It’s that time again to deck the halls, the walls, the windows and of course the Christmas tree. It’s also time to make and share really tasty treats, and to spend some time with friends and family. At Nakusp Public Library there are stacks of books, that come out only at Christmas, to inspire you toward a healthy, happy and creative holiday season.
For some ideas for Christmas crafts and gifts, check out one of these books: Nature Craft for Christmas Cusick and Taylor; The Woman’s Day Book of Holiday Crafts; Better Homes and Garden’s Treasury of Christmas Crafts; Christmas Craft and Customs Around the World, Virginia Fowler; Joy Through the World, Allen D. Brogdon in cooperation with Unicef; The Complete Book of Garlands, Circles and Decorative Wreaths.
“First make a good Standing Crust, let the Wall and Bottom be very thick, bone a turkey, a goose, a fowl, a partridge and a pigeon…” so begins the recipe for Martha Washington’s Yorkshire Christmas Pye. ind this along with stories, poems, and more recipes, all selected by Caroline Kennedy in A Family Christmas.
For some more festive cookery and craftiness, there are: Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook; Gingerbread Houses by Christa Currie (Everything that you need to know for baking, constructing and decorating gingerbread houses is in this book); and of course, The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook.
Get into the spirit through storytelling with one of these classic family read-alouds:
Seasons Greetings from British Columbia’s Past by Rick Mole is a compendium of Christmases as celebrated in BC from the 1880s to the 1930s. Try Favorite Christmas Stories from Fireside Al, selected by Alan Maitland from stories he has, over the years, told on CBC Radio. And there is always Christmas Classics from the Modern Library which contains excerpts from A Christmas Carol, Little Women and Pickwick Papers and a selection of short stories, poems, songs and carols for the true traditionalists.
The Library has lots of Adult Christmas Fiction by familiar authors such as M.C. Beaton, Fern Micheals, Anne Perry, Nora Roberts and, of course, Charles Dickens. There are also many selections for younger readers.
For Juvenile readers we have Silent Night: Carols for Christmas; The Christmas Handbook by Malcolm, Bird and Alan Dart which contains outdoor activities, crafts, decorations and recipes; Merry Christmas: Children at Christmas Time Around the World by Satomi Ichikawa.
For the elementary set, check out The Nativity Illustrated by Julie Vivas; The Twelve Days of Christmas Illustrated by Jan Brett; The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot; A Happy New Year’s Day Story by Roch Carrier Illustration by Gilles Pelletier.
Stock up on your holiday reading material Friday Dec. 23, because we’re closed from Dec. 24 to January 1, opening again on the second.
Merry Christmas to all and happy reading!