Another great book I came across at the library with my kids was The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween. As I love folklore and Christmas this was a perfect story for me. Here is Publishers Weekly:
Readers will want to pull up a creepie (stool) and gather ’round a roaring peat fire to hear every lilting word of Sawyer’s magical and haunting Irish folktale, first published in 1941. Orphan girl Oona, abandoned by her tinker kin, grows into a lonely, ostracized old woman longing for a home of her own. On Christmas Eve, as the legend goes, the wee people to whom Oona has always been kind oblige her in a special way. Gauzy, evocative mixed-media paintings convey a quiet yet powerful energy.
We didn’t have a peat fire but we did gather on the couch and read this charming story. It has that classic Irish blend of melancholy, magic, tragedy and hope. And as noted by PW, the illustrations add to the evocative story.
So if your family loves to read stories out loud together this would be a great choice this holiday season. Of course , you and your older readers could read it too (I read it again after the family reading).
