PrintBooks are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896
US educator (1834 – 1926)
I’m pretty boring by most people’s standards, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t take recreational drugs, but wait, all is not lost, I do have a vice…I collect and read books with a hungry passion. I am really fortunate that I grew up with a mother who passed down her love of great literature to me. If you come to visit me, my house is pretty organized other than the fact, that my books spill out of every nook and cranny announcing themselves like beloved family members.
Today for Aisha’s “21 Days of Yule” celebration over on her blog “By the Broomstick“, I’m going to introduce you to some of my favorite books, that I eagerly tuck away on a shelf until Winter and all the holidays roll around. I’m going to divide this post in two parts as there are quite a few books I want to share with you and feel the best way to do this is at a slower pace and with great care. Books are so important to me and I want to make sure, that I can give them the proper attention they deserve. My second Yule/Christmas book post will be up during the weekend.
When I start to feel the seasonal pull of Winter, I light a fire, drink a cup of warm and fragrant herbal tea laced with honey and set my chosen pile of books down near me and dig in. So, please relax and get comfortable as I show you some books, that I’ve had since a child and one I just bought this year that I think you might like.
Some of these books, you may have never heard of, but some of them, I’m sure you already know and cherish as much as I do. I won’t start with a “favorite” book, because that’s like asking a mother to choose her favorite child. I love all of these books as they offer me different gifts, so they’re not in any particular order.
The way it is written is like a soft hush and the muted colors in the illustrations draw me into a Wintry world of moonlight and snow. A lot of these books I’m sharing with you are targeted for children of a certain age-range, but I ignore that. A childrens book often makes me smile more and touches a certain place in my heart that most “adult” books can’t touch.
The first one “The Tomten and the Fox” is about a Scandinavian gnome known as a “Tometen/Tomte” or a “Nisse” has a conversation with “Reynard” the Fox who is looking to steal some chickens from the barn that the Tomten protects. He tells Reynard that he will share the porridge that the family leaves him so that Reynard won’t go hungry during the Winter. The way it is written is like a soft hush and the muted colors in the illustrations draw me into a Wintry world of moonlight and snow.
Tasha Tudor was an author, illustrator and woman extraordinaire who feels like one of my grandmother’s, because I’m so familiar with her from the many books I’ve had since I was a little girl which I never grow tired of. She welcomes you into her New England family from a time past where pets, nature and simple pleasures give you a sense of warmth and belonging.
This book called, “Take Joy: Tasha Tudor Christmas Book” is an eclectic compilation of Christmas tales, lore, and music which is not written by Tudor herself, but has all of her beautiful art to highlight the pieces. I can’t tell you how excited I was as a little girl to grab this book at Christmastime and carefully go through each page, memorizing all of the stories which came alive to me because of Tudor’s illustrations.
The books contents tend to have more of the traditional Christmas slant rather than a pagan/Yule theme, but I’m one of those people that loves and celebrates both Yule and Christmas. It’s a great book to read when you want to invite the spirit of Christmas with happiness and “joy” (as the title says) for yourself and others.
Don’t laugh, but I read this book “The Christmas Cat” out loud to Miss Bella and Sele, (my two cats) because they’re like children to me and they always purr and sit quietly when I read it to them ; ) This book is actually written by one of Tasha Tudor’s daughters, Efna, with illustrations by Tasha. A lost and scared little kitty is caught in a Winter storm in the forest surrounded by hungry predators until a mysterious man finds her and brings her to a new home where she’s loved and protected.
I’m a sucker for anything that has animals in it and when there’s a happy ending, it becomes a favorite of mine. Unlike many books or movies, that tend to be corny or cloyingly sweet during this time of the year, there’s never a sense of overkill with forced sentimentality or predictable timing. I get chills of sadness, happiness and the feeling of magick when I read this.
Many of you might recognize the name of the author from this book; “A Christmas in Noisy Village” which is Astrid Lindgren. She wrote the famous book series; “Pippi Longstocking” which I used to devour as a little girl. Being of Scandinavian descent, my mother would often find books, that introduced me to the culture in an appealing way and this book was one of my favorite ways. We meet the children, Kerstin, Britta, Anna, Karl, Bill, Olaf and Little who live in farms located right next door to each other in a town nicknamed”Noisy Village” because of all the children who live there and the noise they make.
We get to see the children and their families prepare and then celebrate Christmas as if we were one of the children as well in an old-fashioned and charming way. I remember when I would read this book as a child, picking out the different characters and linking them to my brothers and their friends so that I felt like I lived in Noisy Farm too. I wish, that I experienced not only a Christmas like this one in Noisy Village, but also had such a good close-knit group of friends and family as well. (There are other books in the series of “Noisy Village” but this one is my favorite.) If I can’t live in a “Noisy Village” than I can suspend time for a little bit and pretend I live there romping in the snow and getting ready for a Christmas full of laughter and mischief.
I hope you liked this first part of my favorite holiday book post for “The 21 Days of Yule celebration.” (There are a lot of other great blogs also participating in “The 21 Days of Yule” so go and check them out too.) The other books I’m going to post about this weekend, are equally special and wonderful.
Also, if you check out Faerwillow’s blog “Serendipity“, you can read about a few of her favorite holiday books.
And please send a prayer or blessings to Faerwillow’s grandfather who just had a stroke.
I would love to add to my collection of holiday books, so please let me know about books you loved as a child and/or still do or books you’ve just discovered.
Here are the links for the books I posted about if you want to purchase them at Amazon or I’m sure you can find or order them at your library;
The Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren
Take Joy: Tasha Tudor Christmas Book
The Christmas Cat by Efner Tasha Homes (Illustrations by Tasha Tudor)
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
Graphic from "Magickal Graphics"
© 2010, Wendy S.. All rights reserved.
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ohhh now i have some new books to check out I can’t wait!! I wanted more children’s books to add to the collection and those look good too, thanks for sharing
BB
Aisha recently posted..NY Christmas 2010
Oh what an AWESOME post!!!! I LOVE Tasha Tudor.
And I spy another book I own – the Book of Christmas. I have a lot of the books in that series – they are all awesome (and sadly all now out of print). I’m a little crazy about books, myself. Thank you for a GREAT post! Theresa 
Theresa recently posted..Sounds of the Season
#Theresa→ I remember seeing a “Tasha Tudor Tuesday” button on your blog, and knew you were another Tasha fan. I had so many when I was a little girl and really loved the “Dolls” series and as you said they’re out of post making them hard to find or exorbitantly priced. Do you have the article from the “Victoria” magazine that was from quite a while back on Tasha? I could send you that if you like : )
I am going to have to check these out. With the exception of the first one about the gnome…gnome’s freak me out. But the rest of them look fantastic.
Tea Witch recently posted..Reverb10- Days 3-5
#Tea Witch→ I know that gnomes have a little weird side to them, lol…This one the Tomtem is a little different than mos Gnomes we know today, he doesn’t have that wicked clown look that a lot of them have ; )
this is a wonderful post wendy! I dont think I have heard of these books before. I really like the tomten and the fox!!!
blessings
Ponderosa Pagan recently posted..Kemetic Ritual
#Ponderosa Pagan→ I bet you have some great books that I’d love too. “The Tomten and the Fox” has to be one of my fave.’s that I read all through the year and not just in Winter.
I love Tasha Tutor’s work, it is so lovely. My favourite book as a child was The Littlest Angel. No, not a pagan flavour but I cried everytime because it touched my heart. Thank you for some new reads. Hugs and sparkles – WG
WitchyG recently posted..Website Friday – The Blanche Lake Pottery
#WitchyG→ Why have I heard of that book, “The Littlest Angel”? I know it must have been popular, because it rings a bell. And I don’t think we need to have strictly pagan/wiccan books in our collection. As I said, to me there are just certain symbols that we all resonate with no matter how they’re connected to certain spiritual or religious paths. Now, I”m going to seek out the “angel” book, I love angels!
I’m a Tasha Tudor fan – will dig out our Christmas books today & share them with you.
Really enjoyed seeing yours.
Love Leanne
Leanne recently posted..Friday 17th December
#Leanne→ You remind me of Tasha with all the love and care you put in your home and family. I would love to see your collection too : )
This is such a great post. The books sound great, and the tea sounds amazing. I am so inspired to do a ‘christmas reading wish list’ and just keep adding books throughout this next year so for next year I will have nice batch for the holiday reading challenges. I still have a stack to work through right now. Happy Holidays!
Cynthia
Wytching
The Wytch’s Mirror
Cynthia recently posted..an ecard – 21 Days of Yule Blog Party hosted by Aisha at By The Broomstick
#Cynthia→ Oh, I haven’t thought of a “Christmas Wish List” for books, great idea! I think I’d love to do the “Holiday Reading Challenge” and then we can share the books we all love and read about at the same time! Is the challenge still open? Thanks for the idea and comment : )
I always loved anything by Jan Brett, but my two treasure books that I always take out at Christmas time are “Trouble with Trolls” and “Christmas Trolls”. In the first the trolls are antagonists through and through, and they get what is coming to them. In the second, the trolls just want to be able to celebrate christmas too, so they start stealing Christmas decorations and presents, but then are taught about the meaning of christmas.
What I love best about both books are the illustrations. There are the big illustrations that tell the same story, but there are also smaller illustrations that tell a second ‘behind the scenes’ story about the troll’s pet, the hedgehog (because all trolls have hedgehogs for pets, don’t you know?
). Even now after reading the story initially I will go back through and just stare and stare at the pictures, letting my mind live through the stories.
Leathra recently posted..Sorry I havent touched in in a bit
#Leathra→ I think “Bretts” work is enchanting. I had a few books that were illustrated by Brett and can’t find them. There was one about a Christmas Kitty that I loved. If I can’t find them, I’ll have to add them to my “Book Wish List” that Cynthia suggested. I think I would love the Troll book, they get such a bad wrap, don’t they? ; ) And also I always wanted a pet hedgehog even though I wouldn’t because of course they’re little wild animals, but they have to be one of the cutest animals ever. Did you know they have a “Protect the Hedgehogs” society in England? And I was weaned on great illustrators like A. Rackham, Dulac, etc..so the art in a book is an absolute given to me too. Thank you for the mentioning of the Brett books, I’ll add them to my wish list.
Tomten and the Fox is one of my grands favorite wintery stories. We love anything to do with Nisse, gnomes, the fae of all sizes and forms. Blessed Yule to you, The Olde Bagg herself, Linda
The Olde Bagg recently posted..Tissue paper flowers as holiday bows
#Linda, we definitely have to talk more and compare our libraries. It sounds like you and I like the same world of magickal creatures. I just bought (I knew I should make some myself, but I’m too lazy) rice pudding to put out for the Tomten on Xmas Eve. It’s so nice to meet another friend who sees and appreciates the realm of the magickal one’s. : )
Funny – I was just thinking how I miss my children’s books – and thought about getting my favorites – just for me (and to read to the grand kids.) Thanks for the suggestions! If I find any good ones out there I will let you know!
Aine recently posted..Clearing up the Whole Yule Log Thing
#Aine→ I bet you’d find some great book as you’re a walking resource of knowledge and books. I definitely don’t have grandchildren, so love to read these books just for myself when I need to indulge my child within. And please do let me know if you find anyone’s you like. : )
Hi Wendy,
Hah! Now I know even better why I have felt that instant connection to you. Anyone who also loves books is likely to become an instant friend.
And, by the way, I guess I am boring, too — I don’t smoke, usually drink my only glass of sparkling wine on New Year’s Eve, and I don’t think I even need to mention drugs. If you listen to your favorite upbeat music and keep dancing in circles, you surely feel better than you would ever using drugs. Hah! Here’s to dancing!
Happy reading,
Birgit
Oh I agree with you Birgit that music produces a high like no other and dancing like a whirling dervish is almost psychedelic. And I can just imagine all the fun we’d have reading lots of books together and then comparing our finds. Great minds think alike, eh? : )
sadly I have no books from my childhood, as they were ruined by mold and water in a storage unit, when we were moving and the new house wasn’t ready. (we had to move in with my sister for 2 months…2 bedroom ranch…lots of fun, NOT 4 fully grown adults, my 18 yo brother who was on and off due to college and me at 13, and their 2 tots one 2 one a newborn)
I enjoyed reading your list. The only book I would add to it would be Dr. Suess’ “How the Grinch stole Christmas”
Hugs and Blessings,
Sue
Susan G recently posted..Days 16-19 of AishaOaktrees 21 days of YULE blog party
I’ve had books ruined too by mold which were left in a old garage. I’m glad I’ve been able to retain the one’s I have now. Why don’t you start a collection just for yourself, Susan? And the “Grinch” is one of my hero’s : ) I liked him a lot better in his grinchiness than when he became a honorary “Whoville” citizen. Except I always felt sorry for his little dog, Max.
Hi! What a beautiful design you have created. I just ordered a book through your site:Pagan Christmas. It looks good. When my boys were little I knit them all these little jackets called Tomten Jackets. It was a pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman and looks just like the pictures of your book. Love from luna :>D