Reading Our Way to Christmas
Each winter, my children count down the days until Christmas with various traditions: chocolate advent calendars and lego advent calendars and 24 days of mini gifts. Last Christmas, my sister presented the kids with a beautiful wooden house with 24 windows and door drawers filled with things like “reindeer droppings” (chocolate covered raisins) and elf snowballs (mini marshmallows).
Sam, our dentist, might frown on our sugary treats. Luckily, we can tell him that our holidays traditions don’t all revolve around hot eats and cool treats. At the end of November, I wrap 24 children’s Christmas books and placed them under our tree for our annual book Advent.
Starting on Dec. 1, we open one gift (the kids rotate who gets to choose which present to unwrap) and read a Christmas bedtime story each night. The stories range from silly (Santa’s Eleven Months Off) to sweet (Redheaded Robbie’s Christmas Story); Sentimental (The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story) to traditional (Gift of the Magi). On Christmas eve, we read the Nativity story.
I’ve change out a few books each year as the kids have advanced from infants to toddlers to grade school and middle school. The scratch and sniff book, “The Sweet Smell of Christmas” has given way to Pearl Buck’s, “Christmas Day in the Morning.”
It’s been years of scouring bookstores and book lists and libraries to find my favorites. So in case you need to purchase holiday presents for small people or want to start your own Advent book tradition, I thought I’d share my top 25 (you’ll only need 23 if you end with the Nativity story on Christmas eve, but I’m adding a few in case you want to pick and choose).
In random order:
Redheaded Robbie’s Christmas Story, by Bill Luttrell
Welcome Comfort, by Patricia Polacco
The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg
Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry
A Christmas Carol, (Abridged) by Charles Dickens
Auntie Claus, by Else Primavera (The three Auntie Claus books are my kids’ favorites at the moment!)
Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas, by Elise Primavera
Auntie Claus, Home for the Holidays, by Elise Primavera
Penny’s Christmas Jar, by Jason F. Wright
How Murray Saved Christmas, by Mike Reiss
Merry UnChristmas, by Mike Reiss
Olive, the Other Reindeer, by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh
Mooseltoe, by Margie Palatini
Christmas Day in the Morning, by Pearl S. Buck
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story, by Gloria Houston
Legend of the Christmas Stocking, by Rick Osborne
A Wish to be a Christmas Tree, by Colleen Monroe
The Legend of the Candy Cane, by Lori Walburg VandenBosch
A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story, by Berkeley Breathed
Santa’s Eleven Months Off, by Mike Reiss
How Santa Got His Job, by Stephen Krensky
There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow, by Lucille Colandro
The Little Shepherd Girl: A Christmas Story, by Julianne Henry, Jim Madsen
Humphrey’s First Christmas, by Carol Heyer
My Dad Cancelled Christmas, by Sean Casey
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
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Shelly,
What a great idea! I am a huge fan of Christmas books and buy new ones each year but I never made the leap to a book Advent. My son would love the act of unwrapping and the element of surprise is fun too. Thanks for another fantastic holiday idea!
Hi Shelly,
I just wanted to let you know how excited and honored I was to see that HUMPHREY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS was on your Christmas Holiday recommended reading list!!! You made my day! I’m so happy to know you love Humphrey too! Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years.
Michelle, glad to introduce a new holiday tradition to you. My kids love it. And Carol, wow, I’m the one who’s honored that you found this list and took the time to comment! Any chance that I could send you a couple of copies of Humphrey for you to autograph? They would be treasured presents for nieces and others this next year!