LONG LIVE THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB!

Heather Vogel Frederick has done it again with a new installation in this great series called HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Becca, Megan, Emma, Cassidy, and Jess are back, with boys to kiss, and family to argue with, and best of all - new books to read! This time they're reading an entire series of what are called the "Betsy-Tacy" series. At first, the girls think the stories will be too old-fashioned, but it isn't long before each girl identifies with something that Betsy or Tacy encounters or a situation the characters face. Even though it's all about Christmas time, fans of the "Mother-Daughter Book Club" won't be disappointed. For grades 4 and up.

ONE LIBRARIANS FAVORITE CHRISTMAS BOOK

Every year a family makes a pilgrimage to decorate a certain tree in the forest. They make peanut butter pine cones, apples on strings and other tasty treats for the animals to have for Christmas. When finished hanging the treats on the tree, they stop to drink some cocoa and sing a few Christmas carols though the youngest child wants to sing Old MacDonald instead. Night Tree by Eve Bunting is a lovely story about what Christmas is really about, sharing and it's a real treat to share this with a favorite child at this time of the year.

For all ages.

FESTIVE FOOD FOR THE HOLIDAYS

This is a story about Maria and her family's holiday tradition - making tamales. Maria tries on her mother’s wedding ring while making the masa for the tamales and thinks she loses it in the dough. Rather than telling her mother she fears she has lost her wedding ring in the masa, Maria forces her cousins to help her eat through 24 tamales. TOO MANY TAMALES by Gary Soto is a delightful holiday tale, mixing English with Spanish words for ingredients and a little life lesson thrown in for spice. A great story for all ages, but especially for 1st - 4th graders.