Publishers crank out Christmas books like so many dozens of sugar cookies. Many use the same recipe year after year, no matter how boring. Other books take chances, and some are good enough to become part of a family's holiday tradition for years to come.
* "Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters," by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack, illustrated by John Thompson (Scholastic, $15.95 -- $17.95 after Jan. 1, 68 pages, ages 8-13) definitely takes chances.
It is a gorgeous book, with Mr. Thompson's acrylic paintings more than doing justice to the McKissacks' typically meticulous research. But in a year when the re-enactment of a slave auction drew protests at Williamsburg, Va., I'm not sure how this book will be received.
Set in 1859 in the Tidewater area of Virginia, it contrasts the celebration of Christmas among white plantation owners to the holiday as it is celebrated among slaves on the plantation. We learn how traditions kept in the big house differ from those in slave quarters. But this isn't a simplistic treatment. While white families are excited about seeing aunts and cousins for the holiday, the master plays God. He decides which slaves he will allow to have passes for once-yearly visits to see mothers and sisters, sons and fathers who have been sold to nearby #i plantations.
The slaves are invited into the big house for the Christmas tree lighting. The master shares eggnog with the male slaves while the mistress hands out small gifts to each of the women and children. The slaves are relieved to leave.
Back in the quarters, Christmas is "the one time of the year there's enough to eat, and enough time to enjoy a meal with family and friends." But it's not a carefree celebration.
One slave has smuggled in a copy of the North Star newspaper published by Frederick Douglass. In the distance, a man sings a spiritual -- a signal to his family that he has made connection with a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The white folks think it's "a happy, contented slave singing a carol."
* For a new slant on the traditional story of a youngster who learns that it is better to give than to receive, check out "Littlejim's Gift: An Appalachian Christmas Story," by Gloria Houston, illustrated by Thomas B. Allen (Philomel, $15.95, ages 6-10, 32 pages).
Ms. Houston continues the story of Littlejim, who is now 11. His father, Bigjim, doesn't want the family to celebrate Christmas while so many neighbors are in Europe, fighting World War I.
But Littlejim yearns to see the Christmas celebration at the Baptist Church, almost as much as he wants the set of child-sized woodworking tools for sale at the general store. Just when he has saved almost enough money for the tools, however, he decides he'd rather spend it on the doll his little sister wants.
His generosity is rewarded in the end, and even his cold-hearted father shows a spark of warmth. Just a spark.
* "The Christmas Alphabet" by Robert Sabuda (Orchard, $19.95, 14 pages, all ages) is more than a book.
And it's not quite a book. Think of it as a collection of ornaments you leave on the coffee table instead of draping on the tree.
Pasted onto heavy, white paper are 26 flaps of brightly colored paper, one for each letter of the alphabet. Flip them open and they reveal an intricate, white paper sculpture -- a cross between origami and pop-ups -- that moves when the flap moves.
So the bell behind B sways back and forth; the lid of the gift behind G lifts to reveal a present inside; the poinsettia almost leaps off the page and the snowman doffs his hat. Keep it away from the sticky-fingered, under-6 set and it could well last long enough to become an heirloom.
* Angels are hotter than they've been since the Renaissance, it seems. In Borders the other day I investigated a gigantic display of books devoted to angels, trying to find a reason for their resurgence. I still don't get it.
Those who do, however, will enjoy "An Alphabet of Angels," by Nancy Willard (Blue Sky, $16.95, 64 pages, all ages). It is a gorgeous work, illustrated with photographs full of whimsy -- a doll-sized angel in the branches of an orange tree -- and possibility.
Ms. Willard takes her small angels and poses them with familiar objects and collages, using lighting for a celestial effect. "The angel of streetlights is polishing roads," she writes, and the full-page photo shows an angel in the foreground. In the background, a streetlight is silhouetted against shadows, shimmering at its reflection in a canal.
Some of the angels hover. Others stand in the garden, or on the artist's table. ("The angel of ink is the servant of hands.") If you know an angelphile, this makes a fine gift.
* Signing sighting: Arthur Yorinks, whose latest work is "Whitefish Will Rides Again," will appear at the Children's Bookstore in Roland Park at 11 a.m. Dec. 17. There will be a Western-style costume party, and Mr. Yorinks has a reading and other high jinks planned.