Finch's Festive Fifty! by Dawn Finch

It's that time of year again and for the sixth year running, I'm sharing my favourite Festive Fifty. The challenges of 2020 have hit us all and it is somewhat heartening to discover that people have been turning to books and reading more to get through the Lockdown periods. I hope that this has set a habit that will keep growing, and that this will be the season of books for all. 

This Christmas will be one of separation for most of us and this is the perfect time to indulge in a bit of nostalgia as we reach for books help us escape to another type of Christmas. The books I have chosen for my list are all frosty and festive, and all of these will also work well as read-alouds. Maybe if we can't be together, we can read together. I can't help thinking how nice it would be to share the same titles with other family members and have a family winter book group. Maybe read your favourite excerpts aloud and create a few family zoomed storytimes.

This Christmas we should allow ourselves the luxury of not watching the news, and instead draw the curtains against the advancing night, light some candles, and settle in with a story that will take you away to another place.

This list is in alphabetical order of author's surname. These are all longer novels for age 9+. There are so many lists of picture books so I have just focussed on family-friendly books that can be read aloud and shared with all independent readers (including grown-ups!)

As many different editions exist of some of these titles, I've left that to your own choice, but personally, I'd opt for the illustrated editions. Treat your family to something beautiful and tuck it away with the decorations to re-read every year.

Start a new tradition!

1.  Aiken, Joan – The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
2. Arden, Katherine – The Bear and the Nightingale
3. Bell, Alex and Tomic, Tomislav – Polar Bear Explorers’ Club
4. Boston, Lucy M – The Children of Green Knowe
5. Butterworth, Jess – Running on the Roof of the World
6. Carroll, Emma – Frost Hollow Hall
7. Cooper, Susan – The Dark is Rising
8. Crossley-Holland, Kevin – Between Worlds (illustrated by Frances Castle)
9. Dale, Anna – Whispering to Witches
10. Dickens, Charles – A Christmas Carol
11. Doherty, Berlie – Children of Winter
12. Doyle, Catherine - Miracle on Ebenezer Street
13. Ende, Michael – The Neverending Story
14. Elphinstone, Abi – Sky Song
15. Fisher, Catherine – Snow Walker
16. Fisher, Catherine – The Clockwork Crow
17. Foxlee, Karen – Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy
18. Gaarder, Jostein – The Christmas Mystery
19. Gardner, Sally and David Roberts – Tinder
20. Gayton, Sam – the Snow Merchant
21. Gordon, John – The Giant Under The Snow
22. Hargrave, Kiran Millwood – The Way Past Winter
23. Hitchcock, Fleur – Clifftoppers - The Frost Castle Adventure
24. Horwood, William – The Willows in Winter
25. Ivey, Eowyn – Snow Child
26. Jansson, Tove – Moominland Midwinter
27. Lauren, Ruth – Prisoner of Ice and Snow
28. Lean, Sarah - The Good Bear
29. Lewis, CS – The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
30. London, Jack – Call of the Wild
31. Masefield, John – Box of Delights
32. Matthews, Caitlin and Helen Cann – Fireside Stories, Tales for a Winter’s Eve
33. Montgomery, Ross - The Midnight Guardians
34. Morris, Jackie – East of the Sun, West of the Moon
35. Nimmo, Jenny – The Snow Spider
36. Pratchett, Terry – Wintersmith
37. Preussler, Otfried – Krabat
38. Priestley, Chris – The Last of the Spirits
39. Pullman, Philip – Northern Lights
40. Raby,  Lucy Daniel – Nikolai of the North
41. Ransome, Arthur – Winter Holiday
42. Rundell, Katherine – Wolf Wilder 
43. Smith, Dodie – 101 Dalmatians
44. St John, Lauren – The Snow Angel
45. Streatfeild, Noel – White Boots
46. Torday, Piers – There May Be A Castle
47. Wilder, Laura Ingalls Wilder – The Long Winter
48. Wilson, Amy – Snowglobe
49. Winter Magic edited by Abi Elphinstone (11 stories by contemporary writers)
50. Woodfine, Katherine – The Midnight Peacock

As always - please add your own additions in the comments. I would love to see someone do a list of poetry for the season too! Apologies for missing anyone out but I only ever list books that I've actually read. If you'd like me to read yours, drop me a line.

Dawn Finch is an author and former children's librarian. 2020 Chair of the Society of Author's Children's Writers and Illustrators Group (CWIG) and Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CWIG)

www.dawnfinch.com

@dawnafinch