Christmas is Coming is a beautifully illustrated book for children about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries and within different cultures across the globe.

This book was very interesting and I think children would enjoy reading about how different places and cultures celebrate differently to themselves!

This contains a treasure trove of Christmas-related information, however for a children’s book, it is VERY VERY wordy. Almost too wordy and with lengthy writing, I feel kids will mainly look at the illustrations and not read the information alongside. The purpose of the book is lost at that point.

But for older children, young adults and even adults, it's a beautiful and very lovely to read.

Wow, this book is really beautiful and comprehensive, with a lot of knowledge and information about all of the different Christmas traditions from all around the world. It has gorgeous, old fashioned illustrations, which are amazing. There is a lot of detailed text, so the book will keep your child occupied and happy for a long time, while they learn so much valuable and interesting information. I loved this book a lot, and I highly recommend it, not only for children, but for adults too, as I also learned a lot from it.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very informative book on different Christmas traditions. Recommended for those that like to learn new traditions/different cultures. The illustrations are what really made the book.

An interesting title that helps you better prepare for the Christmas season. I can see myself referencing it on an annual basis.

This was AMAZING!!!! Such a cute and informative children's book all about holiday traditions around the world. The art style was adorable, the information was sooo interesting, and I loved the sense of community this book brings. We're all different and we all celebrate different holidays in different ways, but there's still collective celebration, love, and joy. This book just felt like drinking a cup of hot cocoa and I highly recommend this for kids of all ages. I know I learned a LOT from this! An amazing holiday read. The only reason it's getting 4-stars is because I don't know how well this would last through the years. It isn't like one of those classic holiday kid's books you pick up to read every single year. It seems more like a one-time thing and, while it's amazing at that, I prefer holiday books that you could reread every single year.

Thank you to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Christmas Is Coming: Traditions from Around the World by Monika Utnik-Strugala is a beautifully illustrated and extremely informative book about Christmas traditions all around the world. The book includes history, symbolic meanings and stories about Christmas. Excellent for any age. #ChristmasIsComing #NetGalley

What an interesting book! I learned a lot of new things that I haven't come across before. While the text is pretty Eurocentic (it's originally a European publication), other areas of the world are included. It's always interesting to me seeing how pagan and local folk customs are incorporated into Christmas celebrations, and this book has a lot of interesting tidbits- I would've been all over this as a kid! I appreciate that traditions that are only practiced in one place, or in a few places, are included- those should be remembered too. The illustrations are lovely, bright and colorful and filled with detail. I really enjoyed this a lot!

#ChristmasIsComing #NetGalley

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Christmas is coming is a beautiful illustrated book for children about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries and within different cultures across the globe.
This book was very interesting and I think children would enjoy reading about how different places and cultures celebrate differently to themselves.
This book make a great classroom resource especially at Christmas time!
The illustrations are beautifully done throughout.

Christmas is Coming! is an informative book about various Christmas traditions around the world. I enjoyed how the book profiled different regions of the world and what they do for the holidays. This book would be perfect for a classroom who is doing a cross cultural study. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. (This review is also on Goodreads.)

Thank you to NetGalley and North South Books Inc. for providing me with an advanced digital copy of the book for this review.

In this book we learn about different Christmas traditions around the world.

Review: This book wasn’t quite what I expected. I went in imagining more of a picture book type of feel, but the author is very in-depth with their writing, including a lot of detail. The illustrations are beautiful, and the author definitely did a lot of research to write this book. It did feel rather long, and I think it probably wouldn’t be able to keep the attention of younger children unless it was read to them in small sections. I love Christmas, and it was very interesting to learn about how it’s celebrated in different places, but it did take me multiple readings to finish.

Very in-depth overview of many different traditions and histories associated with the Christmas holiday, as well as other winter traditions. Most of these traditions are European and Northern Hemisphere centered though and almost entirely leaves out the Southern Hemisphere.

It also has a very Christian slant to it. Mostly ignoring other pagan traditions that predate the rise of Christmas as we know it now. The first pages make it out to be a solely Christian holiday, talk about ancient Romans and then say “so Jesus brought humankind the hope of a better tomorrow”, which as a non Christian kind of took me back.

The illustrations are bright bold and whimsically beautiful but also very much whitewashed.

The organization of the book is much like that of an encyclopedia but is lacking in footnotes, a resource guide or even a bibliography. The transitions are chaotic and is much too complex to read as a whole for most below the kindergarten level. Could be a good introduction in an elementary school setting.

What do I know about Christmas? Not much, it seems. I know that somehow Saint Nicholas played a role in the celebration. But what was that? Though Christmas is celebrated mostly in those four-seasons countries, it does come to ours in the form of Santa Claus and his reindeer.

One interesting book on Christmas, why we celebrate it, with what we associate the icons of the celebration, the traditions each country has. It does captured my interest to flip more and more pages.

What a beautiful book! I love the illustrations and I learned so much about holiday traditions around the world. As soon as I finished reading the ARC provided to me by the publisher, I ordered a hard copy to read to my kids. Can't wait to use this book during Advent this year.

Christmas is my favorite season, and books set and also related to this time of the year always draw my attention. And the book here comes with many of the explanations and stories So We can understand Whe, who, when and Why our currently actual traditions originated, all that in a clear and easy way to be read.

Not going to review this book

Incomprehensible to an American or non-Christian audience because it can't discriminate between local and widespread traditions, or between legend and belief and history.

This is one of the most beautiful Christmas books I have ever seen. It is an incredible book filled with traditions from around the world. I will be ordering a physical copy of this book to share with my kids at this holiday season and for many seasons to come.

I love all things Christmas! I loved this book. It is always interesting to see how other cultures celebrate. My only critique is that I think it would have been neat to include actual photographs of the celebrations.

Monika Utnik-Strugala's book, Christmas is Coming, is a fun adventure around the world. Highly informative, this book presents holiday traditions and history from the Americas, Europe, and a little bit of Asia and Australia. Christmas is Coming covers some of the more well known traditions including Christmas trees, the Nutcracker, and Christmas carols. There are also lesser known traditions like how nativity scenes came about and the tradition of hanging a Christmas tree upside down. Does anyone know the purpose of this tradition?

This is such a wonderful, information-packed book. Our plan is to utilize it in our morning basket time during the Advent season. I would recommend reading a section each morning leading up to Christmas and planning some picture books or projects to go along with it. This would be a great study to usher in the holidays. And I can't wait to share I with my kids.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Did you ever wonder about the many traditions and festivals surrounding the holidays and Christmas? This book covers many of these, the stories, the foundations of faiths and tales of jolly gift givers. From ornaments to trees, this book covers all aspects of the season. Enjoyable reading and seems geared to the middle school aged child.
The Christian faith account is told from Catholic and Protestant perspectives. Very interesting and beautifully illustrated.

Thank you NetGalley and North South Books for a copy of "Christmas is Coming: Traditions from Around the World" in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fantastic book for young and old alike. The charming illustrations match the old world feel of the stories from around the world.

The stories will answer children's (and adults) questions about why we celebrate certain things and why we celebrate in certain ways. We learn why we celebrate on the 25th of December, the meaning of Advent and the Advent calendar, Christmas markets, how ornaments came to be, Midnight Mass, the Star of Bethlehem, Mistletoe, Holly, Poinsettia, the place set for the unexpected guest, the food and drink of the holidays, why we sing carols, do the animals really speak at midnight, the Nutcracker, Santa Claus, presents and so many more fascinating facts about Christmas.

The stories bring traditions from Sweden, Norway, Greece, Italy, Poland, Mexico, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Columbia, the Philippines, Germany to life.

There is a fun glossary at the end with how to wish a Merry Christmas in other languages, the name of Santa Claus.

This is a wonderful book that would be a great addition to any family's holiday traditions.