Every December I pull out our much-loved stack of Christmas picture books and put them on the coffee table. I always intend to read them aloud multiple times throughout Advent, but most years I only get through a few. This year has been no different, but it hasn’t seemed to matter—they’ve been pored over by my literate and non-literate children alike. I think it’s because the best picture books feature poignant illustrations that very nearly tell the stories themselves.
So here are eight illustrators and a few of their lovely Christmas illustrations that are well-loved in our home. And please share your favorites in the comments below!
ONE: LISBETH ZWERGER
All Lisbeth Zwerger’s illustrations are lyrical and poetic, but her art for O. Henry’s The Gift Of The Magi is probably her most famous. Included below are also a few illustrations she did for Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
TWO: JERRY PINCKNEY
Jerry Pinckney is well-loved for his illustrations of folk and fairy tales (Bethany Kern wrote about him here), but his Christmas illustrations are also lovely. Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, Patricia McKissack’s The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, and Lisa Wheeler’s The Christmas Boot, all feature his beautiful watercolors.
THREE: BARBARA COONEY
Barbara Cooney’s Christmas books could have a post all to themselves—she wrote many! It is evident she loved Christmas and the traditions surrounding it. Sadly many of her books are out of print, but occasionally I find them at used book stores. Here are a few images from Ruth Sawyer’s The Year of The Perfect Christmas Tree, Rumer Godden’s The Story of Holly and Ivy, John Bierhorst’s Spirit Child, Margaret Wise Brown’s Christmas in the Barn and The Little Fir Tree, and Norma Farber’s How The Hibernators Came to Bethlehem.
FOUR: TRINA SCHART HYMAN
I have loved Trina Schart Hyman’s artwork ever since I was a little girl and was given her Little Red Riding Hood. Since then, I have collected as many of her books as I can find. Like Barbara Cooney, she has illustrated many Christmas books—below are illustrations from a few of them we love: A Child’s Calendar (with poems by John Updike), Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales.
FIVE: TOMIE DEPAOLA
Tomie dePaola can’t really count as “lesser-known,” but he is so beloved and has written and illustrated so many Christmas books, he cannot be left out. Here are a few we love! These images are from Jingle The Christmas Clown, Night of Las Posadas, Four Friends at Christmas,The Legend of the Poinsettia, and Three Wise Kings.
SIX: ELSA BESKOW
My eight-year-old daughter Mary loves Elsa Beskow’s books. The stories are sweet and foreign, and the cold seeps through her wintry illustrations.
SEVEN: GENNADY SPIRIN
Russian illustrator Gennady Spirin’s watercolors are regal, reverent, and spectacularly detailed. Here are images of his artwork from The Christmas Story, We Three Kings, and E. T. A. Hoffman’s The Nutcracker.
EIGHT: MAX GRAFE
Grafe has only illustrated one Christmas book that I know of: The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween, a retelling of an Irish folktale byRuth Sawyer (who also wrote The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree mentioned above). The story tells the life of Oona, a child abandoned during the great potato famine in Ireland, whose greatest desire is for a cabin of her own. In the end it is the wee gentle fairy people who bring magic and warmth to Oona in her old age.
This I know: given a white Christmas this year the wee fairy cabin of carn-na-ween will be having its latch lifted through the night by the lone and the lost and the heart-broken. Aye, Oona Hegarty, the tinker’s child, will be keeping the griddle hot, the kettle full, and her arms wide to the childer of half the world this night—if it be’s a white Christmas.
-Ruth Sawyer’s The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween
We plan to read aloud a few more books over the twelve days of Christmas; what are some of your favorites?
Thank you for reading, and Merry Christmas to you all!
This is my favourite Christmas post!!!! Thank you! We have three kiddos and only a few of these books, so I will start next year’s Christmas wish list now!
What a gorgeous list! So much inspiration from just your selections alone (what a great way to start the day!) but will definitely be adding some of these to our collection.
This is my favourite Christmas post!!!! Thank you! We have three kiddos and only a few of these books, so I will start next year’s Christmas wish list now!
What a gorgeous list! So much inspiration from just your selections alone (what a great way to start the day!) but will definitely be adding some of these to our collection.