I've been thinking about the sometimes overwhelming gift giving season coming up and wanted to do a blog post about some alternatives to the mountains of plastic that line the shelves and catalogues. I'm a huge fan of books as gifts and some of the most beautiful stories are set in the winter season, these are perfect books as stocking fillers or just to have by the nature table to tie in with the seasons change. 1. Tomten and the Fox   - Astrid Lindgren 2. The Story of the Snow Children - Sibylle von Olfers 3. The Tomtes Christmas Porridge - Sven Nordqvist 4. Winter Story (Brambly Hedge) - Jill Barklem 5. The Tale of Jack Frost - David Melling  6. The Longest Night - Ted Lewin 7. The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits : A Christmas Story for Advent - Ulf Stark 8. The Winter Solstice - Ellen Jackson  Not a story book as such just a few tales about the Solstice from around the world and some information explaining how it happens. 9.