Holiday Animals
While I don’t celebrate Christmas, I do love the holiday season! I love the colorful lights and how it gets dark outside a bit earlier and we can enjoy them longer; I love bundling up in my favorite hats and scarves; I love warming my icicle fingers on steaming mugs of cocoa with marshmallows and spiced apple cider; and most especially, I love curling up under a warm blanket with a good wintery book.
But you know what rivals my love of this festive season? ANIMALS! So why not just combine the two!!?
Before Simon sails to America, he promises his family that he will get a job and send for them. Simon’s mother knows he will need a miracle, so she reminds him to celebrate Hanukkah wherever he may be. Little does either of them know that Simon will spend the first night of Hanukkah on an ice floe after his ship sinks. The lone survivor out in the wide ocean, Simon lights the first candle, and it attracts a visitor: a polar bear.
Does she eat him? No! She shares his latkes, enjoys his songs, goes fishing for him, and even keeps him warm at night. By the last day of Hanukkah, Simon has nearly given up hope of ever being rescued. But then he recounts all of the miracles that have befallen him so far. Perhaps it is not too much to hope for one more, he thinks, as he lights all of the candles in the menorah. The bright glow signals a passing ship, and Simon makes it to New York after all. This fanciful Hanukkah tale – like none you’ve ever read before – celebrates eight miracles: family, friendship, hope, selflessness, sharing, faith, courage, and love.
If you haven’t gotten enough of Hanukkah, or maybe you’re getting excited for Tu B’Shevat, Beni’s Tiny Tales has it all! This adorable bear family will welcome you in with their traditions, stories, craft projects, and delicious recipes.
Chronicling a full year of Jewish festivities—from Rosh Hashanah through Shavuot, with every momentous occasion in between—this one-of-a-kind treasury includes homespun family stories, origin notes, craft activities, songs, and recipes for each holiday. With ideas on how to make masks for Purim, recipes to bake fresh honey-dipped challah to mark the new year, and so much more, this interactive holiday collection begs to be revisited again and again.
When Little Owl’s home is cut down by people saying it will make a beautiful Christmas tree, she’s not sure she wants anything to do with Christmas, whatever that means. But then she is saved by a woman named Ellen, whose house is merrily decorated for the holiday, and filled with birds who need someone to care for them. Surrounded by kindness and helpful new friends, Little Owl begins to wonder if Christmas might not be such a bad thing after all….
Mr. Peanuts loves Christmas – but he loves it even more when he has a friend to share it with. When Cousin Squirrel invites him to spend the holidays together, Mr. Peanuts is in for a whirlwind of winter fun! Mr. Peanuts and Cousin Squirrel are the perfect holiday addition to every household. Featuring photographs of wild squirrels in handcrafted homemade miniature settings, this striking book is sure to surprise and delight young and old alike.
The holiday season is in full swing in Spencer – the lights are twinkling, the wreaths are hung, and Christmas bells are ringing. Inside the library, Dewey longs to be part of the holiday fun and after a series of silly misadventures, Dewey finds a way to add his own special touch to his beloved Christmas tree – and the results are Dew-rific!
How do you find the best Christmas present ever for your best friend in the whole wide world? That’s what Toot is trying to find out, and Puddle is having just as much trouble. With a nod to previous books in the bestselling Toot & Puddle series, Holly Hobbie shows readers that the best kind of present for the best kind of friend is one that shows just how much you care.
And if you fall in love with these two friends as much as I have, you’ll be glad to hear that they have another Christmas tale to devour! Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas tells the story of Toot trying to get home to Puddle for the holidays after getting stuck in Edinburgh. (Although… I could think of far worse places to be stuck than Scotland!)
Before you say anything—just because dinosaurs are extinct does not mean they don’t get to count as animals too! And these little dinosaurs are craaazzzzzyyyy. Think Elf on a Shelf level mischief and multiply that by five.
I asked my parents for a puppy for Hanukkah, and although I didn’t get one, a girl can still dream! This sweet chapter book is the perfect stocking stuffer for your newly independent dog-loving reader.
This Christmas, Quinn Cooper is combining the two things she loves the most, painting and animals, by making ornaments to raise money for her local pet shelter’s “12 Pets of Christmas” drive. The goal of the drive is to find forever homes for twelve cats and dogs before Christmas. With half the proceeds from her ornaments going to the shelter, Quinn plans to use the rest of the money she raises to buy a plane ticket to visit her best friend, who moved away last summer. As Christmas draws closer, the adopt-a-thon is going great… but Quinn’s favorite dog at the shelter, Buddy, is proving especially hard to place. Quinn finds the perfect home for the dog, but the family can’t afford to take on the financial responsibility of adopting him. Will the magic of Christmas help make sure that Quinn – and all the pets-have a very merry Christmas?
This Christmas, Quinn Cooper is combining the two things she loves the most, painting and animals, by making ornaments to raise money for her local pet shelter’s “12 Pets of Christmas” drive. The goal of the drive is to find forever homes for twelve cats and dogs before Christmas. With half the proceeds from her ornaments going to the shelter, Quinn plans to use the rest of the money she raises to buy a plane ticket to visit her best friend, who moved away last summer. As Christmas draws closer, the adopt-a-thon is going great… but Quinn’s favorite dog at the shelter, Buddy, is proving especially hard to place. Quinn finds the perfect home for the dog, but the family can’t afford to take on the financial responsibility of adopting him. Will the magic of Christmas help make sure that Quinn – and all the pets-have a very merry Christmas?
If I can’t have a dog, my second-choice pet would most certainly be a penguin! I love how they waddle, how they slide on their bellies, how the baby penguins are all fluffy. And though Mr. Popper’s Penguins isn’t a Christmas story, something about snuggling up with a beloved classic always screams holidays to me!
Mr. Popper’s Penguins is one of the handful of American books for children that has attained the status of a classic. A humble house painter is sent a male penguin by the great Admiral Drake and, thanks to the arrival of a female penguin, soon has twelve penguins living in his house. First published in 1938, Mr. Popper’s Penguins has amused and enchanted generations of children and their parents. 
Are you ready for a festive adventure? Join me, Junior on the most PAWSOME, most BARKTASTIC journey through the HOWLIDAY SEASON. You’ll read all about:
- FANGSGIVING, CRITTER-MESS and the mysterious SAINT LICK.
- Why strange humans called CAROL come and howl at the front door.
- And why SHINY TREES suddenly sprout inside your kennel!
This will be the best holiday EVER! As long as the Mom-Lady doesn’t find out what I did to the Fangsgiving turkey. You can keep a SECRET, right?
