The Dedicated Poetry Bookshop
Poetry Books for... Christmas
Christmas has always been a ready subject for poets, a colourful, happy time of year redolent with traditions that have endured for hundreds of years. On our list there are modern takes on the festive season, such as Carol Ann Duffy's re-working of The Night Before Christmas and traditional verse that crackles like a Yuletide log fire.
Another Night Before Christmas, Carol Ann Duffy, Picador, (ISBN 9780330523936), Paperback, £4.99
Carol Ann Duffy's twenty-first-century reworking of the Victorian Christmas classic, The Night Before Christmas, is filled with her characteristic warmth, wit and imagination, complemented beautifully by the highly original work of illustrator Rob Ryan.
Christmas Please!: 100 Poems on the Festive Season, ed. Douglas Brooks-Davies, Orion, (ISBN 9780753817186), Paperback, £7.99
A selection of poems from the entire range of verse in English, from the Middle Ages to the present day, dealing with every aspect of the festive season, from Baby Jesus to holly and mistletoe and from mince pies to Father Christmas.
Christmas Poems, Everyman Library, (ISBN 9780375407895), Hardback, £9.99
A sparkling collection of Yuletide verse that includes the lyrics to familiar carols, Moore's 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', as well as other great works by, amongst others, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Rudyard Kipling, Dorothy Parker, Robert Graves, and Philip Larkin.
The Oxford Book of Christmas Poems, ed. Michael Harrison, Christopher Stuart-Clark, Oxford University Press, (ISBN 9780192782434), Paperback, £9.99
A thought-provoking and beautiful collection that brings together poems ranging from traditional wassailing songs to the work of contemporary poets. Illustrated by artists such as Peter Bailey, Charles Keeping and Ian Beck, it is a Christmas anthology for all ages.
The Usborne Book of Christmas Poems, ed. Sam Taplin, Anna Luraschi, Usborne Poetry Books, (ISBN 9781409509479), Hardback, £9.99
Poems by William Wordsworth, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Charles Causley, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Benjamin Zephaniah, John Hegley and many others are lavishly illustrated by Anna Luraschi in this perfect festive companion for any child.
More in this series:
Poetry Books for... All Occasions
Poetry Books for... Weddings
Poetry Books for... Funerals
Poetry Books for... Valentine's Day
Poetry Books for... Lovers
Poetry Books for... Faithful Friends
Poetry Books for... Marvellous Mums
Poetry Books for... Doting Dads
Poetry Books for... Awesome Aunts
Poetry Books for... Favourite Uncles
Poetry Books for... Graceful Grannies
Poetry Books for... Grumpy Grandads
Poetry Books for... Boys
Poetry Books for... Girls
Poetry Books for... Tiny Terrors
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