First published on December 19th in 1843, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is still popular today. Holiday reading is just the right thing to get everyone in the holiday spirit!
In Iceland, everyone celebrates Jolabokaflod (pronounced yo-la-bok-a-flot). The holiday season is signaled by the arrival of the Bokatidindi—a catalog of every new book published in Iceland. People exchange books on Christmas Eve and then spend the evening reading! A wonderful tradition that can (and should) be celebrated here in America. Try having a Jolabokaflod in your classroom.
Libraries are a great place for students (and adults) to visit this holiday season. Many libraries offer events and activities like these at the Oshkosh Public Library in Wisconsin. Everyone can also pick up some of the usual holiday favorites and discover some new ones. In the spirit of giving, some libraries like the Indianapolis Public Library provide free books to children of all ages through their Jingle Books program. The New York Public Library offers library related gifts for the library lover/ fellow teacher on your list. The Boston Public Library even publishes a list of holiday reads for adults!
If you are looking for some great holiday reads, look no further. Common Sense Media (TeachersFirst review) continuously updates their kids holiday book list every year. The Children’s Book Review publishes their 16 best Christmas books of the year for children of ages 2-12. Bookbub (TeachersFirst review) lists their best 28 Christmas books for kids. If you are looking for something different and new, you should check out 8 multicultural holiday books for children or Honolulu Family’s Good Reads: 2018 Holiday Books. To get yourself in the spirit try out some short holiday reads from the New Yorker or the best holiday books of 2018!
Happy holiday reading from TeachersFirst!