Top 10 Children’s Books for Christmas
We follow a fun Christmas tradition in our household, one I realize many of you may do as well. Beginning on Dec. 1 each year, my children take turns opening one wrapped Christmas book every night before bed, and we read it aloud together. We continue this every night until Christmas morning. The kids love opening the books they’ve seen and read, time and time again, reacting as if it’s the first time ever! Unwrapping a gift or opening a gift bag is always exciting, and snuggling up together for a good read never grows old.
We also buy each child a special book for each birthday and Christmas. These books are often Christmas- or winter-themed (and the birthday ones correlate with their party themes). We’ve already grown quite the collection, even though our kids are young.
This year, I came across a few good holiday-themed books, and it inspired me to create and share this list for you. Though we have many more favorites than what I’ve listed here, I’ve narrowed down to our top 10 Christmas stories.
1. The Shepherd on the Search by Josh and Lindsey Helms
We open our Christmas story season with this book and the stuffed shepherd toy that accompanies it, as it’s our version of Elf on the Shelf. It’s a sweet story of a little shepherd boy on a journey to show us the true meaning of Christmas. He walks us through the events leading up to Jesus’ birth, encouraging us to come along and discover the same joy he has for this monumental event.
Families reading this story are encouraged to name their own shepherd and document it in the book. We easily agreed on the name Sam the first time we read this about three years ago. Every night, Sam the Shepherd hikes to another part of our house and stops for a break while the kids find him in the morning. He’ll keep going until he completes his journey to our nativity set, where he has led us to baby Jesus on Christmas morning.
2. Biscuit’s Snowy Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Biscuit is a well-loved doggie in our home! My son was gifted this book, along with a small Biscuit stuffed animal, for Christmas one year. The rest of us have since fallen in love with the many other Biscuit books. This one is a board book with few words and lots of woofs! It’s meant for little ones, but all of my young kids still enjoy it.
Experience with Biscuit the fun he has with his friends on a snow-filled day. The illustrations are lively and entertaining. The kids love pointing out the details, such as a little boy’s hat flying off while sledding or doggies rolling in the snow. This is a great book for plopping your little one on your lap and absorbing, commenting and laughing about Biscuit’s winter adventures.
3. One Small Donkey by Dandi Daley Mackall
This endearing story is written as a sweet, sing-song poem. It explains the important tasks of the donkey, who carried Mary to the stable to prepare for baby Jesus. You and your children can experience what the donkey saw, what he heard, and how he felt, both during the journey and at the manger scene. This is another great board book that’s a quick read, and your little ones will be sure to enjoy it.
4. It’s Time for Christmas! by Tad Hills
I absolutely love everything about Duck and Goose books! They follow the cutest little animals trying to navigate their little life problems together. Duck and Goose can be so sweet but also a little feisty and quite comical at times. The words are always simple, but they keep my kids fully absorbed.
This Christmas edition, Duck is serious about preparing for the holiday. He continually gets on to Goose for playing around as he attempts to recruit Goose to help. The result is endearing. The link shows a larger edition, but most of these board books are smaller, which I think are perfect for toddlers or preschoolers. And, as with the Biscuit books, all of my children continue to love Duck and Goose.
5. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Clearly, this is a Christmas classic. A little boy hears train whistles at night and is invited on board The Polar Express. He journeys to the North Pole, where Santa Clause then chooses the boy to make a special Christmas wish. This young boy only wants a bell from Santa’s sleigh. Travel with him through these stunningly gorgeous illustrations as Santa helps make his wish come true.
We bought the 30th anniversary edition last year and read it to our children for the first time. The pages on this one widely expand, nicely displaying Allsburg’s talented artwork. This particular edition comes with a tree ornament and a downloadable audio recording of the story.
6. The Berenstain Bears and the Christmas Angel by Mike Berenstain
We’ve always enjoyed a good Berenstain Bears story and the great lessons they teach us. This particular book is well-loved, as you can see it had a run-in at some point with a baby.
The cubs couldn’t wait for a good snowfall, and once it happened, they couldn’t get out the door fast enough. They took in the scenery, played in the snow, and then tried to decide what kind of snow bear they could create. Their littlest sister, Honey, helped them decide to make a snow angel. When Papa Bear and Mama Bear saw it, they told their cubs about important angels who helped with Jesus’ arrival and who continue to do great work today.
7. Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer
Who doesn’t love a hysterical Little Critter book? We have a few of these wonderful children’s stories, and the Christmas edition doesn’t disappoint. Little Critter tries to be helpful with Christmas preparation—decorating cookies, wrapping gifts, bringing out the Christmas décor—but we parents know how this usually creates more work for us. My kids love Little Critter’s silly antics in this story, and they’re enthralled with the spirited illustrations.
8. The Legend of the Poinsettia, retold and illustrated by Tomie dePaola
This is a new one for us this year, and I look forward to giving one of my children on Christmas Day. I’m sharing it, though, because I grew up reading Tomie dePaola books, and they have always been my favorites. His stories are creative, insightful, meaningful, and sometimes comical. I can see an illustration a mile away and know it’s his, as his style is unique to him. When I came across this book, I appreciated the cultural aspects of this tale, as it’s a Mexican legend of “The flower of the Holy Night.”
Little Lucida and her mother prepare a special gift for Jesus to be used in their Christmas procession. When it’s ruined, an old woman encourages her to bring only the green weeds she finds on her way to church. The woman explains to Lucida that Jesus will love anything she brings, because it comes from her. Lucida obeys, and later something magical happens!
9. Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914 by John Hendrix
This is also a new one for us this year, and I’m excited to give another one of my children. A friend recently recommended this book, and I bought it right away. My husband has previously shared with our kids about a Christmas truce during World War I, and we were amazed by it.
This book is written from the viewpoint of a young British soldier in 1914, writing home to his mother about how he spent his Christmas. Though this is a fictional story, the author describes a true event, using information gathered through old letters and interviews. In the story, the young soldier describes how, for one day, the Germans and British set aside their differences to enjoy Christmas together. The bonuses in this book that impress me are: the first two pages offer a brief history of the war which provides a solid setting for the story; the author’s note at the end is informative and fills in some of the historical gaps; and a short glossary is included to help young readers learn unfamiliar vocabulary.
10. The Holy Bible, The Book of Luke Chapters 1-2
The pastor officiating my wedding ceremony, gifted my husband and me with a special Bible, from which he also read during the ceremony. It’s a beautiful leather-bound Bible, with our names embossed on the front cover. We use this differently than our everyday Bibles, as it only comes out on special occasions. This is the last book in our countdown to Christmas. On Christmas morning, before opening gifts, my husband reads excerpts from Luke. These account Jesus’ birth and the reason our family chooses to celebrate Christmas. Even though we read from a version with no pictures, this is the most cherished story on our list. The kids ask questions, we answer and discuss, and the time to bond as a family in this way is priceless to us.
Even though the Christmas season is coming to a close, it isn’t too late to pull some of these books out and read them. I hope you’ll draw inspiration from their pages that will last you and your loved ones through the new year. Make note of these great reads. Maybe you’ll feel like adding them to your Christmas list next year!
If you enjoyed this, you may like Maintaining Christmas Traditions.
