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Peter Spier's Christmas!
Illustrations without text follow the activities of three young children and their parents as they prepare for, and finally celebrate, Christmas.
Paperback
First published August 16, 1983
About the author
Peter Spier
84 books75 followersPeter Spier has established himself as one of the most gifted illustrators in this county. His Noah's Ark was the 1978 Caldecott Award winner, while The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night was a Caldecott Honor book in 1962. The firs two books in his widely acclaimed Mother Goose Library, London Bridge Is Falling Down! and To Market! To Market! were winner and runner-up respectively for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. The Erie Canal and Noah's Ark both won Christopher Awards, while Gobble, Growl, Grunt received Honorable Mention in the first Children's Science Book Award program, sponsored by the New York Academy of Science.
Born and educated in Amsterdam, Mr. Spier came to New York in 1952 after serving in the Royal Dutch Navy and working for a number of years as a reporter for Elsevier's Weekly, Holland's largest magazine. He has illustrated over a hundred books and has contributed a series of murals to the H. F. Du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware.
Born and educated in Amsterdam, Mr. Spier came to New York in 1952 after serving in the Royal Dutch Navy and working for a number of years as a reporter for Elsevier's Weekly, Holland's largest magazine. He has illustrated over a hundred books and has contributed a series of murals to the H. F. Du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
December 23, 2019
3.5 stars. This picture book with no text shows a family preparing for Christmas, shopping, dressing the tree, wrapping presents, singing carols and so much more. These were detailed illustrations with so much to look at. The book really gets across the sheer amount of activities a family gets through during the Christmas period!
The ending felt a little sad but to a child the end of Christmas can feel sad. One thing I didn't like was all the things left out in the street after Christmas, discarded clothes, boxes decorations, it was a mess to leave on your pavement and wasteful, this was written before awareness of recycling I expect but for me this could have finished on a nicer note.
Read on open library.
The ending felt a little sad but to a child the end of Christmas can feel sad. One thing I didn't like was all the things left out in the street after Christmas, discarded clothes, boxes decorations, it was a mess to leave on your pavement and wasteful, this was written before awareness of recycling I expect but for me this could have finished on a nicer note.
Read on open library.
January 16, 2020
Even though wordless, this is a perfect read aloud for parents and children to share. Each page is filled with beautifully detailed illustrations as a family gets ready for and celebrates Christmas. There is so much to see as the family decorates, shops, makes cards and bakes cookies that each illustration is a story in itself - and those are only a few of their activities! My favorite illustration is the tired, but contented parents relaxing on the couch in front of a fire on Christmas night.
Peter Spier's books are lavishly illustrated and detailed and he won the Caldecott for Noah's Ark in 1978. His wordless picture books are inspiring read alouds for story times and conversations with your children (my other favorite is Peter Spier's Rain). He brings back so many memories of the joy of my children's childhood and my own. After a long and illustrious career as a children's author and illustrator, Peter Spier passed away at age 89 in 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/bo...
Peter Spier's books are lavishly illustrated and detailed and he won the Caldecott for Noah's Ark in 1978. His wordless picture books are inspiring read alouds for story times and conversations with your children (my other favorite is Peter Spier's Rain). He brings back so many memories of the joy of my children's childhood and my own. After a long and illustrious career as a children's author and illustrator, Peter Spier passed away at age 89 in 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/bo...
January 2, 2012
4.5 STARS
A wordless picture book that details the preparations for, celebration of, and results of Christmas. Love the details, and so much of this book is very warm and happy. I saw many of our Christmas traditions reflected in these illustrations. I must say the ending felt a little bittersweet, but except for the last few pages (depicting the aftermath of Christmas), I really loved the book and even at the end the children are already planning for the next Christmas so that has a hopeful aspect.
While I think this book could be enjoyed by secular families, families who celebrate the religious aspect of Christmas will appreciate the church-going and prayer featured in this book.
A wordless picture book that details the preparations for, celebration of, and results of Christmas. Love the details, and so much of this book is very warm and happy. I saw many of our Christmas traditions reflected in these illustrations. I must say the ending felt a little bittersweet, but except for the last few pages (depicting the aftermath of Christmas), I really loved the book and even at the end the children are already planning for the next Christmas so that has a hopeful aspect.
While I think this book could be enjoyed by secular families, families who celebrate the religious aspect of Christmas will appreciate the church-going and prayer featured in this book.
December 31, 2022
3.5 stars
Not a single word is in this story. But the pictures tell a fun tale of a family at Christmas time. So many little details–like lost mittens–in the story. Quite fun to make up your own words for the story if you were "reading" it will children, or even yourself.
Not a single word is in this story. But the pictures tell a fun tale of a family at Christmas time. So many little details–like lost mittens–in the story. Quite fun to make up your own words for the story if you were "reading" it will children, or even yourself.
January 7, 2012
Peter Spier uses his illustrations to tell a different kind of Christmas story. Spier shows readers all the hard work and expense that goes into preparing for the perfect Christmas. He shows the excitement and joy that take place on Christmas, attending church service...and also the aftermath. Piles of dirty dishes, bins of trash, empty woods, abandoned tree/wreaths lots, children already wanting more things, and the madness of returns.
Christmas is a happy time but I appreciate Spier shedding light on the not so "perfect" aspects of Christmas. Great wordless book!
Christmas is a happy time but I appreciate Spier shedding light on the not so "perfect" aspects of Christmas. Great wordless book!
January 1, 2019
3.5 stars
December 15, 2024
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but he shows what an enormous disaster Christmas is when it comes to trash.
December 31, 2024
Fun read/pictures to have in Christmas box. No words.
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April 9, 2025Dang. The ending is so unexpectedly bleak for a children’s Christmas book, with the pictures of all the discarded greenery and wrapping paper sitting out in the trash pile. This one reawakened my Charlie-Brown-esque Christmastime existential despair. 😆
December 16, 2010
A wordless picture book that does not leave out one little detail of Christmas. It's all there.
January 13, 2026
Award-winning Dutch American children's author and artist Peter Spier offers an exuberant celebration of Christmas in this wordless picture book. A close-knit and loving family prepare for the holiday—shopping, decorating, baking cookies, and playing with friends—then celebrates it—church service, Christmas Day dinner with family—and finally recovers from all the festivity in these 90+ color illustrations, culminating in a scene in which the following year' holiday is already anticipated...
Published in 1983, Peter Spier's Christmas! evoked an instant and strong feeling of nostalgia in me, for my own childhood, and the Christmases my own family celebrated. The visuals here felt very much of that time—the cars, the way the stores looked, the appliances used in the home—transporting me back to my girlhood. The importance of religious observance at the holiday and how that was handled—a natural part of the celebration, it is emphasized in the church scene, and also in those featuring the family's Nativity set—also struck a chord. The church depicted here felt very familiar to me, having been raised a Congregationalist, and that too gave me a sense of home. All of that said, I didn't feel that the visuals here were so foreign (in either a temporal or cultural sense) that contemporary children couldn't understand them, and there is much that is still current and universal, from the warmth of the family circle—the grandparents coming struck another chord, as my own grandparents were always with us at Christmas—to the fun of the various activities. Recommended to fans of Peter Spier—I really need to read more of his work!—and to anyone seeking wordless Christmas books children can pore over, examining every detail.
Published in 1983, Peter Spier's Christmas! evoked an instant and strong feeling of nostalgia in me, for my own childhood, and the Christmases my own family celebrated. The visuals here felt very much of that time—the cars, the way the stores looked, the appliances used in the home—transporting me back to my girlhood. The importance of religious observance at the holiday and how that was handled—a natural part of the celebration, it is emphasized in the church scene, and also in those featuring the family's Nativity set—also struck a chord. The church depicted here felt very familiar to me, having been raised a Congregationalist, and that too gave me a sense of home. All of that said, I didn't feel that the visuals here were so foreign (in either a temporal or cultural sense) that contemporary children couldn't understand them, and there is much that is still current and universal, from the warmth of the family circle—the grandparents coming struck another chord, as my own grandparents were always with us at Christmas—to the fun of the various activities. Recommended to fans of Peter Spier—I really need to read more of his work!—and to anyone seeking wordless Christmas books children can pore over, examining every detail.
September 4, 2018
There are not any words in this story. The pictures explain the whole thing. First, a family goes to see Santa in the mall. They then go home and make Christmas cards and decorations. They go to the store to buy wreathes and a Christmas tree. The book continues to tell how the family celebrates Christmas. In a classroom, a teacher could use this book and have each student complete a project explaining how they spend the holidays, regardless of their religion. This way, students will learn about different traditions and cultures. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely consider it for my future classroom.
November 9, 2021
As I picked up this one to read, I wondered why I had this title which was in less-than-fine condition. Then I realized that it must be out of print and copies are few and far between and very expensive. So I'll hold onto this used gem.
This is one of my favorite Christmas books, right up there with Mr. Willowby's Tree, Red and Lulu. I love that it shows all the excitement of Christmas and our traditions and all the work that goes into it as well.
This is one of my favorite Christmas books, right up there with Mr. Willowby's Tree, Red and Lulu. I love that it shows all the excitement of Christmas and our traditions and all the work that goes into it as well.
January 10, 2018
January 2018 - I want to celebrate Christmas in this neighborhood - it looks so warm and cozy. I love the wordless panels - there are through-lines to follow, and lots left up to your interpretation. It's magical but also realistic, ending with the garbage and tree out at the curb after the celebrations are over.
November 29, 2020
This was a gorgeous peek into a family’s experience with the Christmas holiday. I loved the wordless panels of setting up the decor, shopping for family members, purchasing the groceries for the big turkey dinner, crafting, and even the clean-up. Wholesome and a perfect depiction for the family to prepare for the season
November 3, 2024
I was introduced to the world of Peter Spier by an episode of Reading Rainbow, in which his Noah’s Ark was read. So, when I saw this book at a library sale, I snatched it up!
Christmas! tells the story of a 1983 family Christmas in a suburban neighborhood. It is a warm, evocative, and nostalgic experience. I’m amazed at the quality of detail and storytelling in a book with no words. What a gem.
Christmas! tells the story of a 1983 family Christmas in a suburban neighborhood. It is a warm, evocative, and nostalgic experience. I’m amazed at the quality of detail and storytelling in a book with no words. What a gem.
December 22, 2019
Fun memories of this book as my children grew up, which makes it fun to read still today. I could get lost in these illustrations. I love the reality of the drawings - the mess of dishes, the chaos of excitement . Always a treasure and this book makes a perfect gift for all ages.
November 22, 2022
I have always loved Peter Spiers' wordless books. From decorating the house through putting out the trash of used wrapping paper, this book is packed with delightful pictures of the Christmas celebration.
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September 21, 2023This is a very uplifting book about all the good family traditions there is to do during Christmas time. This is a picture book showing families going and cutting down a tree and doing everything together during the family holiday.
December 26, 2024
A gorgeous, fun, wordless book about the preparations, celebrations, and aftermath of the Christmas season as seen through the lens of one family's experience. The illustrations are so lavish and detailed that readers will discover new details every time they "read" the book.
December 22, 2025
When I was kid, I adored this book. Now an adult, I adore it even more. I found myself mesmerized by the illustrations and palpable warmth that exuded from its pages. Like sitting by the fireplace at Christmas time. 😌
June 23, 2017
It has the same pictures as the "Town-o!" book. And somebody's building 'cuz he has the construction hat on.
December 2, 2018
Wordless. Timeless. But not one for our collection.
December 9, 2020
One of our very favorites. A Wordlist book that perfectly captures a family's Christmas.
December 18, 2020
Beautiful! My 6 yr old and I pored over the pictures looking at all the details that very plainly tell the story of a sweet family's Christmas celebration.
12/17/20 with Julia
12/17/20 with Julia
December 29, 2020
Most charming wordless book ever.
January 29, 2021
MY FAVORITE KIDS CHRISTMAS BOOK
May 31, 2022
No words. The pictures do the talking and some are rather thought provoking.
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December 31, 2023What, no advent calendar?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews