A selection of books for youngsters aims to entertain — from tales of an anxious latke encountering its first Christmas ornaments to a sighting of a mysterious Chanukah moon — even as they give instruction about the varied spirit of the holiday season. The offerings are also well packaged, featuring lively illustrations and a range of special jacket touches such as cloth covers and gold embossing.

THE NUTCRACKER
HarperCollins

The author and illustrator of the bestselling “Brother Eagle, Sister Sky,” Susan Jeffers, wanted to tell the story of “The Nutcracker” as it is told in the ballet without making it inaccessible to young readers just graduating from picture books. The result, “The Nutcracker” (HarperCollins, $16.99), is easy to read aloud and every scene — from Christmas Eve at the Stahlbaums’ to the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairies — is lushly illustrated.

THE LATKE WHO COULDN’T STOP SCREAMING: A Christmas Story
McSweeney’s

A latke runs screaming from a frying pan through the streets of a tiny village in “The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story” (McSweeney’s Books, $9.95). Just as he does in “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” author Lemony Snicket delivers vocabulary lessons with signature deadpan humor in this holiday tale. The latke learns about Christmas during encounters with a string of sparkling lights, a candy cane, and a pine tree, and also teaches young readers about Chanukah: “I’m not hash browns!” the savory potato pancake exclaims. “I’m something completely different!” The latke eventually finds the place where it belongs. Illustrations are by Lisa Brown, the writer and illustrator of the “Baby Be of Use” books.

A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES
New Directions

A man spins tales about the glory of his childhood Christmases to an eager young listener in Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” (New Directions, $9.95). “Years and years ago, when I was a boy, when there were wolves in Wales, and birds the color of red-flannel petticoats whisked past the harp-shaped hills,” begins one recollection of a snowfall that fell like buckets from the sky. First published by the Welsh poet in 1955, this pocket-size edition features woodcuts by Ellen Raskin, the designer of the dust jacket for the first edition of Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time.”

ANGELA AND THE BABY JESUS
Simon & Schuster

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt has written his first children’s book, “Angela and the Baby Jesus” (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $17.99). It is set in Limerick, Ireland, and based on a true story told to Mr. McCourt by his mother, Angela. Feeling sorry for the baby Jesus on view in a Christmas crib at St. Joseph’s Church, 6-year-old Angela hatches a plan to take him home to keep him warm — but she’ll have to keep it a secret from her brothers and sisters, as well as the parish priest, Father Creagh. Illustrations are by Raoul Colon.

THE BOX OF DELIGHTS
New York Review of Books

The New York Review of Books has reissued British author John Masefield’s 1935 fantasy novel, “The Box of Delights” ($17.95). Kay Harker is traveling home from school for the holidays when he meets an old Punch-and-Judy man, Cole Hawlings, on a train platform. The puppeteer performs a wondrous show at Kay’s home, Seekings House. Thereafter, Hawlings entrusts Kay to be the guardian of a magic box that transports its user through time and space. Kay is charged not only with protecting the box from the evil wizard Abner Brown, but must rescue a kidnapped friend, and save the town’s Christmas celebration.

A PERFECT SNOWMAN
Simon & Schuster Children’s

A snowman made with the ripest carrot for a nose, the roundest pieces of coal for eyes, and dressed in the finest hat and scarf is convinced of its own brilliance in Preston McDaniel’s “A Perfect Snowman” (Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing). The book’s sepia-toned drawings capture sunny, winter afternoons and lonely nights, as a family of rabbits, a scrawny cat, and a cold, hungry girl show the snowman that what really makes one precious comes from within.

MAIN STREET: ‘Tis the Season
Scholastic

In “‘Tis the Season” (Scholastic, $6.99), the third installment in Ann Martin’s “Main Street” series, Ruby and Flora are spending their first Christmas in Camden Falls, Mass. The author’s 8-year-old and 11-year-old heroines have lived there with their grandmother, Min, since their parents died in a car crash. The sisters are nervous about a seemingly indifferent aunt who is expected to visit. Meanwhile, their friend Olivia may have to move and a special surprise for their dear friend Nikki requires serious planning. Ruby, Flora, and their friends are aided and amused by the neighbors, shopkeepers, and local characters that populate the cozy, small town.

HANUKKAH MOON
Kar-Ben

“I’ve heard of a blue moon and even a man in the moon — but never a Hanukkah moon,” says Isobel, a young girl on her way to visit her Aunt Luisa, who has just arrived in America from Mexico. Deborah da Costa’s “Hanukkah Moon” (Kar-Ben Publishing, $17.95) features painterly illustrations by Gosia Mosz, and follows Isobel as she shares in special holiday traditions, such as exchanging thoughtful gifts (a little silver dreidel from Israel among them) and learning how to recognize a “Hanukkah moon.”