A young boy embarks on a quest to earn enough money to buy a red scarf for a special girl, right before Christmas. “The Red Scarf is a unique holiday book for boys,” Mimi Schroeder, a representative for August House, told TDmonthly. “It combines adventure, humor and life lessons on what really matters.”

This children's folktale from Panama tells the story of Conejito (little rabbit) who is headed to Tía Mónica's house to get gordito, gordito, gordito from all of her cakes and sweets. Along the way he runs into a tiger, a lion and a fox who all want to eat him, but he explains that he is too flaquito to be any good for eating. He promises that he will be more gordito after he returns from eating yummy food at Tía Mónica's house. Told by Margaret Read MacDonald and illustrated in swooping bright colors by Geraldo Valério, this story introduces kids to Spanish in a flowing, lyrical manner.

This colorfully illustrated book, by Don Tate, follows the folk story from the American South, retold by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, of why roosters scratch the ground. It involves plenty of barnyard regulars, like Sheep and Pig, and involves an unusual feast. Readers may never look at corn bread in the same way.

This ancient Jewish tale from Eastern Europe is lavishly illustrated by Marcia Cutchin and retold by Heather Forest. The tale follows a woman who learns that hurtful words, like the feathers blown from a burst pillow, are impossible to retrieve.