20 Recent Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa Picture Books

from Pick a Pine Tree.

Denton, Kady McDonald. (2017). A Christmas for Bear. Illustrated by Bonny Becker.  London: Walker Books.
dePaola, Tomie. (2017). The Legend of Old Befana: An Italian Christmas Story. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

from  Queen of Hanukkah Dosas

Ehrenberg, Pamela. (2017). Queen of Hanukkah Dosas. Illustrated by Anjan Sarkar. New York: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux.
Evans, Lezlie. (2017). Finding Christmas. Illustrated by Yee Von Chan. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.
Furman, M.E. (2017). A World of Cookies for Santa: Follow Santa's Tasty Trip Around the World. Illustrated by Susan Gal. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

from Way Too Many Latkes: A Hanukkah in Chelm.

from My First Kwanzaa.

Glaser, Linda. (2017). Way Too Many Latkes: A Hanukkah in Chelm. Illustrated by Aleksandar Zolotic. Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing.
Huddy, Delia. (2017). The Christmas Eve Tree.  Illustrated by Emily Sutton. London: Walker Books. 

Katz, Karen. (2014). My First Kwanzaa. New York: Square Fish.

Killen, Nicola. (2017). The Little Reindeer. New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books.
Koster, Gloria. (2017). Little Red Ruthie: A Hanukkah Tale. Illustrated by Sue Eastland. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company
Londner, Renee. (2017. The Missing Letters: A Dreidel Story. Illustrated by Iryna Bodaruk. Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing. 

Manzano, Sonia. (2015). Miracle on 133rd Street. Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman. New York: Atheneum Books.

from Miracle on 133rd Street

McLellan, Stephanie Simpson. (2017). Christmas Wind. Markham, ON: Red Deer Press.
Nellist, Glenys. (2017). 'Twas the Evening of Christmas. Illustrated by Elena Selivanova. New York: Zonderkidz.
Orlen, Amy. (2017). The Nantucket Elves. Illustrated by Chiara Savarese. Herndon, VA: Mascot Books Inc.
Otto, Carolyn B. (2017). Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Kwanzaa. Washington DC: National Geographic.

Rylant, Cynthia. (2017). Nativity. New York: Beach Lane Books.
Rylant, Cynthia. (2017). Little Whistle's Christmas.  Illustrated by Tim Bowers. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Schmid, Eleonore. (2017). Santa Claus and the Dormouse. New York: NorthSouth Books.

ShaBazz-Ugwumba, Sarah. (2017). The Kwanzaa Family. Illustrated by Aminah ShaBazz. CA: WAG Publishing.

.from Snowball Moon

Slayton, Fran Cannon. (2017). Snowball Moon. Illustrated by Tracy Bishop. New York: little bee books.
Tavares, Matt. (2017). Red and Lulu. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
Toht, Patricia. (2017). Pick a Pine Tree. Illustrated by Jarvis. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

30+ Picture Books Set at Night

from My Night in the Planetarium

1. Barnet, Mark. (2017). Noisy Night. Illustrated by Brian Briggs. New York: Roaring Brook Press.
2. Bean, Jonathan. (2007). At Night. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. Brinkloe, Julie. (1986). Fireflies. New York: Aladdin.
4. Brooks, Martha. (2014). Winter Moon Song. Illustrated by Leticia Ruifernandez. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books. 
5. Clark, M.H. (2016). You Belong Here. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.  Seattle, WA: Compendium.
6. Clark, M.H. (2015). The Man Made of Stars. Illustrated by Lisa Evans. Seattle, WA: Compendium.
7. Cole, Rachel. (2017). City Moon. Illustrated by Blanca Gomez. New York: Schwartz & Wade.
8. Coy, John. (2001). Night Driving. Illustrated by Peter McCarty. New York: Square Fish.
9. Davies, Nicola. (2004). Bat Loves the Night. Illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies.Somerset, MA: Candlewick.
10. Denos, Julia. (2017). Windows. Illustrated by E.B. Goodale. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
11. Esenwine, Mark Forrest. (2017). Flashlight Night. Illustrated by Fred Kochler. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mill Press.
12. Fan, Terry. (2016). The Night Gardener. Illustrated by Eric Fan. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
13. Feder, Sandra V. (2016). The Moon Inside. Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
14. Fine, Edith Hope. (2010). Under the Lemon Moon.  Illustrated by René King Moreno. New York: Lee & Low Books. 
15. Fine, Edith Hope. (2010). Bajo la luna de limón. Illustrated by René King Moreno. New York: Lee & Low.
16. Hadfield, Chris. (2016). The Darkest Dark. Illustrated by the Fan Brothers. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
17. Horowitz, Ruth. (2004). Crab Moon. Illustrated by Kate Kiesler. Somerville, MA: Candlewick
18. Jam, Teddy. (2006). Night Cars. Illustrated by Eric Beddows. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books. 
19. Krishnaswami, Uma. (2015). Bright Sky, Starry City. Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books. 
20. MacLachlan, Patricia. (2016). The Moon’s Almost Here. Illustrated by Toni dePaola. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
21. Miyakoshi, Akiko. (2017). The Way Home in the Night. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press.
22. Mora, Pat. (2003). The Night the Moon Fell. Illustrated by Domi. Toronto ON: Groundwood Books. 
23. Nagara, Innosanto. (2016). My Night in the Planetarium. New York: Triangle Square.
24. Pendziwol, Jean E. (2013). Once Upon a Northern Night. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Toronto ON: Groundwood Books.
25. Porter, Pamela. (2008). Yellow Moon, Apple Moon. Illustrated by Matt James. Toronto ON: Groundwood Books.
26. Rocco, John. (2011). Blackout. New York: Disney-Hyperion.
27. Sendak, Maurice. (1996). In the Night Kitchen.  New York: HarperCollins.
28. Shasha, Mark. (2017). The Night of the Moonjellies. Purple House Press.
29. Sidman, Joyce. (2010). Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.  Illustrated by Rick Allen. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers. 
30. Sobrino, Javier. (2013). Night Sounds. Illustrated by Emilio Urberuaga. Translated by Elisa Amado. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
31. Wallis, Quvenzhané. (2017). A Night Out with Mama. Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. New York: Simon and Schuster. 
32. Yolen, Jane. (1987). Owl Moon. Illustrated by John Schoeherr. New York: Philomel Books.

12 Books for the New Year: 2018

For the last year I have met with a small group of eight women and over dinner each month we discussed whatever book we had selected to read and a million other things that the readings and living raised. I love my book group. If I was to describe it, I would say it was very cosmopolitan. We have selected the books for the next year and I wanted to write them down in print and share them.  Here's what we'll be reading:

January
Rushdie, Salman. (1991). Haroun and the Sea of Stories. New York: Granta Books/Penguin.

February
Solnit, Rebecca. (2012). A Field Guide to Getting Lost. New York: Penguin.

March
Wingate, Lisa. (2017). Before We Were Yours. New York: Ballantine.

April
Ishiguro, Kazou. (2006). Never Let Me Go. New York: Vintage.

May
Achebe, Chinua. (1994/2010).  Things Fall Apart. New York: Penguin.

June
Aslam, Nadeem. (2007). Maps for Lost Lovers. New York: Vintage.

July
Shankle, Melanie. (2017). Church of Small Things: The Million Little Pieces that Make Up a Life.  New York: Zondervan.

August
Smith, Zadie. (2016). Swing Time. New York: Penguin.

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September
Morrison, Toni. (1982).  Tar Baby. New York: Penguin.

October
Isenberg, Nancy. (2017). White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. New York: Penguin.

November
Allende,  Isabel. (2017). In the Midst of Winter: A Novel. New York: Atria Books.

December
Fergus, Jim. (2017). The Vengeance of Mothers: The Journals of Margaret Kelly & Molly McGill: A Novel.  New York: St. Martin Press.