This is the perfect gift to share with children before they see The Nutcracker. Everyone who has seen the ballet will cherish it--as will anyone who enjoys stories where love triumphs. Come, take a front-row seat. The world's most beloved holiday fairy tale is about to begin.

    From a red prayer rug to a blue hijab, everyday colors are given special meaning as young readers learn about clothing, food, and other important elements of Islamic culture, with a young Muslim girl as a guide. Sure to inspire questions and observations about world religions and cultures, Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns is equally at home in a classroom reading circle as it is being read to a child on a parent's lap.

    But when things don't go exactly as planned, Penguin learns to find holiday magic in the most unexpected places.Countless readers and reviewers have already come to love the adorable Penguin, and Salina Yoon continues this still-growing series with a timeless story of holiday magic and the importance of family and friends. Readers will delight in seeing all of their favorite characters reunited again.

    Carman.

    Only their memories of a beautiful doll named Morning Glory brighten their bleak lives. When a deadly fever sweeps through the workhouse where the girls live, Lucy and Glory flee to the mean streets of London.One day the girls find an old battered doll that Glory senses is their beloved Morning Glory. But Morning Glory is no ordinary doll--the girls learn that she has magical powers that will change their lives in amazing ways.. With the help of the doll, the sisters discover the true meaning of the Christmas spirit.

    Stick Man lives in the family tree With his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three ..."a cracker of a book" - Financial Times"You'll read this book again and again" - Daily Mail

    In "Matchless", Maguire adds a different dimension to the story, intertwining the match girl's tale with that of a young boy, Frederik, whose own yearnings are the catalyst for a better future for himself and his family. Maguire uses his storytelling magic to rekindle Andersen's original intentions, and to suggest transcendence, the permanence of spirit, and the continuity that links the living and the dead.

    But at one home in particular, an endless succession of gifts keeps arriving: birds of all stripes, ladies dancing aboard a brightly bedecked boat, lords leaping on rooftops, and pipers piping up and down stairs. Filled with intricate patterns and whimsical flourishes, Jane Ray’s gorgeous artwork is the perfect match for this wonderfully cumulative tale.

    Accompanied by angels, shepherds, kings and even a Roman governor, she is rushing back through time and space to Bethlehem, to be present at the birth of Christ. Fifty years later a boy called Joachim pieces together her story from a magic advent calendar and brings it to a conclusion.

    Told from the child's perspective, Blizzard contrasts the coziness of home with the wildness of nature, celebrating the beauty of both.Lyrical text and striking illustrations depict the child's gentle adventure.

    The witch has grown the biggest pumpkin ever, and now she wants to make herself a pumpkin pie for Halloween. But the pumpkin is so big she can't get it off the vine. It’s so big the ghost can’t move it, either. Neither can the vampire, nor the mummy. It looks as if there’ll be no pumpkin pie for Halloween, until along comes the bat with an idea to save the day. How can the tiny bat succeed where bigger and strong spooky creatures have failed? You'll be surprised!

    He whips up snowflakes as big as dinner plates and winds strong enough to split firewood!

    And that lost mitten stretches and stretches -- and stretches -- to provide shelter for many woodland creatures. A Ukrainian folk tale.

    Told with 96 pictures by Peter Collington, the master of the wordless story, this is a Christmas treasure the entire family can enjoy."Without a doubt the most original Christmas book of the year not the least because of its surprising yet, in context, fitting combination of the devout and the surreal." -The Horn Book, starred review"The story is sweet, simple and wordless. The illustrations are intricate enough to warrant reading this one over and over." - American Bookseller"an upbeat story to treasure for this and many Christmases to come." - School Library Journal

    . . To most people, these things are useless trash. But to a clever crow, they're just what he needs to create a special surprise--a beautiful Christmas tree that everyone can treasure. Told in jaunty rhyme by Kathi Appelt and lavishly illustrated by Jon Goodell, this heartwarming story of people brought together by a very unexpected artist has all the makings of a Christmas classic.