Christmas & Advent

The Christian year begins with the birth of a baby. No one knows the exact day Jesus was born, but the date of December 25th was specifically chosen and introduced to Christian believers in order to counter the pagan feast of the "sun god," which was a popular winter solstice festival held in Rome. Instead of trying to coax the sun to return North again, this Christian theological corrective was meant to celebrate the source of true light in our dark world: the Son of God.

It was not until the fourth century that people began to celebrate Christ's birth. In keeping with Old testament feasts and festivals, it was designated a feast day called the Feast of the Nativity. The celebration began with a special Mass in honor of the remembrance of His coming, first called "Christ's Mass," later simply "Christmas." It was Christ being celebrated, not the day!

Later, the four week period before December 25th was declared a sacred and holy season. It was called "Advent," which comes from the Greek through the Latin and means "to come." It was a special time, designed to remind us that the Old testament saints had anxiously awaited the Messiah for centuries, and to provide a period of preparation that would allow time for reflection before the celebration of His birth. Beginning four Sundays prior to Christmas day, our actions and activities should remind us of our need for Jesus.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Readings for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany
from the pastors of the CREC
Truth in the Tinsel
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65 Items found Print
Active Filters: Picture Books, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
Amazing Peace
by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
from Schwartz & Wade
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
An Edwardian Christmas
by John S. Goodall
from Atheneum
for Preschool-Adult
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Becky's Christmas
by Tasha Tudor
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Child's Christmas in Wales
by Dylan Thomas, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from New Directions
for 2nd-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Child's Christmas in Wales
by Dylan Thomas, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
from Holiday House
for 2nd-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Child's Christmas in Wales
by Dylan Thomas, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
from David R. Godine
for 2nd-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Children's Theatre
by Franz Bonn
from Viking Press
for Preschool-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Christmas Folk
by Natalia M. Belting, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Christmas Rocket
by Anne Molloy
from Purple House Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.19
Christmas Trees
A New True Book
by Kathy Henderson
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Countdown to Christmas
by Bill Peet
from Golden Gate Junior Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Crippled Lamb
by Max Lucado
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Crippled Lamb
by Max Lucado
Reprint from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
by Russell Hoban
First Edition from Parents Magazine Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Fir Tree
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen, Translated by Hans Henrik Breitenstein, Illustrated by Tiziana Gironi
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
For Every Child a Star
by Thomas Yeomans, illustrated by Tomie dePaola
from Holiday House
for 1st-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Gift of the Magi: Collectors Edition
by O. Henry, illustrated by Robert Sauber
from Unicorn Publishing House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Gingerbread Baby
by Jan Brett
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
Christmas Stories for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.44
Ice Bird
by Pauline Innis, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Robert B. Luce, Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Jesse Tree
by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Eerdmans
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Jolly Old Santa Claus
from Ideals Publications
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Legend of Saint Nicholas
by Demi
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Legend of the Poinsettia
by Tomie dePaola
from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Legend of the Poinsettia
by Tomie dePaola
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Letters from Father Christmas
by J. R. R. Tolkien, introduction by Bailie Tolkien
Centenary Edition from William Morrow & Company
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$27.20
Little Child
by Jessie Orton Jones & Elizabeth Orton Jones
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Little Drummer Boy
by Ezra Jack Keats
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Madeline's Christmas
by Ludwig Bemelmans
from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$7.64
Mole Family's Christmas
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Nativity
by Julie Vivas
from Voyager Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Christian Burmingham
Heirloom from Running Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Scholastic Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Christian Burmingham
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Checkerboard Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Cheryl Harness
from Random House
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Night Before Christmas - Coloring Book
by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by John O'Brien
81st edition from Dover Publications
for 3rd-5th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$4.24
Night Before Christmas with DVD
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Nine Days to Christmas
by Marie Hall Ets
from Viking Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1960 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Nine Days to Christmas
by Marie Hall Ets
from Dover Publications
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1960 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$13.56
Nutcracker
by E. T. A. Hoffmann
from Gramercy Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Nutcracker
by Warren Chappell
First Edition Thus from Schocken
for 2nd-5th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Nutcracker
by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Veronica Tennant
1st edition from McClelland & Stewart
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Nutcracker
by E. T. A. Hoffmann
from Crown Publishers
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Nutcracker retold
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by Jose Correas
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
On Christmas Eve
by Margaret Wise Brown
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
One Wintry Night
by Richard Jesse Watson
from Baker Books
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas
by Chet Williamson, illustrated by James Rice
from Pelican Publishing Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit
by Dr. Seuss
from Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
Christmas Stories (in Latin) for 3rd-6th grade
in Latin Resources & Reference (Location: FL-LATREF)
$10.40 (1 in stock)
Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons
by Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Santa, Are You For Real?
by Harold Myra; illustrated by Dwight Walles
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Stocking for a Kitten
by Helen Kay, illustrated by Yaroslava
from Abelard - Schuman
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Tell Me the Story
by Max Lucado, Ron Dicianni, Timothy Botts
1st edition from Crossway Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Texas Night Before Christmas
by James Rice
from Pelican Publishing Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Tomie dePaola's Book of Christmas Carols
by Tomie DePaola
First Edition from Putnam Juvenile
for Nursery-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Twelve Days of Christmas
by Laurel Long
from Puffin Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$7.64
Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas
by Madeleine L'Engle
from Shaw Books
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
by Michael Hague
1st Edition Thus from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
When Joy Came
by Pauline Palmer Meek; illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Golden Books
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect
by Richard Schneider
from Abingdon Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect
by Richard Schneider
from Abingdon Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$12.74
Why the Chimes Rang
by Raymond MacDonald Alden, illustrated by Rafaello Busoni
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)