Five Faves: For Celebrating Christmas... in July

Looking to celebrate Christmas in July? Here are five books to get you in the holiday spirit:

The Christmas Owl
Written by Ellen Kalish and Gideo Sterer

Illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki

New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2021. Picture Book.

Little Owl ends up on an adventure when her home, a tree in the country, is cut down to be the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. She learns what Christmas is all about on her journey to find her home!

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

Poem by Clement Clark Moore
Illustrated by Mr. Boddington’s Studio

New York : Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021. Picture Book.

After everyone is asleep on Christmas Eve, St. Nicholas travels from home-to-home delivering toys and filling stockings. Mr. Boddington’s Studio does a wonderful job pairing bright illustrations with the well-known poem by Clement Clarke Moore.

Dasher
By Matt Tavares
Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2019. Picture Book.

Dasher and her family are part of a traveling circus. Her mother shares stories of being free in the snow under the North Star and Dasher finds herself longing for that life. Seizing an opportunity to escape, she uses the North Star as a guide and finds Santa and his sleigh along the way.

The Polar Express

By Chris Van Allsburg
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985. Picture Book.

The Polar Express shows up outside of the boy’s house on Christmas Eve and takes him to the North Pole. He’s chosen to receive the first gift for Christmas. Once back on the train, he realizes it’s fallen out of his pocket. He returns home, saddened to have lost such a special gift. But, not all hope is lost. Christmas morning, he wakes up and finds an extra present left underneath the tree.

Everybody’s Tree

Written by Barbara Joosse
Illustrated by Renee Graef

Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press, 2021. Picture Book.

A man’s family grows alongside a beautiful spruce tree he planted as a little boy. Near the end of its life, it's taken to the city to be its Christmas Tree. After being strung with lights and ornaments, all of the people gather around for the lighting of the tree.

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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