Christmas is a favourite time of the year for our family. We purposefully try to slow down our activities and make deliberate choices about what we do and don’t do so as to give us some extra time to enjoy this season.
Our family also loves reading books and we have built up quite a selection of books for this time of year. Below is the list of books that our family has and still enjoys reading in the lead up to Christmas. Our top favourite that we read aloud every year is “The Best Christmas pageant ever” by Barbara Robinson. As we read it aloud, my kids laughingly complain that they can’t hear what I am saying as I am laughing so much. Families – do yourselves a huge favour and grab that book to read. The first chapter has nothing to do with Christmas at all but sets the scene of this family of 6 kids (the Herdman’s) who are the town’s ratbags and come to accidentally be in the church’s nativity production. They have no idea of anything to do with Jesus so it is a refreshingly honest look at the whole birth of Jesus’ story and why each part eg what sort of a cheap present is it to give oil, were the Wise Men a bunch of dirty spies, why won’t anyone give them a bed so that Mary can have her baby, etc. We have tears in our eyes at the end at the beauty of what Imogene Herdman experiences as she plays the mother of this baby Jesus. I must confess that as soon as we read this book every year, my kids automatically want to read the rest of Barbara Robinson’s books as well – “The Best School Year Ever’ and ‘The Best Halloween Ever’. If your family needs more laughter in your day, grab Barbara Robinson’s books.
Christmas Picture books:
- Wombat Divine – Mem Fox
- The Berenstain Bears: The Joy of Giving – Stan Berenstain
- The Berenstain Bears: Old Fashioned Christmas – Stan Berenstain
- The Tale of Three Trees – Angela Elwell Hunt
- The Jolly Christmas Postman – Allan Ahlberg
- The Little Drummer Boy – Ezra Jack Keats
- The Nativity – Julie Vivas
- Jesus’ Christmas Party – Nichols Allan
- Usborne Nativity Flap book (board book)
- The Crippled Lamb – Max Lucado
- The Christmas Story: The Brick Bible for Kids – Brendan Powell Smith
- The Story of Christmas – Fiona Boon & Lara Ede (board book)
- Room for a Little One – Martin Waddell
- Merry Christmas Curious George – H.A. Rey
- Curious George Christmas Countdown – H.A. Rey
Early/short chapter books:
- Tea and Sugar Christmas – Jane Jolly
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson
- The Family under the Bridge – Natalie Savage Carlson
- The Night Before The Night Before Christmas – Richard Scarry
- Paddington and the Christmas Surprise – Michael Bond
- Horrid Henry’s Christmas Cracker – Francesca Simon
- Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia – Peggy Parish
Christmas books for tweens/teenagers:
- Christmas Treasury for Kids (Chicken Soup for the Soul)
- Jotham’s Journey – Arnold Ytreeide
- Bartholomew’s Passage – Arnold Ytreeide
- Tabitha’s Travels – Arnold Ytreeide
- Christmas Jars – Jason Wright
- Christmas Jars Reunion – Jason Wright
- The 13th Day of Christmas – Jason Wright
- The Christmas Sweater – Glenn Beck
- A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
If you have a favourite Christmas book that your family loves reading at this time of year, please let me know as I love building up our collection of books to read specifically at this time of year.