The Oxford Treasury of Christmas Poems

Here is a beautiful Christmas collection for young children. It contains poems on the journey to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, and all aspects of the traditional Christmas story. In addition to the traditional carols and songs, the editors have brought together modern poems that show how the children of today rejoice at Yuletide. Presents and festivities, food and families, and the snow and ice of winter--they are all celebrated in this beautiful anthology, packed with color illustrations on every page. Some of the poets featured include Eleanor Farjeon, Roger McGough, Charles Causley, Wes Magee, Michael Rosen, U. A. Fanthorpe, and Grace Nicholls. All illustrations have been specially commissioned for the book.

"How will you your Christmas keep?
Feasting, fasting, or asleep?
Will you laugh or will you pray,
or will you forget the day?"
(from Keeping Christmas by Eleanor Farjeon)


"They chopped her down in some far wood
A week ago,
Shook from her dark green spikes her load
Of gathered snow,
And brought her home at last, to be
Our Christmas show."
(from The Christmas Tree by John Walsh)


"Winter crept
through the whispering wood,
hushing fir and oak;
crushed each leaf and froze each web--
but never a word he spoke."
(from Winter by Judith Nicholls)