Pigs and Rabbits in the Snow: Two Adorable Christmas Picture Books

Book #1...Pigs

What's a pig to do? Two pigs, actually.  They don't know what to get each other for Christmas.  But don't worry, they go through this every year, and they will figure it out!  (In spite of the suggestions they get from Opal.)

Because they do care about each other and are the very best of friends, even though they like different things.

Toot and Puddle's Let it Snow, is an adorable story, written and illustrated by Holly Hobbie.  Perfect for preschoolers and up.

Book #2...Rabbits

It's been snowing for hours, it's almost Christmas, and Squirrel and Hare are waiting in the little house at the end of the wood for Little Grey Rabbit to return from market with the Christmas fare.  But where is she?

This is a book you will want to look at again and again.  The pictures by Margaret Tempest are reminiscent of Beatrix Potter.

 

The sweet narration harkens back to all the elements of an old-fashioned Christmas and friendship...

sledding, carol singing, evergreens, presents, and a party.

The author of Little Grey Rabbit's Christmas, Alison Uttley, whose own childhood Christmases were spent in the countryside, has written a story full of warmth that you and your children will love!

A "GEM" OF A BOOK

source

Are you old enough to remember "Holly Hobbie"?   Her creator, the real Holly Hobbie, is an American writer and artist who was born in 1944. (Born Denise Holly Ulinskas, she married her husband Douglas Hobbie in 1964.)

Holly first sold her distinctive old-fashioned artwork of homespun children to American Greetings in the late 1960's.  The series of illustrations became so popular that her originally nameless character with the blue bonnet became known as "Holly Hobbie".

This cat-loving girl with a patchwork dress and over sized bonnet was all the rage during the 1960's and '70's. In 1974, Knickerbocker Toys licensed the Holly Hobbie character for a line of rag dolls.  (I think I may have even had a Holly Hobbie lunchbox at one time!)

The real life Holly Hobbie is the author of the Toot & Puddle picture books, The Art of Holly Hobbie (her illustrated memoir), and several others (too see a full list and read excerpts from all of her picture books click here). She's also the mother of three grown children, and lives with her husband in Conway, Massachusetts.

Last week I came across Holly Hobbie's newest book, an (almost) wordless story titled simply:  Gem.

Two letters - exchanged between and a Grandmother and her granddaughter - bookend this wordless story told in lush watercolor illustrations about a toad named "Gem" and his journey to Gram's garden. It's a perfect Spring tale, and made me almost feel like I was there watching this toad's adventure.

If you like Beatrix Potter, Joan Anglund Walsh, Jill Barklem, or Tasha Tudor books, you'll love Holly Hobbie's Gem.  Her precise watercolor artwork reminds me of another gifted favorite author/illustrator, whose book I'll be reviewing and giving away this month (to be revealed very soon...).