The Atlas of Christmas: The Merriest, Tastiest, Quirkiest Holiday Traditions from Around the World

Great coffee table book that’s actually fun to read!

If you ever wondered how the rest of the world celebrated the holidays,this is your book! I learned about the pork pie I grew up eating coming from a French-Canadian family.

I try to read only Holiday themed books in December so all the wrapping, buying, spending, stressing, helps keep me in the Christmas spirit. Each of us has some holiday tradition in our own families but I thought it would be fun to read about traditions around the world. I mean fellow book lovers are practically packing at this very minute to head to Iceland for their tradition of giving books, and then spending the day reading. Oh my heart that sounds delightful. Icelanders receive a catalog in November ( me, me, I want one too) and can order all new titles that will be delivered by Christmas. The. Families get together and exchange books. It’s called the holiday book flood.The book explains other countries rituals, who they believe in such as Saint Nicholas, Sinterklass,Saint Lucia, Joulupukki,and Christkindl just to name a few.You can read about Holiday trimmings and Trinkets, Holiday meals and desserts, competitions, and one of my favorites….the pooping log. Yes you read that right, in Spain they use a poop log like we Americans use the Elf on the Shelf. Every day the children “feed” the log and keep it wrapped in a blanket to stay warm, and when the day comes they hit the log with sticks and magically the log “poops” out presents.The Atlas of Christmas was a fun book to read and I learned a lot. What are you fondest memories growing up, or traditions you have started with your family? I for one would love to join Iceland and when all the gifts are open and my tummy is full, grab a book and fall deep into a world of fiction. Happy Holidays!

We have been using this book as part of our materials for Christmas around the world in our ( pre pandemic ) homeschool. The kids love passing the book around to take turns reading. Then we fill out a free printable that I have about what we learned about that country's celebrations.

This is such a fun book to pick up, flip through, and share with your friends and family. We had it out on the table through the holiday season and people can't resist reading it!

The book is very informative. The stories will be interesting for younger and older children. There are not many pictures. However, the selections are really short & would be great for little ones with short attention spans. The binding on our copy is a little wonky and makes the book wavy..but it does not seem to effect the pages being held into the book. My only complaint is that I wished the book was larger. It is about the size of my palm. If it was larger, it would be easier to read alongside a kid (or 2).

This is a great little book showcasing international Christmas traditions. I deducted a star because it needed a proof-reader (MANY references page “TK”- or “to come”). Oops. This book is still worth it if you’re obsessed with Christmas or are interested in world customs.

amazing content, but bigger size of book would make it easier to read..