Julia Eccleshare lists her favorite books for the 2005 holiday season.
Helen Oxenbury's illustrated version of Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass makes the list. I love Oxenbury's illustrations for Alice as she humanizes the stories for littler or more sensitive children. As Eccleshare notes, Oxenbury, "interprets the world through the looking-glass benignly. The Red Queen, though very red, is comfortably dumpy, which makes her less frightening when she loses her temper."
Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart's Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs makes the list. It's on its way to our house as well.
Also included is Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch Saves the Day (perfect for the pre-Potter reader) and Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda (with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone).
