Reading good books with my children is one of my favorite activities, and in December we love to read books related to the Christmas season. Some people online (like here and here) have shared their tradition of wrapping their books every year, then taking turns opening one book to read each night. I tried that one year, and it was exciting for my littles to open a book every night. But the one drawback I noticed is that some books were left wrapped most of the month, and thus unreadable. We try to read at least one book a day, but some days we read many and we like having a lot to choose from and the ability to read our favorites repeatedly.
Here are the books that have made it on our permanent bookshelf so far:
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore illustrated by Mary Engelbreit
Drummer Boy by Loren Long
Who’s Getting Ready for Christmas illustrated by Maggie Kneen
The True Story of Christmas by Nell Navillus
A Christmas Dress for Ellen retold by Thomas S. Monson
How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Good King Wenceslas as read by Jane Seymour
One Shining Star by Anne Vittur Kennedy
We generally try to add one new book each year, and we also fill in our collection with favorites from the library (remember to put them on hold by the time of Thanksgiving, or they will all be checked out!)
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Bear Noel by Olivier Dunrea
Olive, the Other Reindeer by Seibold & Walsh
McDuff’s New Friend by Rosemary Wells
Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini
Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Bear Stays up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo: this is a new one for us this year, and I look forward to sharing its sweet message with my children.
For older readers, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is a fun read (and one of my favorites I remember as a youth). We also love the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and nearly every one of her books has a chapter or two about their Christmas celebrations.
What are your favorite Christmas books?