The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. The Herdmans take the meaning of “bad kids” to a whole new level, and when they decide to participate in the annual Christmas pageant, all h— breaks loose. The Herdmans have never experienced the Christmas story, so they put a fresh interpretation on the old story for everyone.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. A boy leaves his crowded home to live alone on a mountain. He builds his own home, finds his own food, and has visitors for Christmas.
Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osbourne. Jack and Annie travel via the Magic Treehouse to Camelot where they go on a quest for some special gifts.
“My Side of the Mountain” is one of my all-time-favorite books. I reread it this year (found it at the only English language bookstore in town, and promptly snatched it up.) It’s amazing to be at the point when my kids can read books I loved as a child. J8 read it this year, too–several times!
I read “My Side of the Mountain” when I was a kid. I was too young to fully understand why the parents let the kid run away to live in the wilderness, but not too young as to realize that the guy who kept calling him “Thoreau” was very creepy, and undoubtedly the sort that my folks warned me about. =)