When I was a kid, we had a Christmas tradition that every year on Christmas Eve, my dad would read Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas to us.  We usually sat by the fireplace, right next to Santa's cookies and milk, to listen to Daddy read.  This was a big treat, not only because it was a cherished holiday tradition that we loved, but also because my dad rarely read to us.

I can't remember now what the book or the illustrations looked like, but we loved it.  It got so that I knew the old poem by heart, and I still remember it to this day.

Books were always a big part of Christmas for us.  I was an avid reader (and still am, as you might have guessed if you read my posts on the other book blogs in the network), and as a result, I usually got at least a few books for Christmas.  Sometimes I would be allowed to help my mom shop for my Christmas books in the month or two before the holidays, and sometimes I would get books as surprises.  I usually liked even the ones that I picked out.

Most of the time on Christmas Day, after we opened all our presents and my dad excused himself to make us all a nice holiday breakfast, I would disappear with one of my new books.  I can remember many a happy, relaxing Christmas spent reading.

Now that December has swung round again, and the holidays are looming, I find myself thinking a lot of Christmas traditions, and how many of them were centered around books!