Following on from last year’s list of the best Christmas books for children, 2019 sees a gathering of the very finest illustrated tales of snow, ice and winter magic. These are stories imbued with the sense of wonder and possibility which is evident during the winter months. And when the real world is distinctly lacking in hope and sparkle it’s a feeling that can perhaps best be rekindled by escaping into a wintry children’s book.

December 1st – Tom Fobble’s Dayby Alan Garner and Michael Foreman

December 2nd – Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel

December 3rd – The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell and Gelrev Ongbico

December 4th – Brambly Hedge: The Secret Staircaseby Jill Barklem

December 5th – The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

December 6th – The Snow Angel by Lauren St John and Catherine Hyde

December 7th – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and Pauline Baynes

December 8th – The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren and Kitty Crowther

December 9th – The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

December 10th – Chirri and Chirra: The Snowy Day by Kaya Doi

December 11th – The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

December 12th – The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

December 13th – The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

December 14th – Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol and Isabelle Arsenault

December 15th – Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

December 16th – White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt and Roger Duvoisin

December 17th – The Giant Under the Snow by John Gordon

December 18th – The Winter Bear by Ruth Craft and Erik Blegvad

December 19th – Mog on Fox Night by Judith Kerr

December 20th – Burning the Tree by Shirley Hughes

December 21st – Seasons by John Burningham

December 22nd – The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper and Carson Ellis

December 23rd – Small in the City by Sydney Smith

December 24th – The Girl who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson