Winter and Holiday Titles for the K-12 Classroom
The weather is getting colder and the days shorter, a sure sign that December is upon us, and with it, winter and a wide variety of holiday celebrations! As educators who work with students from all backgrounds, it’s important to make sure that all students feel seen. One way to do this is to discuss all of the various holidays that your students may celebrate in the classroom.
This booklist highlights some of our favorite seasonal titles from the past few years. Whether your students celebrate Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, or none of the above, you can find the perfect wintry title for them this season!
Additionally, the Center for Educators and Schools is presenting a professional development titled Cozy Up With a Good Book: Winter Titles and Activities for the Classroom that will delve deeper into a number of the titles on this list, pairing them with fun classroom activities. This hour-long webinar will start at 12 PM on Friday, December 9th, and attendees will be eligible for 1 CTLE credit. We hope to virtually see you there!
Children's Titles
The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper; illustrated by Carson Ellis
A celebration of the winter solstice and the Yuletide season. As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, early people would gather to prepare for the long night ahead. They built fires and lit candles. They played music, bringing their own light to the darkness, while wondering if the sun would ever rise again. Susan Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day" captures the magic behind the returning of the light, the yearning for traditions that connect us with generations that have gone before—and the hope for peace that we carry into the future.
Tizzy, the Dizzy Dreidel
by Allison and Wayne Marks; illustrated by Francesca Assirelli
Encouraged by the little girl who selected her from the pile of dreidels, Tizzy the dreidel bravely sets out on an eight-day spinning Hanukkah adventure.
Great for storytime!
Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story
by Fran Manushkin; illustrated by Kris Easler
When a blizzard leaves a family housebound one Hanukkah, they share what little food they have with some starving animals who later return the favor.
An updated version of a story originally published in 1989, this has lovely images and works well as a read-aloud in younger grades.
Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift
by Dara Goldman
Boris and Stella are in love but do not have much money, so Stella sells something very important to her in order to buy Boris a Hanukkah gift, and Boris does likewise to buy Stella a Christmas present.
This take on O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” beautifully features both Christmas and Hanukkah.
A World of Cookies for Santa
by M.E. Furman; illustrations by Susan Gal
This tasty book takes readers across the globe to see all the treats that await Santa on Christmas Eve. M. E. Furman also provides recipes for children to bake some of Santa's cookies for themselves.
'Twas Nochebuena
by Roseanne Greenfield Thong; illustrated by Sara Palacios
Explores Latin American traditions for celebrating Christmas Eve in a text that combines English and Spanish words and follows the rhythm of Clement Moore's "The Night Before Christmas".
Soulful Holidays
by Ciara L. Hill; illustrated by Christian Krabbe
An inclusive rhyming story celebrating the joys of Christmas and Kwanzaa. This book gives readers a sense of the soulful nature of both Christmas and Kwanzaa in a way that honors the Black and African American experience.
Together for Kwanzaa
by Juwanda G. Ford; illustrated by Shelly Hehenberger
While celebrating Kwanzaa and its many traditions with her parents, Kayla hopes that her big brother Khari will get home from college before the holiday is over.
Vibrant illustrations and excellent use of Swahili terminology make this older title a classroom staple.
The Sound of Kwanzaa
by Dimitrea Tokunbo; illustrated by Lisa Cohen
Hear the words, sing the songs, dance to the beat, and shout "Harambee!" as you jump into this joyful celebration of the sounds of Kwanzaa! Lively verse and colorful illustrations guide you through the seven principles of this festive holiday. All you have to do is come close, gather round, and discover what Kwanzaa is all about!
Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story
by Angela Shelf Medearis; illustrated by Daniel Minter
When they are given the seemingly impossible task of turning thread into gold, the seven Ashanti brothers put aside their differences, learn to get along, and embody the principles of Kwanzaa. Includes information on Kwanzaa, West African cloth weaving, and instructions for making a belt.
Every Month Is a New Year: Celebrations Around the World
by Marilyn Singer; collages by Susan L. Roth
A collection of original poems about New Year celebrations throughout the year and around the world. Includes an introduction about worldwide New Year celebrations plus a map, information about calendars, New Year greetings in many languages, additional factual information about the celebrations, and the author's sources.
Alex’s Good Fortune
by Benson Shum
It's time to celebrate Chinese New Year! Join Alex as she gets ready for the holiday and shares her family's traditions with her best friend, Ethan.
Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade
by Lyla Lee; illustrated by Dung Ho
Mindy is excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Even though it’s the first one without her mom, Mindy is determined to enjoy the day. She decides to make traditional Korean New Year food: a rice cake soup that’s her favorite. But things aren’t going quite to plan, and the celebration doesn’t feel the same as it did before. With the help of her family and friends, can Mindy find a way to still enjoy her old holiday traditions, and create new ones along the way?
Middle Grade Titles
Greenglass House
by Kate Milford; with illustrations by Jaime Zollars
At Greenglass House, a smuggler's inn, 12-year-old Milo, the innkeepers' adopted son, plans to spend his winter holidays relaxing, but soon guests begin arriving with strange stories about the house, sending Milo and Meddy, the cook's daughter, on an adventure.
The Forgotten Girl
by India Hill Brown
When eleven-year-old Iris sneaks out at night to make snow angels, she was not expecting to raise the ghost of Avery Moore, a girl her own age; but bringing to light the segregated and abandoned black cemetery seems like the perfect way to help Avery get the recognition she craves, and it will also be a good idea for the school project about the history of her small North Carolina town, where racial tensions are never far from the surface—only it seems that if Avery gets everything she wants, Iris will join her as a ghost, best friends forever.
One Jar of Magic
by Corey Ann Haydu
Joining her family in her community's annual New Year's Day magic-capturing ceremony, a 12-year-old girl who has always been lucky captures just one tiny jar of magic, revealing the true nature and beliefs of her loved ones.
Because this book includes domestic abuse and violence it may be more suitable for mature middle grade readers.
The Polar Bear Explorers' Club
by Alex Bell; illustrated by Tomislav Tomić
Join Stella Starflake Pearl and her three fellow explorers as they trek across the snowy Icelands and come face-to-face with frost fairies, snow queens, outlaw hideouts, unicorns, pygmy dinosaurs, and carnivorous cabbages. When Stella and three other junior explorers get separated from their expedition, can they cross the frozen wilderness and live to tell the tale?
Voyage of the Frostheart
by Jamie Littler
After his parents were lost on a pathfinding expedition, Ash, a song weaver, finds himself an outcast, but when his caretaker books them on the ship Frostheart, Ash uses his song weaving to protect the Frostheart from monsters beneath the ice, while he seaches for his parents.
Young Adult Titles
Eight Nights of Flirting
by Hannah Reynolds
Sixteen-year-old Shira is on a mission to find the perfect boyfriend over Hanukkah, but after getting snowed in on Nantucket with her nemesis-slash-former-crush, her plans begin to go off the rails.
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
edited and with a story by Stephanie Perkins
If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms, and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you're going to fall in love with this collection of short stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Years, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.
I'm Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas
by Tiffany Schmidt
To help save up money for her elite ballet academy tryouts, Noelle accompanies her favorite babysitting clients on their Christmas holiday, and when their son Wyatt unexpectedly arrives, Noelle keeps accidentally stepping on his toes despite him being the pas de deux partner of her dreams.
Great for younger teens!
A Castle in the Clouds
by Kerstin Gier; translated by Romy Fursland
Way up in the Swiss mountains, there's an old grand hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year's Eve Ball takes place, and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways. Sophie, who works at the hotel as an intern, is busy making sure that everything goes according to plan. But unexpected problems keep arising, and some of the guests are not who they pretend to be. Very soon, Sophie finds herself right in the middle of a perilous adventure and at risk of losing not only her job but also her heart.
The Resolutions
by Mia García
Growing apart as their senior year approaches, four longtime friends adapt their annual New Year's tradition by making dare-oriented resolutions for each other that test their bonds and compel them to consider alternative life paths.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
by Sue Lynn Tan
Forced to flee her home on the moon after her magic flares up, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest to save her mother, in a new fantasy novel inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.