Not Just Carols
This Canadian singer recorded a famous French-language Christmas album titled Noël.
Celine Dion
This poem begins with the line, “’Twas the night before Christmas…”
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” or “A Visit from St. Nicholas”
In the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas occurs closest to this astronomical event.
the winter solstice
This evergreen species is the most common Christmas tree in Canada.
balsam fir
This type of tree keeps its needles year-round and is commonly used as a Christmas tree.
Evergreen (Coniferous)
This Canadian singer’s holiday song “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” is frequently heard during the season.
Michael Bublé
This Victorian author helped shape many modern Christmas traditions through his 1843 novella.
Charles Dickens
This is why Australia experiences summer during Christmas
Earth’s axial tilt
This province produces the largest number of Christmas trees in Canada.
Nova Scotia
This term describes animals that sleep through the winter.
Hibernation
This Christmas song, written during the Cuban Missile Crisis, was meant as a prayer for peace.
“Do You Hear What I Hear?”
This children’s book by Dr. Seuss critiques the commercialization of Christmas.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”
This line of latitude experiences 24 hours of darkness near Christmas.
Arctic Circle
This day after Thanksgiving in the United States is known for massive sales and is considered the official start of the holiday shopping season
Black Friday
In many parts of Canada, this atmospheric phenomenon causes bright displays of green and purple light during winter nights.
aurora borealis (Northern Lights)
This composer wrote The Nutcracker, which has become a Christmas performance tradition in Canada and worldwide.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
This Canadian author wrote The Hockey Sweater, often associated with winter and holiday reading.
Roch Carrier
This biome covers much of Canada and is strongly associated with snow-covered Christmas imagery.
boreal forest (taiga)
This precious metal is referenced in one of the gifts of the Magi.
gold
Snowflakes form when water vapor in clouds freezes around these tiny particles, which act as “seeds” for ice crystals
nuclei
First performed in 1818, this Austrian carol was originally accompanied by a guitar due to a broken church organ.
“Silent Night” (Stille Nacht)
In Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, the story is set on this specific night.
Christmas Eve
This weather phenomenon, often depicted in songs, requires temperatures just below freezing to occur.
snow
This global shipping route becomes especially critical in December due to increased holiday trade between Asia and North America.
Trans-Pacific trade route
This winter adaptation allows animals like snowshoe hares to change colour seasonally.
photoperiodism