The Top Ten Christmas Elves

In our continuing search to find lists for all -things Christmas, I figured I'd be remiss not to include St. Nick' very own personal assistants: Elves! While not always stealing the limelight from the big man in red, a few, over time, have indeed done just that. Here are ten Elves who, for the most part, are just a little funnier and sweeter than Santa.

10. The Elves (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (also titled Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens) is a 1964 Sci-Fi film that regularly appears on lists of the worst movies ever made. It is regularly featured in the "bottom 100" list on the IMDB. It was directed by Nicholas Webster, and it stars John Call as Santa Claus. It also includes an 8-year-old Pia Zadora playing the role of one of the Martian children.

9. Eubie (The Happy Elf)

Highlighted by Harry Connick, Jr. as the animated narrator, "The Happy Elf" tells the story of Eubie the Elf, one of Santa's helpers whose overly enthusiastic, rose-colored view of the holiday season is put to the test when he sets out to bring Christmas joy to a dreary town called Bluesville.

8. Stan (Santa Jr.)

The title character in this made-for-cable comedy is a youthful slacker (Nick Stabile) who has long been a source of disappointment and embarrassment for his famous jolly-old-elf father. Anxious to prove his worth, Nick (as our hero is known) decides to clamber down a few chimneys just prior to Christmas Eve. Alas, his efforts coincide with a string of burglaries, and Nick is promptly arrested by cops. Of course, the best part is the little fellow who plays Stan, the 'elf'.

7. Patch (Santa Claus: The Movie)

The first half of this film, set hundreds of years ago, shows how the old man who eventually became Santa Claus was given immortality and chosen to deliver toys to all the children of the world. The second half moves into the modern era, in which Patch, the head elf, strikes out on his own and falls in with an evil toy manufacturer who wants to corner the market and eliminate Santa Claus.

6. Marcus (Bad Santa)

The film begins in a bar on a December night in Milwaukee, where the viewer is introduced to Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a bitter, lonely alcoholic. Willie works the holiday seasons as a mall Santa along with his dwarf friend Marcus (Tony Cox), who works as the Santa elf. Every Christmas Eve, the duo disables the security alarm after the mall closes and they then rob the mall safe. Afterwards, Marcus lives with his wife Lois while Willie goes to Miami and wastes all his money on booze.

5. Jingle and Jangle (The Year Without A Santa Claus)

Two of Santa's elves, Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells decided to go out (with Vixen) to find children to convince Santa that the Christmas spirit is still important to everybody else. But they have to get past Heat Miser and Snow Miser, first, before they land in Southtown, USA, where it never snows for Christmas.

4. Hermey (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)

Sam the snowman tells us the story of a young red-nosed reindeer who, after being ousted from the reindeer games because of his beaming honker, teams up with Hermey, an elf who wants to be a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, the prospector. They run into the Abominable Snowman and find a whole island of misfit toys. Rudoph vows to see if he can get Santa to help the toys, and he goes back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. But Santa's sleigh is fogged in. But when Santa looks over Rudolph, he gets a very bright idea!

3. Bernard (The Santa Claus)

While Scott Calvin is being argumentative and peevish about the responsibilities of becoming Santa he seems to have inherited, the head elf, Bernard (David Krumholtz), shows him a microscopic inscription on the card found in the suit which says that upon the death of the previous occupant, whoever dons the suit assumes the identity of Santa Claus and all the responsibilities that go with it, giving up his previous identity in the process. This is, in fact, the "Santa Clause," as summarized by Bernard: "You put on the suit, you're the big guy."

2. Buddy (Elf)

Buddy (Will Ferrell) was a baby in an orphanage who stowed away in Santa's sack and ended up at the North Pole. Later, as an adult human who happened to be raised by elves, Santa allows him to go to New York City to find his birth father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan). Hobbs, on Santa's naughty list for being a heartless jerk, had no idea that Buddy was even born. Buddy, meanwhile, experiences the delights of New York City (and human culture) as only an elf can.

1. Santa Himself

Yes sir, you'd better believe it, Santa is considered an elf! Sure his visage has 'grown' over the years, but if you take a look at the classic Moore poem, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas', he is described as a , 'Right jolly old ELF.' So, with that, Santa had to be number one.

The Top Twelve American Christmas Traditions

American Christmases are steeped in many different traditions from as many parts of the world as there are cultures in the country. Each year when the holiday approaches, generally right after Thanksgiving, the American Christmas outline is put into motion with wreath hanging, light hanging, and tree purchasing... and it just goes on from there. Here are a dozen of the Yule Tide practices Americans perform.

12. Poinsettias

A native Mexican plant, poinsettias were named after Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. ambassador to Mexico who brought the plant to America in 1828. Poinsettias were likely used by Mexican Franciscans in their 17th century Christmas celebrations. One legend has it that a young Mexican boy, on his way to visit the village Nativity scene, realized he had no gift for the Christ child. He gathered pretty green branches from along the road and brought them to the church. Though the other children mocked him, when the leaves were laid at the manger, a beautiful star-shaped flower appeared on each branch. The bright red petals, often mistaken for flowers, are actually the upper leaves of the plant.

11. Christmas Caroling

The most fantastic explanation of the term, “Christmas carol”, originates from England. According to this English story, a young girl named Carol got lost in the streets of London on a cold winter night. In an attempt to find her, her friends went from house to house similar to the way we do during Christmas. After this episode, the term “Christmas carol” became widespread. The more pragmatic explanation is that the word, “carol”, comes from the Greek dance, “Choraulein”, which is accompanied by flutes. Later, the Frenchmen replaced the flutes with singing and named it, “caroller”, which means, “to dance around in a circle”. The tradition of singing carols can be traced back to the monk, St. Francis of Assisi. He introduced the singing of carols in church ceremonies.

10. Mistletoe

The ancient Celtics believed mistletoe to have magical healing powers and used it as an antidote for poison, infertility, and to ward of evil spirits. The plant was also seen as a symbol of peace, and it is said that among Romans, enemies who met under mistletoe would lay down their weapons and embrace.

9. Santa Claus

The origin of Santa Claus begins in the 4th century with Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, an area in present day Turkey. By all accounts St. Nicholas was a generous man, particularly devoted to children. After his death around 340 A.D. he was buried in Myra, but in 1087 Italian sailors purportedly stole his remains and removed them to Bari, Italy, greatly increasing St. Nicholas' popularity throughout Europe. His kindness and reputation for generosity gave rise to claims he that he could perform miracles and devotion to him increased. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of Russia, where he was known by his red cape, flowing white beard, and bishop's mitre.

8. Christmas Cards

It is Sir Henry Cole who is credited with creating the first real Christmas card. The first director of London's Victoria and Albert Museum, Sir Henry found himself too busy in the Christmas season of 1843 to compose individual Christmas greetings for his friends. He commissioned artist John Calcott Horsley for the illustration.

7. Christmas Cookies

Cookies are just a form of small cake, really, with the convenience of being hand-held and quick to bake. The German traditions that led to Christmas cookies included ''Lebkuchen'' and ''Spritz'' recipes that used less sugar and more spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg--cheaper and easier to get than sugar was--as well as raisins and other dried fruits. In times where we didn't have a mega-mart on every corner, these treats used "rare" and "expensive" ingredients like sugar, or essential ingredients like flour that weren't normally "wasted"; only on the most special occasions did you commit the cost of expensive or essential ingredients to such treats.

6. Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree was brought to England by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert from his native Germany. The famous Illustrated News etching in 1848, featuring the Royal Family of Victoria, Albert and their children gathered around a Christmas tree in Windsor Castle, popularized the tree throughout Victorian England. Brought to America by the Pennsylvania Germans, the Christmas tree became by the late 19th century.

5. Christmas Lights

The tradition of using small candles to light up the Christmas tree dates back to at least the middle of the XVIIth century. However, it took two centuries for the tradition to become widely established first in Germany and soon spreading to Eastern Europe. Candles for the tree were glued with melted wax to a tree branch or attached by pins. Around 1890, candleholders were first used for Christmas candles. Between 1902 and 1914, small lanterns and glass balls to hold the candles started to be used.

In 1882, the first Christmas tree was lit by the use of electricity. Edward Johnson lighted up a Christmas tree in New York City with eighty small electric light bulb. It should be noted that Edward Johnson created the first string of electric Christmas lights that were then mass produced around 1890.

4. Stockings

According to legend, a kindly nobleman grew despondent over the death of his beloved wife and foolishly squandered his fortune. This left his three young daughters without dowries and thus facing a life of spinsterhood. The generous St. Nicholas, hearing of the girls' plight, set forth to help. Wishing to remain anonymous, he rode his white horse by the nobleman's house and threw three small pouches of gold coins down the chimney where they were fortuitously captured by the stockings the young women had hung by the fireplace to dry.

3. Christmas Wreath

The history of Christmas Wreath tells us that the wreaths have their origin in the early times of pre-Christianity. The Eastern European people used to light up evergreen wreaths in the cold winter evenings with the hope of early spring and sunshine. Christmas wreaths have either four white candles or three violet candles traditionally used. Each day one candle is lighted and the middle candle is lighted on Christmas Eve to signify the arrival of Jesus. A short prayer can be held with the lighting of the candle.

2. Candy Canes

According to the National Confectioner's Association, in 1847 German immigrant August Imgard used the candy cane to decorate a Christmas tree in Wooster, Ohio. More than 50 years later, Bob McCormack of Albany, Georgia supposedly made candy canes as treats for family, friends and local shopkeepers. McCormack's brother-in-law, Catholic priest Gregory Keller, invented a machine in the 1950s that automated the production of candy canes, thus eliminating the usual laborious process of creating the treats and the popularity of the candy cane grew. More recent explanations of the candy cane's symbolism hold that the color white represents Christ's purity, the red the blood he shed, and the presence of three red stripes the Holy Trinity.

1. Christmas Presents

The origin of the Christmas Present seems to have a number of different sources. The earliest references to presents being given on or around the Winter Solstice comes from Ancient Rome during the feast of Kalends. High ranking officials were expected to give gifts to the Emperor since the Winter Solstice celebrated the birth of the Sun God, to whom the emperor was directly related. Another early source of gift-giving comes from St. Nicholas who was remembered for his charitable giving. Often on his feast day parents would leave small gifts of chocolate or fruit for their children. His feast day slowly came over time to be associated with the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity on December 25th.Gift Giving in the modern sense starts in America in the 1820s. What had once been the simple practice of exchanging small gifts exploded into the full-fledged consumer driven holiday we now know.

The Top Ten Coolest Santas

The visage of the Jolly Red-Suited man has been around for a long time, and many, many different versions for almost nearly as long. Few icons have represented the Holiday of Christmas quite like the happy-go-lucky Santa Claus (aside, of course, from Jesus, himself) and few have had the impact that the droll elf has had. Over the years, many films and TV specials have been made featuring St. Nick, each portrayed in its own, different, way. Here are ten of the finest examples of how cool Santa can be.

10. Bill Goldberg (Santa's Slay)

Bill Goldberg plays the devil's son who lost a wager with a angel and was forced to spend 1000 years playing Santa, but now the wager of that time has run out, and Mr. Santa isn't so joyful anymore. He makes up for lost time and starts to kill people. And really, how incredibly cool does WWE Wrestler Goldberg look as the holiday elf? BAD ASS.

9. Paul Giamatti (Fred Claus)

As Nick Claus, later on the eponymous Santa, Paul Giamatti really embodies and quite perfectly looks like the jolly old fat man. Sure, it's all suit and make-up, but in the facial expressions and mannerisms lie the real persona. Though I still see him as a masturbating wino in Sideways, Giamatti really pulls it off.

8. Richard Attenborough (Miracle on 34th Street)

Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. Her mother told her the "secret" about Santa a long time ago, so Susan doesn't expect to receive the most important gifts on her Christmas list. But after meeting a special department store Santa (who is convinced he's the real thing) Susan is given the most precious gift of all - something to believe in. Sure, it's a remake, and for the most part those really suck, but just look at the guy! Now THAT is a Santa!

7. Tim Allen (The Santa Claus)

Scott Calvin (Allen) reads The Night Before Christmas...then receives an unexpected visitor on his roof. When he's startled by Scott's calling out and falls, the Santa impersonator disappears, leaving only an 8-reindeer sleigh and a suit with instructions to put it on if he's involved in an accident. Scott does, and is transported around the town dropping gifts through chimneys until he's taken to the North Pole and informed by a group who claim they're elves that he is now Santa. For actually being a relatively thin fellow, Allen looks surprisingly convincing as Father Christmas.

6. Jack Black (Saturday Night Live)

In a hilarious Debbie Downer sketch, Rachel Dratch in her most sob-storied, rotten-lived best portrays Downer on Christmas morning. Jack Black as Santa (wonderfully done, by the way) attempts to get past Debbie's neuroses by asking repeatedly what she really wants for Christmas only to be blocked at every corner by her constant hypochondriacal issues.

5. Ed Asner (Elf)

Though Will Farrell steals the movie as Buddy, the elf, Ed Asner does a fine job as the portly man in red and arrives only at the end in a ruined sleight only to explain to Buddy that the Christmas spirit is going to need to be refurbished in the city in order for him to fly again. He looks really cool as Santa, too, especially considering he's kind of a grumpy ass.

4. Santa (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer)

At first, Santa is a skinny jerk who croons madly about being the King of Jingle-Ling to Rudolph's family just moments after telling Donder that his sun is a shiny-nosed freak. He let's the father deer know, in no uncertain terms, that he is a failure of a father for producing such an abomination of an offspring. Well, as it goes, old Saint Nick eats his shitty words as he requires Rudolph's assistance to guide his fogged-in sleigh. Take that, fatty!

3. The Grinch (How The Grinch Stole Christmas)

When the Grinch, annual loather of the poor little Whos down in Who-ville, decides to finally take matter into his own hands by raping the town of its Christmas celebration, he chooses to do so dressed as 'Santy Claus'. By slicing up a curtain and attaching some white fluff, the Grinch looks really nothing like Santa to the human eye, but to Cindy Lou Who, he apparently does. Nice suit though.

2. Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa)

As the most obnoxious of all Mall Santas, Billy Bob, with his lanky and bony build really looks nothing like the Jolly Fat Man. He's drunk, rude, mouthy, and a thief, but he is as cool as it comes when it comes to what matters: women and good old-fashioned Holiday Cheer.

1. Santa (Coca Cola)

This is it: the one and only. The very reason why Santa is decked out in glorious Red and White today... we owe it all to the soda mogul, Coca Cola. Thanks largely to an ad campaign years ago, Coke dressed the Holiday Hero in its corporate colors, and the rest is history.

The Top Ten Worst Christmas Gifts

Ah, tis the season of giving. I truly enjoy giving cool gifts to my wife and kids, basically so I can play with the stuff later on. Putting some thought into a great gift can go down in history and place you atop the upper echelon of anticipated gifters for Christmases to come. Conversely, grabbing some last-minute crap at a gas-station convenience store can make you equally as infamous, only far worse and you might just become the relative or friend everyone wishes to avoid come Christmas. So, avoid, at all costs, the following ten items and spring for something a bit more. Ya cheap bastard.

10. Soap-On-A-Rope

Unless this, the most ridiculous of all shower attaches, comes in a basket featuring various scented bath foams, floral oils, and a garden's-worth of rose petals, this abomination is a rotten, rotten gift. And while we're at it, why on a damn rope? Are you in prison? Possibly.

9. A Re-Gift (Especially One That EVERYONE Has Seen)

Did you get a really tacky and un-wearable gift last year? Was it a T-shirt featuring the cast of CHiPs? Was it a pair of pants with paisley patterns? Maybe it was a five-dollar watch from a service station that has since started flashing 9:30? Hey, it's now time to RE-GIFT! But make darn sure nobody else has seen the stuff before or you're gonna get punched. And rightly so.

8. Fruit and Nuts Baskets

Everyone has that useless set of aunts and uncles who, yearly, supply you with the same thing: fruit and nuts in a festive basket. Look, I appreciate the effort, or severe lack there of, and I do, sort of, like the flavor of walnuts and naval oranges, but enough with the FUCKING baskets, already. Wait, where are you going?

7. Christmas Items

Seriously. Why on THE Hell would you give the gift that stops giving the second you open it. Nicely done, you got your brother an Andy Williams Holiday CD! Hey, that's great for the next 20 hours. You suck.

6. A Pet

I can see this being effectual if you live on a farm and you get a couple ponies, but just the thought of opening a moist box containing a lifeless kitten just screams tacky and incredibly cruel. And why on earth would you give an irresponsible child a puppy who needs constant care and attention. And the dog needs some caring, too! Rim shot.

5. A Sweater

What's up, Cliff Huxtable? Nice sweater. I know a few, let's just say, 'effervescent', guys who would thoroughly enjoy getting a printed sweater for Christmas, but other than that, it is a dumb gift and you, sir, are a dumb ass.

4. Far Too-Big/Small Clothes (This One Is For The Guys)

WARNING! All of you guys out there intent on purchasing your gal a fine pair of jeans for her for Christmas need to step back, take a breath, and at the very least sneak a peek of her pants size while they're strewn across the floor (YES!). Or, better still: DON'T GET HER CLOTHES AT ALL! EVER! Are you trying to get murdered on Christmas morning, you stupid douche bag!

3. Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Chia Pets are outrageously and unforgivably stupid. Kill yourself.

2. Gift Cards to a Horrible Store

Oooh! A gift card! I can go out and get exactly what I want and buy the thing that I really need and... wait, does this thing say Generic Drug Store? Go to Hell.

1. Socks/Underwear

Hey, we all occasionally need a new pack of our favorite underthings and fine washables, but I'd really prefer getting those things myself. I happen to like the boxer-briefs with prints of the cast from Joanie Love Chachi, ok? And relying on you knuckleheads to know that I enjoy rainbow monkey socks is a futile act to say the least. Don't bother unless your intended target is 4.

***HONORABLE MENTIONS***

Fruit Cake, Fast-Food Gift Certificates, Loose Change

The Top Ten Sappiest Christmas Songs

Christmas is inundated with more songs than you could conceivably listen to in a 24-hour period, and most of them are really catchy and well done. Some... oh sweet Mother, some... are just about as sappy and sickening as you can possibly get. Here are the ten such songs I have heard. And, as it goes, they will be stuck in m head for life.

10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

In 1944 Judy Garland made this unfortunately sob-worthy song famous in the film Meet Me In St. Louis, and it has been re-recorded hundreds of times since. The lyrics made far more sense when taken in the context of the movie scene in which they were sung (moving to New York), but now, they just reek of sodden sentimentality.

9. I'll Be Home For Christmas Made disturbingly famous by the Christmas Crooner, Bing Crosby in 1943, I.B.H.F.C. is the sob story of a guy (or lady, depending on the lyricist) who, though far away on the Holiday, will, in fact, be 'home' for Christmas 'if only in my dreams'. Just enough sap in these words to douse a short-stack, if you know what I mean.

8. My Grown Up Christmas List David Foster wrote the music for this song, but Linda Thompson Jenner wrote the lyrics for it in 1990. Natalie Cole sang it originally for them on a recorded track for one of David Foster's albums, which was a non-holiday album called "River of Love". If you are not privy to this tunes gob-rising lyrics, it is more or less about a Christmas list asking for all of the impossible and highly improbably 'Earth-Shattering' items world-wide. It's pretty yucky.

7. Do The Know It's Christmas? In 1984, a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia was released to the unsuspecting Holiday public. Now the song itself has a nice backdrop to it: who is seriously going to beat on a song that raises money for starving people, right? Well, much akin to the We Are The World/USA For Africa deal, this tune features many of the heavy hitters of the music biz at the time. But, despite all of that, just wait until you live the lyric, 'Just thank God it's them instead of you', over and over again. Not cool.

6. Someday At Christmas Stevie Wonder wrote and performed this mess of a song in 1967 featuring some of the most trite and idiotic lyrics of all time. Here's a sample of one of the verses: Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars When we have learned what Christmas is for When we have found what life's really worth There'll be peace on earth

Good Lord.

5. Where Are You Christmas? "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You," is a song written by James Horner for the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas in the year 2000. It was first performed by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who in the movie. Not, seemingly, having been bad enough, Faith Hill re-recorded it next and changed the title to what you see above. Yet, it still sucks.

4. Last Christmas Remember Wham! ? Yeah, I knew you did. George Michael and Andrew Ridgely. A power duo to say the least, right? Yeah. Anyway, in 1984 they released this colossal piece of shit. Enjoy!

3. Believe All in all, I really enjoyed the movie The Polar Express. It had that creepy Roto-Scoping thing where animation was literally placed over live action to make everything uber-three-dimensional and scary-eyed. The book is better. Anyway, singing sensation Josh Groban recorded this little ditty for the film and continues to piss me off to this day.

2. Santa's Beard In 1964 The Beach Boys released a Christmas album (natch) and this song was one of many of the ridiculous tunes. In this festive little hum-along, the Boys discover that a costumed lad is not really Santa when they pull off his beard to reveal a very un-Claus-ian fellow. Such a sappy, crappy song, it almost stings.

1. Christmas Shoes Absolutely, without a doubt THE sappiest Christmas song on the face of the Earth! Basically, a boy has no money to buy his dying mother a nice pair of kicks for Christmas so when she does finally give in to whatever is killing her, she'll face Jesus with fine footwear. So the guy who's listening to this gut-wrenching nonsense offers to pay the bill for the shoes. I feel sticky and suddenly shocked with over-indulgent sweetness just writing about this sugary orgasm. Originally an Internet-forwarded legend, it was forwarded to a member of the Christian vocal group NewSong in 1996. They worked on the song for four years and eventually released it as a bonus track in 2000; it reached #31 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart that year. I have to vomit now.

The Top Ten Classic Christmas Movie Scenes

Christmas Movies hold some of the finest memories of any set of films for so many of us. Maybe it's because that's the only time of year we really sit down and watch these great pictures. Whatever the case, here are Ten classic sets of scenes from ten truly classic Christmas films. 10. Miracle on 34th Street 9. How The Grinch Stole Christmas 8. Bad Santa 7. A Christmas Story 6.Elf 5.Gremlins 4. Scrooged 3. Christmas Vacation 2. It's A Wonderful Life 1. A Charlie Brown Christmas

The Top Ten Christmas Books

Nothing quite celebrates the feeling of the Holiday season quite like an engrossing and wonderful book. Many stories have been written about Christmas and Santa Claus, but very few of those take the theme and make it into something truly special and important. Here are ten of the finest examples. 10. The Greatest Story Ever Told - Fulton Oursler In this highly regarded 1949 account about the life of Jesus, Oursler imbued the New Testament gospels with life, embellishing them with descriptive detail, dialog, and personality. The compelling fictionalized narrative, which remains faithful to the scriptures throughout. The author captures the essence of the compassionate yet forceful Son of God and his mission amidst the political, religious, and social turmoil of the early first century. This program's messages are timeless and ever relevant and will have wide appeal. 9. The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg It tells the story of a young boy on Christmas Eve, patiently lying in bed. Suddenly, a magical train called the Polar Express pulls up in front of his house, and the boy is invited to journey to the North Pole. The train is filled with many other children, all dressed in their pajamas. As the train reaches the North Pole, the boy and the other children see thousands of elves gathered at the center of town to send Santa on his way. The boy is handpicked by Santa Claus to receive the first gift of Christmas. Realizing that he could choose anything in the world, the boy asks for one beautiful-sounding silver bell from Santa's sleigh. The boy places the bell in the pocket of his robe and all the children watch as Santa takes off for his yearly delivery. Later, on the train, the boy discovers that the bell has fallen through a hole in his pocket. On Christmas morning, his sister finds a small present wrapped under the tree, behind all of the other gifts. The boy opens the box and discovers that it is the bell, delivered by Santa who found it on the seat of his sleigh. When the boy rings the bell, both he and his sister marvel at the beautiful sound. His parents, however, are unable to hear the bell and remark that it must be broken. However, those who believe can hear it.

8. The Christmas Tree - Judy Salamon The chief gardener at Rockefeller Center dreads Christmas because one of his responsibilities is the selection of the center's giant Christmas tree, which is not an easy job. Thus, he is thrilled one spring to have found the perfect tree so early and foresees no problem in persuading the nuns who own the property on which the tree stands to let him have it. Then he meets Sister Anthony, who came to the convent as a young orphan and made a close friend of the Norway Spruce she calls "Tree." 7. The Crippled Lamb - Max Lucado Joshua the Lamb is crippled, so the other animals leave him behind in the stable. His tears of loneliness turn to joy, however, when he realizes that because of his difference, he gets to be right there when Jesus is born! From the classic art to the surprise ending, this tender story will help all children see that God has a very special plan for their lives. 6. The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans The story relates how a young couple, Richard (who narrates) and Keri, accept a position to care for a lonely widow, Mary Parkin, in her spacious Victorian mansion. As Christmas draws near, Mary becomes anxious about Richard's obsession with success and his failure to make time for his family. She urges him to reconsider his priorities, but he is always too busy to heed her advice. It is only when Mary is on her deathbed and her secret sorrow is revealed through the letter-laden Christmas box of the title that Richard realizes what she has been trying to tell him. The message concerns love, of course, and the strings Evans pulls to vivify it should squeeze sobs from even the stoniest of hearts. 5. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson Year after year a small town puts on their re-telling of the Christmas Story from the Bible, and year after year it's always the same. Alice Wendleken is always Mary while Elmer Hopkins, son of the minister, is always Joeseph. But this year that changes. After the usual director, Ms. Helen Armstrong, breaks her leg, housewife Grace Bradley steps up to direct. This is bad news for her children, Beth and Charlie, who are always in the pageant, but never want to be, as well as her husband Bob, who puts his best effort into staying home for the pageant. But things get even worse. The Herdmans (Ralph, Imogene, Leroy, Ollie, Claude and Gladys), who are deemed the worst kids in the world, find out about the pageant after Charlie tells Leroy that it doesn't matter if he steals his lunch because he can get refreshments at Sunday School. The Herdmans show up and get all the leading roles because no one wants to be anywhere near them. During the weeks leading up to the show all of the rehearsals are a disaster. And just as it looks like the pageant would be terrible as well, the Herdmans seem to pull their act together to turn it into the Best Christmas Pageant Ever. 4. One Wintry Night - Ruth Bell Graham In a complex, lengthy picture book for older readers, an injured mountain boy, caught in a snowstorm at Christmastime, is taken in by a woman who lives in a log home the boy's grandfather helped build years before. After the snowbound pair become acquainted and the grandfather is notified of the boy's whereabouts, the woman launches into a telling of the Christmas story--beginning with the Creation and ending with the Resurrection. The setup seems awkward, but once the main story gets under way, things become more believable. Watson's artwork is unusually arresting, offering plenty of visual subtext to support the ambitious undertaking, which is actually a condensed retelling of the entire Bible. The double-spread Nativity scene truly commands attention, particularly the striking face of the young girl Anna, who has come to see the Christ child. 3. Twas The Night Before Christmas - Clement Moore The poem, 'A Visit From St. Nickolas' (also known as 'The Night Before Christmas', and 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' (from its first line), first published in 1823, is largely responsible for the contemporary American conception of Santa Claus, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and first-ever printing of the names of his reindeer, and his delivery of toys to children. 2. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol is a Victorian morality tale of an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who undergoes a profound experience of redemption over the course of one evening. Mr Scrooge is a financier/money-changer who has devoted his life to the accumulation of wealth. He holds anything other than money in contempt, including friendship, love and the Christmas season. In keeping with the musical analogy of the title, A Christmas Carol, Dickens divides his literary work into five "staves" instead of chapters. This is a little joke Dickens has carried out throughout the story, it adds humour to the story and links in because, a stave is something you will find in a piece of music, and a "carol" is a type of music/song.

1. How The Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr. Seuss The Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, hates Who-ville's holiday celebrations, and plans to steal all the presents to prevent Christmas from coming. To his amazement, Christmas comes anyway, and the Grinch discovers the true meaning of the holiday. My StumbleUpon Page