Hark! The Christmas books you must read

“’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse … .” Or so begins one of the most enduring Christmas stories of all time.

This Christmas season why not start — or continue — a tradition of reading classic stories to your children?

Some of these books go back nearly two centuries, such as Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” while others, such as Chris Van Allsburg’s “The Polar Express,” are barely entering middle age.

Most baby boomers can still remember their parents reading Little Golden Books, a series that re-imagined tales like “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” right before bedtime. They’ll certainly also remember classics like “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”

The department store Montgomery Ward is long gone, but it was responsible for “Rudolph” when it published the promotional book written by Robert L. May in 1949. May was inspired by a particularly cloudy day on Lake Michigan, after being assigned the task of writing this favorite Christmas book.

Inspiration for “The Polar Express” can be traced to Van Allsburg’s visit to Michigan State University as a child, when he saw the immense locomotive Pere Marquette 1225 sitting across from Spartan Stadium. The engine, which now calls Owosso home, became the centerpiece for the book and the journey of young boy looking for Christmas. It was adapted into an animated movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. Van Allsburg also authored another classic children’s book, “Jumanji.”

“The Nutcracker Ballet,” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was originally based on the book “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” by author E.T.A. Hoffmann. Written in 1812, it had to be seen as a surrealistic, scary experience. Just like “Toy Story,” a child’s favorite toy, in this case a nutcracker, becomes alive.

One of the best versions of this tale is “Nutcracker,” published in 1984 and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

Charlie Brown, the beleaguered character of Charles M. Schulz’s syndicated cartoon, is the hero of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which became one of the most recognizable children’s stories, after it was adapted as an animated television short in 1965. Popular myth has it that the movie was responsible for the demise of the then-popular aluminum Christmas tree. The movie rights were recently purchased by Apple TV, which — in the spirit of Christmas — donated the movie so it could be streamed on other platforms.

The Grinch, and all of its parodies — most recently a campaign ad for the Georgia Senate election — seem to have been around forever. But the book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” by revered children’s author Dr. Seuss, first appeared in 1957. Since then, it has been adapted as an animated version for television but the 2000 film starring Jim Carrey is still the gold standard.

Although not technically a children’s book, Virginia Hamilton’s “The Bells of Christmas” can be read aloud by both parents and their children. The book is set against the backdrop of a middle-class Black family in 1890s Ohio, and focuses on 12- year-old Jason as he waits for Christmas day.

The quirky “Cajun Night Before Christmas,” illustrated by James Rice, is a delightful parody of Moore’s famous poem. Expect lots of gators.

It’s not just children who should be reading Christmas-related books this time of the season. “Blue Dog” illustrator George Rodrigue has written a memoir of his Christmas feelings in his little book, “The Blue Dog Christmas.” Christmastime inspired some of Rodrigue’s important paintings.

The Christmas story “The Melodeon,” by former MSU professor Glendon Swarthout, still remains a favorite Christmas read and movie. Another book, O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” also focuses on the unselfish nature of the holiday when folks do admirable acts for others inspired by the season.

Also for adults and teens is David Sedaris’ “Holiday on Ice,” which is a collection of essays on the holiday season. The most famous is “Santaland Diaries,” which follows Sedaris’ real-life experience as an assistant elf.

Alex Haley’s “A Different Kind of Christmas” and Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and “One Christmas” are books of significance that cry for reading at Christmastime. And then there’s the proverbial Christmas tales of “Miracle on 34th Street,” written in 1947 by Valentine Davies, and the short-story “The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale,” also known by its movie name “It’s a Wonderful Life,” by Philip Van Doren Stern. Both books were eclipsed by movies.

Two poetry books that stand out are Maya Angelou’s “Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem” and Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”

Perhaps a hidden gem of a book is a small 1934 commercial printing of “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus,” which retells the 1897 letter written to the New York Sun by a young girl inquiring if Santa actually exists. Francis P. Church’s editorial response reaffirmed that there is indeed a Santa.

The young girl, named Virginia O’Hanlon, had ended her letter to the Sun by asking: “Please tell the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”

And for those who can’t get enough of it, there is always “A Christmas Carol,” by none other than Charles Dickens.