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One of our favorite ways of celebrating the holiday season is by reading our favorite Christmas and winter books. Sometimes we read one every night up until Christmas Eve, other times we have a read-a-thon and read a huge pile of books in one sitting.
One thing I try to do when picking out books to read to my kids is have a good assortment of books be meaningful. A lesson weaved throughout the pages, but it still is a good story.
Here is a list of ideas with the best Christmas and holiday books.
Not all of these have meaningful, life lessons in them, but they are all amazing in their own way.
1. Gingerbread Pirates
This is an all-time favorite of my boys. It is about some gingerbread pirate cookies and an adventure they have Christmas Eve.
We read this book multiple times during the holiday season and it never gets old for my boys. Not only do they love the story, but they also love the illustrations.
We have started our own Christmas tradition of reading this book and then making our own gingerbread pirates.
2. The Night Before Christmas
The Night Before Christmas is a holiday classic to read. It is a great poem about, well..the night before Christmas. My kids enjoy this book as well.
3. Stick Man
Julia Donaldson, who wrote “Room on the Broom” and “The Gruffalo” also writes this book called “Stick Man“.
This is a super cute rhyming story about a stick man who lives in a tree with his family. One day he goes for a walk and a dog picks him up to play fetch with. It follows his adventures trying to get back home to his family.
4. The Christmas Wish
This is a story with jaw-dropping beautiful pictures on each page.
A Christmas Wish is about a girl named Anja who wants to be one of Santa’s elves. This book follows along on her journey of making her way to the North Pole to see Santa.
5. The Reindeer Wish
The Reindeer Wish is a story about a girl named Anja (the same girl from The Christmas Wish) who finds a reindeer that needs help. She takes him home and takes care of him and the two become friends. It’s a cute story with beautiful pictures.
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
I don’t think Christmas is complete without reading this book.
It was also turned into a couple different movies, this is a captivating story about a Grinch who does whatever it takes to spoil the Christmas mood and Christmas cheer.
7. Cranberry Christmas
This is a new to us book this year. It is a really sweet story about a man named Mr. Whiskers who loves to ice skate on his pond with the children in his town. A new neighbor moves in next door and claims nobody can skate on the pond because the pond belongs to him. Mr. Whiskers knows this isn’t true, but can’t prove that the pond belongs on his land. To top it all off, his sister is coming to visit and she is planning when she goes back home, she says Mr. Whiskers will be going with her.
This book also has a recipe for Cranberry Cookies at the back. Great idea for an activity to do with kids.
8. The Carpenter’s Gift
The Carpenter’s Gift starts out in 1931 and is about a boy named Henry and his Dad. His Dad is down on his luck, but borrows a truck to sell Christmas trees. At the end of the day Henry and his Dad gift the remaining trees to some construction workers working on Rockefeller Center. These construction workers surprise Henry’s family the next day by showing up to build a house for them. Henry plants a pinecone from the tree, which grows quite tall throughout the years. When Henry is an old man he donates the tree for the Rockefeller Center and when the tree is done it will be milled into lumber and built into a house that is donated to a family. My simple summary of this book doesn’t do it justice. It is a beautiful story.
9. Gifts of the Heart
Gifts of the Heart is a story about a Grandfather and his two grandchildren (plus their Mom) who live with him. It is their last Christmas on their Grandfather’s farm because their Grandmother had died in the fall. Grandpa hires a housekeeper Kay Lamity to cook and clean for them. Kay Lamity teaches the kids about how there are two kinds of gifts, one from stores and one from the heart.
This is another really good, heartfelt book.
10. Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
This is a super cute book. So Mr. Willowby gets a Christmas tree, but it is too tall for his home, so he cuts off the top. The top gets shared to animals who each find their piece just a little too tall and so a small portion gets chopped off the top and shared with the next.
I’d love to hear about your favorite holiday books in the comments below.
Other posts you might enjoy reading:
DIY Harry Potter Ornament
Christmas Movies for the Whole Family
Best Experience Gifts for Kids
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