Like many others, Christmas is my favorite holiday. I thought I loved it as a kid, but man, do I LOVE it as an adult! It has been so fun for our family to create our own traditions over the years and create timeless memories.
One of the things that I’m known for is my love for books—mainly children’s books. Weekly library visits, haul breakdowns, thrift finds, recommendations, quarterly “I’d buy these” blog posts, I’ve got you 😉
But for Christmas, I’m all about Christmas books.
A few years back, I created “Book Advent.” I wrapped all of our Christmas Books and let my oldest daughter (who was two at the time) open one every night leading up to Christmas. It was a beautiful pause in our evening to watch her practice opening gifts and watch the sheer joy on her face as she revealed a new book.
The following year I added some new books to the stack, which was great because now I had a 18-month old who wanted to participate as well.
By the third year, I had three little ladies who were eager to open a book every night, so we’ve revamped our strategy.
This year, my plan is to have all our Christmas themed books accessible so they can be enjoyed all season long. However, we will be doing this Advent Calendar Book Collection in the days leading up to Christmas. We’ll add it to our bedtime reads or even toss it in during mealtime.
In this post, I want to highlight some of my absolute favorite books for you all. Many of these can be found in our local bookstores, or you can just check them out from a local library to decide if you want to purchase them for your permanent Christmas book collection.
My Christmas Book Must-Haves for Kids:
- The Shepherd on the Search
- The Polar Express- A modern classic!
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- The Mitten- Who doesn’t love Jan Brett?
- The Christmas Quest
- The Silent Noisy Night
- A Very Merry Christmas Prayer
- Goodnight North Pole
- Snowball Soup
- Santa Coming to Alabama- So much local fun!
- Snowmen at Christmas
- Mimi’s Gift
Also, there are many we’ve borrowed from the library that I’ll be adding to my wishlist for next year.
However, almost all of our Christmas books are from Usborne Books & More.
I’m loading up particularly on their Christmas activity books this year. While these books may be harder to find than the ones I linked above, many of the activity books can be found at our local toystores, or you can find a mom friend who is a consultant to support during the holidays and buy them from her! I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.
Below you’ll find a snippet of UBAM’s Christmas offerings:
- 1001 Things to Spot at Christmas- Wonderful for car-rides!
- Are You There Little Reindeer?
- Peak Inside a Fairytale: The Nutcracker- Such a beautiful series!
- Baby’s Very First Slide & See Christmas- Great for motor skill development!
- Pull-Back Busy Santa Book
- Fold-Out Christmas Book
- Enchanted Christmas Magic Paint Book
- First Sticker Book-Nativity
- Christmas Activity Book
- Little Coloring Christmas Book
- Little Sparkly Christmas Sticker Book
- Nibbles: Christmas
- Santa Post- Don’t all kids love interactive books?
- The Story of Baby Jesus
- Twinkly, Twinkly Christmas Tree
- That’s Not My Snowman- Great, sensory fun!
Whether for this year or next, you should snag some of these books. (They would be great for Jolabokaflod if you want to start a new bookish tradition.) I know your family will love them! Regardless, please show off your favorite Christmas books or your Christmas book haul with me on Instagram (@sarahmshaver).
I hope you have a magical time snuggled on the couch reading, doing these book activities, and just all-around having a dreamy season.
