tell tales of our cultural Christmas traditions (yes, gasp, even Santa).

My very favorite of all Christmas books is Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree.  My mom saw Captain Kangaroo (anyone remember him!!?) read this book on his television show when I was a little girl, and she fell in love with the story and bought the book.  It was my favorite growing up, and now it is a favorite of my children’s.

If you haven’t read it or don’t have it, please for the love of all that is merry and bright, order this book TODAY!  See, it even qualifies for free super saver shipping on Amazon.  Order several and give the extras as gifts.  It’s that good.

Another favorite is The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.  It tells a sweet story of a little girl’s Appalachian Christmas.

And if you are looking for a book that tells the Christmas story, I am very fond of a book entitled The Christmas Story.  The words are straight from the Gospel of Luke, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

Then I have a Christmas  playlist on my iPod that’s full of, well, Christmas music, of course. So we  enjoy the sounds of Christmas in our car and house throughout the season.

I’ve been trying to think of my favorite Christmas carol, and I really don’t think I can choose one.  I love the old classics like Hark the Herald Angels Sing and some of the more obscure like Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.  There is a richness in the hymnity that is rarely replicated in more modern lyrics, I don’t know why.  I find this particularly striking in Christmas carols.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the more modern Christmas songs as well.  I have quite a few Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant tunes on my Christmas playlist.  But the hymns have a way of humbling me.

So what are some of your favorite books and songs?

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