THE QUEEN AND THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE by Nancy Churnin & Louisa Uribe

This is more than the story of the first Christmas tree—it’s the story of a kind and determined young royal. Such an interesting bit of history I’d never come across before!

Summary from Amazon:

Queen Charlotte brought her family's festive holiday yule bough from Germany to England. While planning a Christmas Day party in 1800 at Windsor Castle for over 100 children, she realized a single bough isn't enough. So she brought in the whole tree instead, making it the first known Christmas Tree in England. This story tells a little known fact about a favorite holiday tradition.

The Queen and the First Christmas Tree, written by Nancy Churnin and illustrated by Luisa Uribe,  was published by Albert Whitman & Company in 2018.

Opening:     

Charlotte wasn’t like other princesses.

My Thoughts as a Writer:

I love the way this book tells a part of Queen Charlotte’s life as brings us the story of  the first Christmas tree in England. It’s a wonderful example of selecting the part of a person’s life that is most interesting to focus on when writing a biographical picture book. The way the author uses specific details helps to bring the story to life.

My Thoughts as an Educator:

This would be a wonderful story to read when talking about holiday traditions.

 Ages: 5 - 8

Grades: K – 3

Themes: Christmas trees, royalty, holiday traditions

Activities:

Research: Think about one of your family traditions. Do you know where it came from? Who started it? Do some research and see if you can find out. Draw a picture or write about what you discovered.

STEM:  Can you make a single pine branch stand up like a Christmas tree? What materials do you need? Build a tree stand!

Write: Make a list of words to describe Queen Charlotte.

Draw: Draw a picture of what princess Charlotte might be doing instead of going to a fancy ball.