Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things.
Yes, we all have "favorite things," and seldom have they been articulated more lovingly than by Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960), the inimitable composer-librettist team whose exquisite song from "The Sound of Music" has resonated among children and adults alike for more than 40 years. Now the subject of a warm visual interpretation by Renee Graef, "My Favorite Things" (HarperCollins, $15.95, 32 pages, all ages) is a book that speaks directly to the joyful mood of the season, one that children will enjoy year after year.
The prize for best illustrated book of the season goes out to Caldecott Honor artist Susan Jeffers for her radiant interpretation of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (Dutton, $15.99, 32 pages, ages 4 and up). Frost (1874-1963) was a poet blessed with the ability to reach readers at every level of sophistication. Jeffers' coupling of black-and-white wintry backgrounds with subtly-colored objects is mesmerizing; it's a book to treasure. Very high on the list as well is a new version of "Baboushka: A Christmas Folktale From Russia" (Candlewick Press, $15.99, 32 pages, ages 4 to 8), adapted by Arthur Scholey and illustrated by Helen Cann. It retells the traditional story of an old woman who makes up for not accompanying the Wise Men on their epochal journey by spending her days from that point on honoring good deeds and giving gifts to newborn children. The holidays would be barren without a new edition of "A Christmas Carol." This timeless tale of goodness and decency triumphing over indifference and arrogance has moved readers since its first appearance in 1843. This year there is a nice adaptation by Stephen Krensky, with paintings by Dean Morrissey (HarperCollins, $17.95, 64 pages, ages 7 to 10). Not to be forgotten either is a new edition of the E.T.A. Hoffmann fairy tale particular to the season, "The Nutcracker" (Chronicle Books, $19.95, ages 4 to 7, 32 pages, with CD). For this adaptation, Seattle artist Julie Paschkis has created a beautiful suite of dreamlike paintings, a visual treat rendered in gouache that is complemented by a compact disc of Tchaikovsky's score of the ballet, as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Five of the most endearing Christmas stories, poems, and carols of all time - "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas," "A Visit From St. Nicholas" and "Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn" paramount among them - are brought to life for yet another season by the artist Kevin Hawkes in "A Christmas Treasury: Very Merry Stories and Poems" (HarperCollins, $16.95, 44 pages, all ages). Writer Shirley Climo and artist Jane Manning have come up with a clever explanation for the practice of decorating fir trees with tinsel in "Cobweb Christmas" (HarperCollins, $15.95, 32 pages, ages 4 to 8), using an old German folk tale for inspiration. As the title suggests, the custom begins when a group of spiders makes its way into an old woman's cottage with hopes of being part of the celebration. Driven to search out the source of the Santa Claus legend, the prolific Marianna Mayer was determined to prove "that such a wonderful character couldn't possibly be mere fiction." In "The Real Santa Claus" (Phyllis Fogelman Books/Penguin, $16.99, 32 pages, all ages), she profiles the life of the legendary St. Nicholas, whose adventures date from the fourth century. She uses a rich selection of beautiful paintings to accompany a lively text. Andrea Davis Pinkney and her husband, Brian Pinkney, have drawn on research into the monumental efforts of African-American, Italian and Irish workers during the early 1900s to burrow the underground tunnels that became the New York subway system to create a satisfying twist on the traditional "I'll be home for Christmas story." In this case a family recipe for a delicious apple jelly is used to accomplish the goal. "Mim's Christmas Jam" (Harcourt, $16, 32 pages, ages 3 to 7), highlights Brian Pinkney's signature medium of acrylic on scratchboard. No plot summary is necessary for "Miracle on 34th Street" (Harcourt, $12.95, 128 pages, all ages). Valentine Davies' inspirational tale of Kris Kringle's ability to make true believers of the most hardened of skeptics was a runaway best seller when it first appeared in 1947 and the basis of an Academy Award-winning film. The breaking news this year is the release of an exact facsimile that re-creates every aspect of the original edition, including the evocative dust-jacket. Two amiable piglets who have radiated their way through four previous books by Holly Hobbie overcome enormous obstacles brought on by brutal Northeast weather to celebrate the holidays together in "Toot & Puddle: I'll be Home For Christmas" (Little Brown, $15.95, 32 pages, ages 4 to 8). Mail carriers get extra help delivering tons of holiday mail by an unlikely group of helpers in Teri Sloat's "Hark! The Aardvark Angels Sing"(Putnam, $15.99, 32 pages, ages 4 to 8), a nutty tale with new lyrics sung to the notes of a familiar yuletide tune. The various creatures of the world-braying donkeys, chirping wrens, fierce tigers, even a tiny rodent in the floorboards - offer their "voices" of wonder on the occasion of the first Christmas in "The Stable Rat and Other Christmas Poems" (Greenwillow, $15.95, 32 pages, ages 4 and up), featuring nine original poems by Julia Cunningham, and sumptuous paintings by Anita Lobel, winner of a Caldecott Medal for "On Market Street." Cats and dogs singing carols, snowmen and snow-women coming to life, and amiable mice baking delicious pies are all part of the fun in Michael Garland's stunningly illustrated holiday confection, "Christmas Magic" (Dutton, $16.99, 32 pages, ages 3 to 8). Fans of Jan Brett have a sumptuous treat available this year, with seven of the noted artist's best known holiday books - "The Mitten," "The Wild Christmas Reindeer" and "The Night Before Christmas" among them-gathered in one volume, "Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury" (Putnam, $50, 254 pages, ages 2 to 10). For Hanukkah, there are a number of offerings: "Hanukkah: A Counting Book in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish" by Emily Sper (Scholastic, $6.95, 28 pages, ages 3 to 6), with die cutouts of colorful candles that illumine the significance of the symbols of the holiday; "Chanukah Lights Everywhere" by Michael J. Rosen, illustrations by Melissa Iwai (Harcourt, $16, 32 pages, ages 3 to 7), follows a young boy as he experiences each day of the festival of lights; and "Hanukkah Lights," by Dian G. Smith, illustrations by JoAnn Kitchel (Chronicle Books, $14.95, unpaged, ages 4 to 8), leads young readers through a step-by-step explanation of the holiday. Highly recommended as well are the following, all 32 pages, and all appropriate for ages 3 to 9:
"What's Cooking Jamela?" by Niki Daly, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16, a story about Christmas traditions in South Africa; "Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas" by Sally Derby illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska, Holt, $16.95; "The Star" by Ute Blaich, with gorgeous watercolor illustrations by Julie Litty, North-South Books, $15.95; "What the Little Fir Tree Wore to the Christmas Party" by Satomi Ichikawa, Philomel, $15.99; "The Race of the Birkebeiners" a 13-century Norwegian folk tale adapted by Lise Lunge-Larsen, with colored wood-cut illustrations by Mary Azarian, Houghton Mifflin, $16; "The Little Seahorse and the Christmas Pearl" by Mischa Damjan, illustrations by Alexander Reichstein, North-South, $15.95; and "The Christmas Cobwebs," by Odds Bodkin, illustrations by Terry Widener, Harcourt, $16." Nicholas A. Basbanes is a North Grafton, Mass., free-lance writer for the Tribune-Review.
