Beautiful Books for Teen and Y1 Child

[BoringBarbie]

For Christmas we always do a Christmas Eve box with new PJs, hot chocolate and a book. (I know it's not for everyone, but the kids love this part of Christmas).

This year, we're spending it in Lapland so we want the book to be a bit special- there won't be many other presents as the holiday is the main gift.

I'm looking for 2 books, preferably with a bit of a Christmas/Scandinavia theme:

1. 5 yo girl, already has Jolly Xmas Postman a few gorgeous personalised books and most of the "classic" Christmassy books. She's not much into non-fiction, she likes stories.

1. 16yo girl, likes graphic novels but also some non-fiction. Loves Marvel but has a lot of Marvel books already.

Any ideas for some books with a bit of wow factor for them?

Not specifically Christmassy but if you haven't already got them I'd recommend Pippi Longstocking for your 5 year old. They're a bit longer than standard picture books but still easily for a 5 year old. The Lauren Child illustrated translations are great. Meet the Scandinavian theme and a great strong girl role model.

Another option which might work is the Moomin Books which are actually Finnish and i think there's one about Christmas or winter.

If you want something that's more of a picture book for your youngest then The Tomten also by Astrid Lindgren is a lovely little story about a gnome going around a snowy farm at night speaking to all the animals. Another good Astrid Lindgren option (I'm part Swedish and a fan can you tell!) are the Children of the Noisy village books which have stories about Christmas but they are bit more chapter books so might work better for a 6 year old.

Also is check out what Elsa Beskow books you could get hold of. They're old Swedish picture books and have beautiful illustrations some of them are Christmassy like Peter and Lotta's Christmas.

For your 16 year old I can't think of something specially graphic novel. I actually also love the Astrid Lindgren book Ronja the Robbers daughter which is very adventurous but really more aimed at maybe a 9 year old though i think i might still have enjoyed at 16.

Perhaps you could find a good graphic novel version of the Norse mythology (I think Neil Gaimen did some though not sure how I feel about buying his books now).

Alternatively i think Tove Jansson who wrote the Moomin Books also wrote some more grown up books. There's one called the Winter Book which is a collection of short stories and might be suitable. Good luck, I hope you find something good. Have a great trip.

Ooh Moomins is an absolutely excellent idea, we do have the Lauren Child Pippi Longstocking book and she's not into it yet for some reason.

I know what you mean about not buying Neil Gaiman although I love his writing. I might look it up on WOB or Vinted so the money isn't going to him. She loves Percy Jackson so Norse Mythology might be up her street too.

I will look into the other authors you mention too, thank you so much!

Have you got any story orchestra books ?

There is a beautiful Nutcracker musical book on Amazon. It’s quite big though for packing…

A boy called Christmas. Or the first in that series is good… maybe a bit young for teen dd.

or if she liked the You Choose series (the 16 year old, as I have a 16 year old dd who was obsessed with this book as a child!) there is a Christmas version which would work for the nostalgia…

The Castle Mice books by Michael Bond are lovely.

For the teen - has she read A Christmas Carol? Obviously eveyone knows the general.story, but its a fantastic read if she hasn't and you could get an attractive copy. The Mouse Guard graphic novels are great too (not trying to push a mouse theme, honest!).

Yes, she's got most of these, they are so beautiful!

Christmas Carol was the first one that jumped into my head but then I remembered she did it last year in school as part of her most hated GCSE, so I think it's ruined now. I'll look up the Mouse Guard and we love Paddington so the Michael Bond series you mention sounds great.

Theres nothing like studying something at GCSE to suck the life out of it!

Can't advise on the older child, but my son will be 5 just after Christmas.

He still enjoys the you choose books (as the other poster mentioned) so the Christmas one has been ordered for this year.

I'm also getting him Shirley Hughes book for this year, there are a couple of Christmas ones to choose from. I had no idea about Shirley Hughes until this summer, I was back in my family's home, and there was a lot of my older sister's old children's books, including some from Hughes, and I read them to my son. Really beautiful and wholesome books, that had somehow entirely passed me by.

also - Santa claus and his elves, by Kunnis -

That was my favourite as a child, It is by a finish author.. might be very suitable for a lapland trip.

I loved it because of how detailed it was about elves/santa's workshops.

Not sure how easy it is to buy now though, amazon doesn't seem to have a simple new version.

(Also looking through Amazon for Christmas books is depressing. So much slop. meaningless, soulless copies and slop, hundreds and thousands of nearly identical books, cashing in on Christmas. I know there are still great books being written and published, but its depressing how hard it so to find them on Amazon unless you know what you are searching for)

I know, so many "write by numbers" books being churned out by celebrities or ghost writing conglomerates, it's depressing. 5 yo is really good at listening and understanding, so we've enjoyed reading books like Five Children and It, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and Tom's Midnight Garden. She couldn't read anything like that herself so we need simpler books she can manage on her own but please something better than The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas and The Rainbow Fairies.

I've found a copy on World of Books for £23 and now I have to choose between Moomins and this one- hard choices!

For the younger one, The Cat In The Manger is a really lovely Nativity story, with beautiful full page colour illustrations of the stable with all the animals.

The Empty Stocking, by Richard Curtis would be another must-have for me.
The teen, I have no idea, except for A Christmas Carol.

Jeanette Winterson has written some lovely Christmas books. The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me is stunning for all ages.
The Christmas Truce is short but might go down well with your teen.

There is an illustrated edition of His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman. Northern lights might be a good place to start?

https://www.waterstones.com/book/northern-lights-the-graphic-novel/philip-pullman/st-phane-melchior/9780857535429
or
https://www.waterstones.com/book/northern-lights-the-award-winning-internationally-bestselling-now-full-colour-illustrated-edition/philip-pullman/chris-wormell/9780702305085
other ideas. There's a winter short stories by Agatha Christie
https://www.waterstones.com/campaign/festive-reads

What about the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett starting with "wee free men". Strong female characters combined with fantasy. Not as classic as others though.