BOOK MARKED
Holiday Stories to
Warm Your Heart
14 Books That Celebrate the Season
BY LAUREN MARTINO, HEAD OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES,
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES
This December, warm up with a hot beverage
and a good book! These holiday reads available at
Montgomery County Public Libraries will put you in the
spirit of the season—no matter what you celebrate.

PICTURE BOOKS
“Little Red Ruthie: a Hanukkah Tale”
by Gloria Koster, illustrated by Sue East-
land A hungry wolf wants to eat Little Red Ruthie! But
why not wait until she’s full from eight days of
eating Bubbe Basha’s latkes? And why not sample
some latkes himself? A little girl who’s brave like
the Maccabees fools a greedy wolf in this Hanuk-
kah take on Little Red Riding Hood.

“A Sled for Gabo”
by Emma Otheguy, illustrated by Ana
Ramirez Gonzalez
In a sea of pale blue-and-white winter books,
“A Sled for Gabo” glows warm and bright. Like
in Ezra Jack Keats’ “Snowy Day,” the red-or-
ange city sky and colorful houses provide a
cheerful backdrop to a boy exploring his neigh-
borhood-turned-winter-wonderland. Kind
English-and-Spanish speaking family and neigh-
bors help Gabo navigate his winter adventure
with bags over sneakers for boots, Dad’s hat, an
unexpected sled and multiple paths for a boy
feeling shy to make a friend.

“A Big Bed for Little Snow”
by Grace Lin
The look on Mommy’s face says it all. She’s tell-
ing Little Snow, “This bed is for sleeping, not
jumping,” but she knows what’s going to happen.

A snowflake pajama-clad little boy jumps and
jumps and jumps to an end that is as predicted,
but still surprising.

28 Washington FAMILY DECEMBER 2022
“The Christmas Cat”
by Maryann Macdonald, illustrated by
Amy June Bates
“Jesus was beautiful, like all babies. And like all
babies, he cried.”
Have you ever seen an illustration of the nativ-
ity story where Mary and Joseph are at all ruffled
at the demands of having a newborn? They are in
this book. You just want to hug them. They are
trying so hard. But it takes an irrepressible kit-
ten bounding onto Mary’s lap to stop the baby’s
tears—and kindle first friendship. Inspired by
Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings featuring the
Madonna of the Cat.

EARLY ELEMENTARY
“The People Remember”
by Ibi Zoboi, illustrated by Loveis Wise
Read this book aloud. It traces the story of the
African diaspora in verse, each epoch illustrating
a different principal of Kwanzaa. There’s a note
at the back about lighting the kinara and what
people do on each of the seven days of Kwanzaa.

But this book’s strength is in bringing to light the
rich, difficult and beautiful history of why this
holiday is celebrated. Well beyond December,
this is a great selection for Black History Month,
Poetry Month or nightly bedtime reading.

“The Christmas Mitzvah”
by Jeff Gottesfeld, illustrated by Michelle
Laurentia Agatha
“A mitzvah. A good deed. But also a command-
ment. What God wants.”