​Christmas Stories (Ages 5 to 9)
By : Michael Morpurgo
Publisher . Egmont ( Aug.,2014)

Michael Morpurgo`s Christmas Stories would be an ideal stocking filler with it`s enchanting tales from far away lands. From his superlative "The Best Christmas Present of the World" all four stories are filled with warmth  and a touch of adventure,sure to keep all readers engaged indulging in this Christmas.
Pictures are done by the master illustrators Quentin Blake,Michael Foreman, Emma Chickester Clark and Sophie Allsopp.    

​Danny the Champion of the World.
By : Roald Dahl

It`s been 40 years since this book was first published by Alfred A Knopf,Inc. in the USA  in 1975!
It is not my intention to review this timeless classic,which celebrates the bond between a father and a son but to remind everyone about the book.
The story is one of my son`s favorite, and his copy was passed to him by his uncle. So I guess that this is a story that many generations of boys have fallen in love with.....
I have uploaded an image of the original cover of the book ,and the illustrations of this one was done by Jill Bennet. 

The Adventures of Miss Petitfour ( ages 7 to 11)
By : Anna Michaels(Author) & Emma Block( Illustrator)
Publisher : Tundra Books ( Nov.,2015)

An absolutely delicious Petitfour!!
Join Miss Petitfour and her sixteen Cats on their "just the right size"adventures by her very normal mode of air-transport-a tablecloth. No one even blinked an eye in the village as they were all used to it. She can land tidily on her toes, followed by her waterfall of cats purring into the street.
A feast of language. Delightfully  descriptive in the most compelling manner."If Miss Petitfour were short and if she were a bird,you might say she was as prim and proud as a sparrow" then "Every shop had a big wooden sign that swung and cracked in the breeze, and every sign was in the shape of what was sold in the shop. So for example,the sign for Mr Patel`s Bakery was in the shape of a great wooden cupcake, the sign for Mrs.Collarwaller`s Bookshop was a giant book and the sign for Mr.Clemmo`s Hardware shop was a gigantic hammer...".   The book is in the form of number of short stories interwoven through characters and the setting.  Emma Block`s awesome illustrations go well with the story.     
Only drawback in this to some readers could be the fact that the stories discuss more about cats ;their adventures and personalities than about humans. Although these personalities are somewhat replications of us people, and bringing up cat personalities instead may or may not be attractive depending on the likes and dislikes of the reader, kids usually love cats, so it could become a compelling fact. 
Anna Michaels is the award winning author of "Fugitive Pieces". Her work has appeared in translation in over forty countries around the world. This is her first children`s book.
  

Charles Dickens`s Christmas Carol
Illustrated By :  Roberto Innocenti
Publisher : Chronicle Books ( Sept.2015) ​​

The enchanting illustrations of 19th century London streets and the ghostly apparitions of Christmases past and future were created by the award winning artist Roberto Innocenti.

Charles Dickens`s Christmas Carol
Illustrated By : Yelena Bryksenkova
Publisher : Chronicle Books ( Sept.2015) ​

This elaborate keepsake volume of the timeless classic was beautifully illustrated in watercolors by Yelena Bryksenkova; A contemporary artist & illustrator.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
By : Susan Wojciechowski & P.J. Lynch
Publisher : Candlewick ( Sept.,2015) ​

A beautiful moving tale of a lonely woodcarver,A widowed mother and a seven year old boy and how they come to terms with their sorrows. A classic keeper ; Incredible artwork. 

A Boy Called Christmas
By : Matt Haig ( Author) Chris Mould (Illustrator)
Publisher : Canongate Books ( Nov.,2015)

The story is about a 11 year old boy called Nikolas,Who depicts the father Christmas in his younger age.The boy ;in his journey to find his father encounter many dangers from trolls to kidnapping. The story is set in the 18th century Finland.Illustrations of this book are a feast!!
Matt Haig won the Nestle Children`s Book Prize (2007)for his novel ``Shadow Forest``.

Once upon a time in Japan ( Ages 5 to 9)
By : Roger Pulvers & Juliet Carpenter(Translators)
Publisher :Tuttle Publishing; Hardcover with jacket and disc edition (November , 2015)

​A feast for young imaginative minds!!.A delightful picture book to posses.The book consists of eight stories brought to us from ancient Japan by the NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation based on it's popular radio series Once Upon a Time in Japan. The tales retold here are among Japan's oldest and most beloved stories.And Japanese stories always reflect a deep sense of tradition. ​
These folk tales being Asian,delivers a different theme from those well known western fairy tales.Story plots and illustrations are unique and captivating, renders space for readers and listeners  to think.. 
Folktales in this collection include:

• The Wife Who Never Eats—the story of a man who learns the hard way the evils of stinginess.
• The Mill of the Sea—the story of how a greedy man was responsible for the saltiness of sea water.
• The Monkey and the Crab—the crabs teach a tricky monkey a lesson in fairness and honesty.
• The Magical Hood—an act of kindness reaps great rewards.
• Sleepyhead Taro and the Children—a story about what can be accomplished at the right time, and with the right help and the right spirit.
• The Fox and the Otter—how a fox pays the price of deceit and selfishness.
• The Gratitude of the Crane—a story about the rewards of kindness and the danger of curiosity.
• The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter—a girl who starts life very tiny turns out to be big in many ways.