Cressida Cowell on the best books to celebrate the magic of Christmas

From Charles Dickens to Susan Cooper, the How to Train Your Dragon author chooses books to terrify and cheer – and even inspire a little kindness

The festive season has always been full of defiance against the crowding in of the dark. When the year is at its bleakest, we surround ourselves with friends and loved ones to drive that darkness away with fires and joyful noise. Because this is also the time of year to remind ourselves of all the good humanity can do, and to believe in the impossible.

There are so many stories that convey the magic of the festive season. When we return to Clement Clarke Moore’s A Visit from St Nicholas, or Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales or Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising and read them aloud, we find a kind of magic, cast a spell.

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from Books | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2EN042R

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