I just can’t let the holidays sneak by without sharing one of my favorite holiday books. Its adorable illustrations will catch your eye but the clever story will make you want to read it again and again. It’s called Merry UnChristmas, by Mike Reiss (a former head writer for The Simpsons).
Any kid who has wished that Christmas could come every day of the year will love this book. The main character, Noelle, lives in Christmas City, in the state of Texmas (a shout out to everything ‘big’, I like to think). Noelle and her friends (Chrissy, Holly, Noel and Claus) have to slog through life celebrating this grand holiday 364 days of every year. Yes, Christmas comes every day except one.
Every day poor Noelle has to get up and find a new bike and pony under her tree (her backyard is full of ponies, her garage full of bikes). Every day her family eats a glorious spread of holiday food. And it bores poor Noelle to tears.
Then, surprise!, it’s finally time for the day of UnChristmas! She gets to take down the tree and eat TV dinners! Since school is not in session during holidays, she only gets to go to school on UnChristmas, and she couldn’t be more excited. The man with the sack shows up, but he’s not dressed in red – it’s the mailman, who doesn’t deliver mail on holidays, so he brings a year’s worth of bills, magazines, letters and junk mail on that one day.
This book is a well done glimpse at what life would look like if every child got his or her wish to celebrate Christmas every single day. It will make your geek kid realize what makes this holiday so magical, the fact that it does only come one day a year.
It might be tricky to find online so think about getting it at your local library also. But if you can find a copy to buy, add it to your bookshelf. It’s a classic you’ll want to read every single year.
