Five books for kids that will keep them turning the pages throughout the holidays

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is a book about growing up. The narrative traces the development of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, from childhood through adulthood. It examines universal issues like love and death, war and peace, and the tension between personal ambition and obligations to one’s family.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
In the story told in A Christmas Carol, an elderly miser named Ebenezer Scrooge receives visits from the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley as well as the spirits of Christmas, past, present and yet to come. Scrooge changes into a nicer, gentler man after their visits.

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
‘A Christmas Memory’ is a short story which takes place in the 1930s. Seven-year-old Buddy knows that the Christmas season has arrived when his cousin, Miss Sook Falk exclaims: ‘It’s fruitcake weather!’ Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd, but enduring friendship between two innocent souls.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
A piece of detective fiction is called Hercule Poirot’s Christmas. The book is a locked room mystery and includes the Belgian investigator Hercule Poirot. The premise is that a family gathers for Christmas and discovers the host killed in a private room. The investigation by Poirot focuses on the victim’s methodical and spiteful tendencies.

The Christmas Swap by Sandy Barker
At age 11, Chloe, Jules, and Lucy meet at a Maui resort kids’ club, beginning a friendship that will last for 20 years and cover three continents. They resolve to switch Christmases 22 years later, but neither of them anticipates the humour and romantic antics that would follow.