What is jólabókaflóð? Jólabókaflóð, or “Yule Book Flood,” originated during World War II when foreign imports were restricted, but paper was cheap. Iceland’s population was not large enough to support a year-round publishing industry, so book publishers flooded the market with new titles in the final weeks of the year. While giving books is not unique to Iceland, the tradition of exchanging books on Christmas Eve and then spending the evening reading, is becoming a cultural phenomenon. In recent years the meme has spread on social media, and bookworms around the world are cottoning on to the idea. If you’re wondering how to pronounce jólabókaflóð, the phonetic pronunciation is yo-la-bok-a-flot.
I’ve been collecting books all year to do a “flood of books” jólabókaflóðið on Christmas Eve to start a new tradition of books on Christmas Eve in place of stockings and ‘junk’ stuff in order to weed out that tradition. I have a ‘sock’ for my grandson this Christmas as he is 3, he is also getting books. His is the lion tote. I plan to do variations of this theme year to year and am quite excited about it. I have mostly used and some new books in the boxes for the kids. Thrifting and library sales have helped with the gathering of these books! The kids have no idea and will be receiving this in a few hours and I can’t wait!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
