I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite Christmas books today. We are having so much fun reading them. I let the girls pick one out every evening after homework and we snuggle under our Christmas blanket and read together. Reading Christmas books with my kids is definitely one of my favorite parts of this season and I love giving Christmas books to friends and neighbors at the beginning of December. Books always make great gifts!
Fancy Nancy – Splendiferous Christmas written by Jane O’ Connor – if you have little girls I’m sure you know all about Fancy Nancy! This Christmas book is just as “fancy” and fun as the rest of the series.
Olivia Helps with Christmas written by Ian Falconer – I LOVE the Olivia books. They are hilarious! Olivia the pig is a crack up and these books are humorous for kids and for adults.
The Elf on the Shelf written by Carol V. Aebersold and Chanda A. Bell – This is the book that came with our Elf and was our new Christmas book and tradition we started last year. Some of you asked where you can get the elf. Aside from the North Pole, I have also seen him hanging out at Hallmark and Pottery Barn Kids. :)
Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect written by Richard H. Schneider – One of my all time favorites. This story really illustrates Christs’ love for all of us and the true meaning of Christmas. I tear up at the end every time I read it and have to explain to my girls that I’m not sad – my tears are happy tears.
Santa Mouse written by Michael Brown – favorite Christmas book from my childhood. Santa Mouse is Santa’s tiny helper and he too visits each house on Christmas Eve. The story ends saying “And so this Christmas, if you please, beneath the tree that’s in your house, why don’t you leave a piece of cheese? You know who’ll thank you? Santa Mouse!” We always left cheese out for Santa Mouse with Santa’s cookies and milk when I was a little girl. Now my little ones do the same.
(cookies and cheese from Christmas 2009 along with letters and pictures for Santa)
A Christmas Dress for Ellen retold by Thomas S. Monson – a gift from my mom. We especially love this book because it reminds us of my grandma Ellen who Ellie was named after. The illustrations are beautiful.
I Believe In Santa Claus written by Diane G. Adamson – I gave this book as a gift to friends and neighbors a few years ago. It’s a special story that shows similarities between Santa and Jesus (he wears red, he loves little children, he wants us to be good, etc.) It’s so simple and shares such a powerful message. I love it and it is now the book we read each Christmas Eve.
The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt – Another special book that illustrates God’s love.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey written by Susan Wojciechowski – darling story – it’s a bit long though so I always just tell it to my girls instead of reading it. :)
Christmas Oranges retold by Linda Bethers – same as above – darling story that is a bit long to read so I summarize. Another book with beautiful illustrations.
Frosty the Snowman retold by Annie North Bedford – gotta have the classics!
Rudolph Look and Find – my girls LOVE hidden picture books and we are total suckers for anything Rudolph.
Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear! written by Don and Audrey Wood – This book is just as fun as the original The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. One of my girls’ favorites!
The Night Before Christmas – one by Jan Brett and one by Mary Engelbreit – We have two versions because I love the illustrations in both of these!
Favorite Christmas Stories – Rand McNally & Company – another fun book from my childhood.
Look Alikes Christmas by Joan Steiner – hidden pictures – my girls love hidden picture books and the illustrations in this are so colorful and fun.
Dick and Jane A Christmas Story – Ellie’s loves this book because she can read it herself. :)
Bear Stays Up for Christmas written by Karma Wilson – a cute rhyming story that is my little Addison’s favorite.
Santa Mouse Where Are You? Part two of the original Santa Mouse.
And then just a few of the classics. We love little golden book stories and we are huge fans of Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter books.
The Story of Christmas by Patricia A. Pingry – a little board book that does a great job explaining the reason we celebrate Christmas.
So those are some of the books we love and are enjoying this time of year! Nothing better than cozying up with a book next to the lights of the Christmas tree. Happy reading everyone! :)
We have some of the same books, but am so grateful for the ideas of so many more to ad to our collection.
Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog – you are too nice.
Are you heading home for Christmas this year??
Those look like some great books! I also love The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (link to book here) and Santa Calls by William Joyce (Link to book here).
Becca
We LOVE “Bear Stays Up for Christmas” at our house too! We have a basket full of all Christmas books. Though some are much too easy now for my 10 year old to read, she still enjoys them for her 20 minute reading every night. Merry Christmas to you and your family Erin!
Becki
fclarkfamily.blogspot.com
Erin, I love all the book ideas. I just have to ask about the last photo…can you tell me what camera you used and your settings? The light is GORGEOUS!
great post! your books are beautiful. i am just starting my christmas book collection- this year i won a lot of christmas books on ebay- some better than others, but for $20 for 25 books, i have no complaints! my favorite from the bunch is the angelina ballerina christmas book. so cute!
Love your Christmas book collection! I’d eventually like to have one! I love the Dear Santa on the fireplace.
My kids have been in heaven with our books out too. Hailey loves the Grinch though out of all that we have. We have the Bear stays up too and I love that one. Snowmen at Christmas is also a favorite.
If you are looking for some more good books, I would look for Mr. Willowby’s Tree by Robert Berry and The Christmas Star by Elizabeth Raum.
books…schmooks!
Let’s talk about how FABULOUS your card is! It came today and I LOVE it. Its beautiful… Thank you! xoxo
I pull out that book you gave us every year and I love it! I really need to add more to my collection though.
Going to check my mail now. So excited to see your card! Of course even though mine was done in Oct it still isn’t mailed out. :)
Perfect timing — I’m making up my 12 BOOKS of Christmas list!! Get to unwrap one each day and read it together. So fun. Love this time of year. Thanks for the detailed descriptions and opinions of everyone… ;)
I believe I am the ONLY one without my tree up yet. O my! Oh…and I have books..too. Must get those out too.
We have some of the same books, although you guys have quite the collection!
That is the greatest picture of your girls snuggled up by the tree reading.
We just added Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas to our collection yesterday. :)
Have a good weekend Erin.
Good reads! Although my Olivia will NOT let me buy any of the Olivia the pig books! I though oh how cute! She thought NOT cute!
I did get a new Night Before Christmas book this year & it is so cute! It has “animation” to it! Gotta love book orders!
I love all your book suggestions. I try to get a new book every year and my kids love reading them. One of my favorites is the Mary Engelbrieght’s night before Christmas. I love the illustrations. Have fun reading!
What a great post. We have some of the same books and since I LOVE children’s books I’m always on the hunt for some new ones. We went to Barnes and Noble the other day and the selection was rather null. I’m going to look up some of yours that we don’t have and order them today. Thanks.
Your collection looks like mine. Funny how teachers choose the same types of books. Have a great Christmas. I love reading your cute blog.
what a great idea! I am new to the christmas thing (interfaith marriage) but am looking forward to fun new things to do with the kids. I dont think we own any christmas books- so on my agenda for shopping!
http://twodudesandadiva.blogspot.com
Santa Mouse!
My FAVORITE!
i’ve been pondering a post very similar to this for my own blog. i really enjoyed this! we have a decent christmas book collection. my stepson is 12 and we’ve made it a tradition to allow him to open 2 gifts on christmas eve each year. one is a new set of PJs (we all get those, actually) and then one is a new Christmas book. then, of course, it’s hard to resist buying others during the season. now, we have a toddler and many more years of christmas books ahead of us!
i’m particularly intrigued by the book that draws parallels between santa and jesus. i don’t want to “rob” my son of the magical santa, but also want him to understand the *real* reason for christmas. i’m searching for ways to help make sense of that at a young age.
ok, i’m done rambling now :)