Ask a Bookseller: 'The Twelve Hours of Christmas'
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Looking for a new read-aloud Christmas book? Amber Collins of Soul Book Nook in Waterloo, Iowa recommends “The Twelve Hours of Christmas,” written by Jenn Bailey, illustrated by Bea Jackson.
![The Twelve Hours of Christmas](https://img.apmcdn.org/eae513eb22449d8c256332c6f7d5a53d32307e86/uncropped/9c4d65-20231215-the-twelve-hours-of-christmas-414.jpg)
It’s a modern take on the classic “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, but eight maids a-milking become eight cups of cocoa in this story of a family coming together on Christmas Day.
The words and illustrations walk us through the day of Christmas: three French toasts for breakfast, parents cooking, grandparents arriving, and cousins playing in the snow. Hidden among the presents around the tree is a new kitten, who gets lost amid the busy day!
The little girl at the center of the story looks for the lost kitten, adding mystery and focus to the read-aloud repetition. Of course, everyone is together in the end.
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