Christmas Traditions {Children’s Christmas Books}

Just thought I’d share a few of our family Christmas traditions that have meant the most to us over the years.  Maybe you’ll find some ideas to help your family enjoy the wonder and beauty of the season.  Let’s start with this…

One of our favorite treasures we pull out once a year is a huge box of all of our children’s Christmas books.  They go in a big basket in the family room near the tree, and we love choosing books every day.  We have been collecting a few books each year for the last 20 years, so you can imagine the basket is overflowing by now!  I love to collect different renditions of the Christmas story, so that any aged child can understand it. Some are also stories of the season or wintertime adventures.  We’ve kept board books for toddlers up through more advanced readers.  We always want everyone who comes to our home to feel welcome to pull out a book and enjoy it.

Typically, after dinner/pre-bedtime stories come from the big Christmas book basket all December and into January.  Do we ever finish them all?  Never!  But it’s fun to see our Emma (who is now 7) be able to choose Christmas books throughout the day and read independently.  And even older kids get to be little again just by listening to well-loved stories.

It’s not just good for our kids to be reading daily… it really blesses the whole family!  Somehow during the quiet hours spent snuggled up together with a full, rich story, we all get to re-enter the sweetness of this most special season.

Need some suggestions to get started?  Here are a few of our favorites:

• One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham (our all time favorite!)
• The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel
• The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
• The Nutcracker Ballet by Carol Thompson
• A Little House Christmas by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Cristmas Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Happiest Season of All by Paul Kortepeter
• The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans
• The Hat by Jan Brett
• The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott
• The Living Nativity: The Story of Saint Francis and the Christmas Manger by David and Helen Haidle
• The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister
• Jacob’s Gift by Max Lucado
• The Christmas Miracle by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman
• The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
• Annika’s Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis
• Follow the Star All the way to Bethlehem by Alan and Linda Parry
• The Story of Christmas by Vivian French
• The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie DePaola
• The Friendly Beasts: An Old English Christmas Carol by Tomie DePaola
• Joy To the World: The Story of Christmas by Dina Anastasio
• The Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree by Jan and Mike Berenstain
• A Cricket’s Carol by Mark Kimball Moulton
• Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco