When I was growing up, one of my favorite Christmas traditions was buying a new Christmas book each year. The fun thing about this tradition is that after the first few years we started finding some truly unique holiday stories to add to our collection. This year, thanks to many of the books I accumulated from my own childhood tradition, I started a tradition for my own family that I’ve longed to do ever since I first saw the idea on Pinterest, long before I became a mom. We are doing an Advent Calendar of Christmas Books and I couldn’t be more excited. Before wrapping up all the books for the season and labeling them with a number so we can open a new story each night, I thought I would sort through a few favorites from our collections and share some of the best holiday books you’ve never heard of… (probably).
- Bialosky’s Christmas by Leslie McGuire: This is just the sweetest little Christmas book. Think Winnie the Pooh meets Charlie Brown and you have Bialosky. The illustrations are adorable and even very small children will be charmed by this little bear!
- Find the Nutcracker in His Christmas Ballet: This book is basically an I Spy book in the Where’s Waldo genre. The fun pictures and basic story of the Nutcracker is there for younger kids and there are plenty of hidden objects to search for that will keep older siblings busy and involved too.
- Auntie Clause: I may be a little biased about this being one of the best Christma
s books, because I got it as a gift the year I became an Aunt, but this charming book about a little girl who lives in NYC and whose fabulous Aunt happens to be a special helper to Santa. It also deals with siblings and making sure there’s room for everyone on the nice list. - Angela and the Baby Jesus: If you are looking for a lesser known Christmas book that is more religious in tone, Angela and the Baby Jesus is about a little girl who is afraid the baby Jesus in her church’s nativity scene is too cold and takes him home to warm him up and take care of him. It is full of reverence, childlike faith, and is a favorite of my Kindergartener who I could absolutely see doing something similar to Angela.
- Who’s that Knocking on Christmas Eve by Jan Brett: This quirky book is based on a folktale from Norway and has my five year old in giggle fits, which starts his two year old sister in on giggle fits. It includes a polar bear and trolls and once again, super engaging illustrations.
- Red Ranger Came Calling: Red is a 9 year old boy who desperately wants a Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hopper bicycle for Christmas. Enough so that this cynical little boy is willing to go talk to the old man who is supposedly the retired Santa Clause. The illustrations are so comical and the final page makes the book one of our family favorites.
Share your family’s favorite Christmas book in the comments. We’d love to add new ones to out collection.
Thank you for this list! I love adding new books to our rotation!