Books like Little Owl and the Star — picked by fans

This poem was published anonymously in 1823. It’s such a Christmas staple that it’s hard to imagine how ground-breaking it was, but the simple plot – a family sleeps on Christmas Eve while the father hears a noise outside and sees Santa Claus in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer – was the first to set that quintessential Christmas scene. A friend of the author was charmed by the poem and sent it anonymously to a New York newspaper. The author finally owned up to it in 1837, confessing that as a Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, he had been uneasy about being associated with “unscholarly verse” that he had written only to amuse his children. But this “unscholarly verse” made his name and charms us still.

According to Nielson ratings, 18.7 million households viewed the 2009 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie debut of A Dog Named Christmas. It outperformed the NFL game and 60 Minutes broadcasts that Sunday evening. I was one of the movie’s ‘captives.’

The short novel equally touched my heart. I admire how the author eased in the backstories of the dog, father, mother, and son—all so crucial in the story path. Todd, an animal lover and developmentally challenged young man wants his family to participate in a program to foster a shelter dog over the holidays. Can you guess the inherent conflict? The mother’s quiet strength and influence reminded me of Mrs. Brown in the movie, National Velvet.

Each time the ‘Little House’ books cross my path, I am reminded of where and when I first discovered the series. My dad regularly took my sister and I to the (Otis) Children’s Library, then located atop the Church Street hill in downtown Norwich, CT. We devoured the Little House books and much of the library’s young reader collection, usually finishing the books before their due date, when Dad was happy to drive us again. 

I probably identified with the Ingalls family. Their experience in the American frontier echoed certain life patterns of my dad’s immigrant family (a half-century later). Self-sufficiency, frugality, gratitude for small blessings, and appreciation for Nature’s beauty and bounties were just a few. This “Treasury” brings together many of Laura’s wonderful Christmas memories.

The 13th Gift is a mother’s memoir of an unforgettable Christmas. Just before the holidays, her husband suddenly dies. The family is devastated and lost; he was the glue in their family of five. The numb existence that sets in isolates them from one another. Christmas seems a bother, except to the young daughter. Then, a gift mysteriously appears on their porch.

I was pulled into this family’s touching day-by-day return from the abyss, thanks to the author’s storytelling and because I was reminded how powerful an act of kindness can be—and how simple. I think this true story inspires us to do more noticing and acting, when a person or family might need the help of an “angel.”

This one is actually a bit of a cheat as it’s not really set at Christmas, although it is suitably snowy. In fact, it was originally published as “Another Little Murder” but has been renamed by canny publishers. I’ve included it anyway because it is such a fun book and, with its isolated, country-house setting, it certainly feels cosy enough for this time of year.

Published in 1947, it features an exceptionally likable detective called Dilys Hughes. She’s a witty, quirky, and determined protagonist who finds herself at the wonderfully named manor of Wintry Wold, just in time to investigate the death of its elderly owner. With its light touch and plenty of banter, it’s far closer to modern “cozy” whodunits than gritty, hard-boiled fiction. A really fun read to devour before Christmas arrives.

I love this story, although my heart was breaking the whole time I read it.

Sam and Rachel’s dream of a houseful of kids is going to come true, at least for 12 days, although it’s already too late to salvage their marriage. Too much has happened…or hasn’t.

Rachel and Sam have already faced more loss and disappointment than they can bear, but it’s amazing what the heart can handle when it needs to, albeit with lots of cracks and scar tissue.

And it’s Christmas, after all… 

I like how Santa Mouse, Santa’s little mouse friend, wrapped a special present and took good care of it, despite falling from Santa’s sleigh and getting lost. Santa Mouse wouldn’t let the present out of his grip until he found a special Christmas tree inside a house with a special light to set the present on. The book shows the reader the importance of using care to protect something treasured. Santa Mouse’s determination pays off. This is a great message for kids.

I love curling up in my favourite armchair by the tree with a mug of hot chocolate to read this heavy, bumper-sized anthology.

It takes me back to Christmas Days spent lying on the rug in front of the fire reading festive annuals left under the tree  by Father Christmas. Its twenty-eight stories are reassuringly familiar, ensuring satisfaction wherever I randomly choose to dip in. I really can’t imagine Christmas without it.

As much as I love mysteries that are all done and dusted in a weekend, I also enjoy the longer, slower type of whodunit where the plot unfolds over weeks and even months. Murder in the Snow kicks off at Christmastime with a murdered thug, a missing housekeeper, and a possible ghost, but psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs. Bradley sticks around to solve the crime.

Bradley is often compared to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and appeared in sixty-six novels over half a century. In contrast to Agatha Christie’s famous heroine, Mrs. Bradley is a rather witchy and sarcastic character, but I enjoyed the way she works with her nephew and his wife in this book to solve the mystery of a series of disreputable characters’ involvement in a puzzling crime.

Con Riley writes prose like no other, and whilst this is the second book in her Christmas series, it can be read as a standalone.

This is a well-rounded Christmas trip where best friends and roommates Pat and Seb finally figure out what it means to belong. To each other. A mystery backstory and small revelations along the way make this a very enjoyable festive read. Even though it never actually snows in London.