‘Warm and romantic, every page is sprinkled with Christmas magic’ Cressida McLaughlin, author of The Canal Boat Cafe

Clara, 5, loves Christmas, especially the presents. For as long as she can remember, Clara has written a "Dear Santa" letter to Santa Claus at the urging of her mother. Well, this year she decides not to ask Santa for anything in her letter. Instead, she wants him to surprise her, and the "wait" becomes a calendar countdown and a whole lot of looking under the tree. However, Clara becomes worried when she finds no presents under the tree day after day after day. The countdown is on.... Does Clara regret the "no ask" decision? Do you think she will do the same thing next year? Let's read and find out what happens in the end.

Author Susan Starr pens a fantastic story retelling the story of Christmas, Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus in her book Countdown to Christmas. This book explaining the story of the baby in the manger is perfect for young children and juvinlle readers features insightful commentary on the hometown of Joseph, and etymologies of Biblical names readers may not previously have known. This is a book combining the Biblical biography of baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary and a book that also features the content on Christmas. Starr skillfully prompts her audience to stay engaged in the reading through absorbing questions and activities that make this book entertaining and unique.

In November 1939, NBC's fledgling television station W2XBS broadcast the first known holiday special, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Despite its small viewership (very few TV sets existed at the time), the experimental telecast was a harbinger of a now-beloved American tradition: the holiday television special. This book offers a thorough account of holiday television specials in the United States from 1939 to 2021, highlighting variety shows, comedic performances, musical spectaculars and more. From familiar favorites (1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) to campy one-offs (1985's He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special), the 1140 programs are covered alphabetically and feature performance casts, production credits and storylines for each. Three appendices cover "lost" holiday specials, along with Christmas and Halloween-themed episodes of popular television series.

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.