Review: Gibbs Smith Christmas books

As the holiday season approaches, finding the perfect gift can be challenging. I think I found the answer in Gibbs Smith’s line of Christmas books. These bright, cheery quick reads are fun and festive. And most have hard covers, making them sturdy and sure to last season after season.




My kids and I dove headfirst into Easy Christmas Cut Up Cakes for Kids a bit early in the season. We’ve made two cakes so far – a candy cane and Santa’s hat – both of which were big hits with their friends. The decorating instructions are simple to follow, with impressive results. And each December we all make our own gingerbread houses, so everyone has already chosen their picks for this year from No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids. It wasn’t easy either, as there are a lot of innovative ideas to choose from.

There are several humorous books as well, such as A Teacher’s Night Before Christmas and A Golfer’s Night Before Christmas, cute rewrites of the old classic with amusing illustrations throughout. Both Gingerbread Funnies and Frosty Funnies offer up comic book-style humor aimed at adults, but done cleverly enough so they’re not inappropriate for children.

The Christmas Eve: The Nativity Story in Engravings, Verse, and Song was a little too religious-themed for my taste. But the book itself is beautiful and would make a lovely gift for anyone who enjoys singing Christmas carols – unlike my tone deaf family.

Rounding out the offerings is Snowflakes: Creative Paper Cutouts. This one was a huge hit with my kids. They can’t wait to decorate the house with their creations later this year. The patterns can be copied by hand, or printed out using a copy machine or scanner, so the snowflakes can be re-made again and again. It was a great craft for my kids to work on together – my youngest copied the designs and my eldest cut them out. We’ve already got enough snowflakes to decorate every window in the house.

All of the Gibbs Smith Christmas titles are available online at the following links:

No-Bake Gingerbread Houses for Kids: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
A Teacher’s Night Before Christmas: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
A Golfer’s Night Before Christmas: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
Easy Christmas Cut Up Cakes for Kids: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
Christmas Eve: The Nativity Story in Engravings, Verse, and Song: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
Frosty Funnies: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
Gingerbread Funnies: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
Snowflakes: Creative Paper Cutouts: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk