Beautiful Christmas Books for Children
I hope you find at least one addition to fall in love with and add to your bookshelf.
I wanted to bring a round-up of some of our favourite Kid’s Christmas stories that we have enjoyed as a family of 6. There are some golden oldies and some sparkly newbie titles. These tales are best enjoyed in festive PJs, under a cosy blanket with an obligatory mug of hot chocolate, whipped cream and a mountain of marshmallows on a cold December day. I do so hope you have made yourself one to drink whilst reading this first of many bookish posts of mine, here on Substack!
Our box of Christmas books gets put away at the end of January and brought back out of the top cupboard every November. The reason we do this is the kids just love to see what books they can remember and what books they’ve forgotten over the past year. We have toddler books such as ‘That’s Not My Elf’ to old favourites such as The Jolly Christmas Postman, Mog’s Christmas and The Christmassaurus.’ For this round-up, I have chosen our most treasured and currently most requested festive books.
First up, an Advent book. As you will know from my most recent post. ‘Here's to an Enchanting Advent' we love a Christmas countdown. This cracking collab between the National Trust and Nosy Crow has a window flap to open alongside a special poem for every day of Advent. Our youngest loves reading nature-inspired poems, so this is the perfect book to enjoy every day in December.
The Christmas Book Flood is based on the Icelandic tradition of gifting books to loved ones on Christmas Eve. We took part in our own family book flood last year, and I sourced this book to explore the meaning behind the Icelandic tradition. It’s a lovely book for young and old bookworms!
The Tomten and the Fox, An Astrid Lindgren classic tale of a Tomten who is watching over the farm at night. It’s a short and sweet story that will delight younger kids and introduce them to a traditional Swedish mythical character, the Tomten.
Dogger’s Christmas and Snow in the Garden
No children’s book roundup is complete without a Shirley Hughes book or two. At bedtime, we lose ourselves in her illustrations whilst she encapsulates the everyday into something wonderful.
Christmas Farm tells a story about a lady who wants to grow something useful on her land and decides on Christmas trees. With the help of her little neighbour they plant trees. The story goes through nurturing the trees over 10 years and then selling them to people to enjoy at Christmas time. I love an enchanting intergenerational tale, and this one doesn’t disappoint!
Pick a Pine Tree. “Pick a Pine tree from the lot- slim and tall or short and squat”. This book looks at the magical ritual a family goes through for their Christmas tree, made even more exciting by the gorgeous illustrations by Jarvis. This is one to save for the night before you go to get your tree!
The Nutcracker - The story Orchestra The tale of Clara’s Christmas Eve adventures with a nutcracker who is magically transformed into a prince! This book makes for a beautiful gift, children will pour over the illustrations for hours, pressing the buttons which play Tchaikovsky’s music throughout.
The Reindeer Express story is warm and perfect for cold winter days. Mia, a young girl, won't be able to see her daddy during Christmas. By chance, she discovers the door to the magic Reindeer Express and starts her adventure in a world with sparkling seas and streets of paper stars to deliver a card to her father.
Christmas at Exeter Street is an engaging story of the many, many friends, relatives and other quirky characters who spontaneously turn up at Exeter Street on Christmas Eve and are accommodated in the most entertaining and unusual ways. Think beds made in windowsills, bathtubs and welsh dressers!
How Winston Delivered Christmas. We are big fans of Alex T Smiths’ books. It was a tough call between one of our favourite mouse escapades and The Grumpus. Follow Winston’s adventures with twenty-four-and-a-half chapters along with a Christmas activity idea. A particular favourite moment in the story is when Winston meets Eduardo Fromage in the Fortesques department store!
Another chapter book choice, another favourite author but this time a Santa origin story. Matt Haig’s A Boy Called Christmas is the story of how Nikolas, a poor boy from the Northlands becomes Father Christmas. It is told simply, but with real heart with points to consider about humanity and greed whilst reminding us of the joy of giving and the power of hope.
That Christmas! I had to include this as the movie adaptation is to be released on NETFLIX this week. We are big fans of Rebecca Cobb’s illustrations and have enjoyed their work before with the Empty Stocking. This time they come together with a tale of chaos when traditions are upturned and what's important when people come together.
Brambly Hedge Winter Story is one of my childhood favourites. Reading to my children the stories I poured over as a child has to be one of the best things about motherhood. Think of little field mice tending to their winter pantries and navigating their community through the seasons. If you don’t own the Brambly hedge collection, then I urge you to source them all! We will be keeping our collection to hand down to our grandchildren. An exquisite book for adults and, of course, children. The pictures have such detail, and the story is beautifully told.
The Christmas Crayons by best-selling duo Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers! This hilarious interactive book has letters, games, ornaments, a poster and a pop-up Christmas tree. If you haven’t read the day the crayons quit and the day the crayons came home then some of the humour may be lost on you but if you have.. then I would highly recommend it.
The Night Before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse….” This version is a pop-up version of Clement Clarke Moores story and is a magical part of our bedtime on the most exciting night of the year! Every Christmas Eve since becoming parents, we have read this story to our children. I couldn’t have a Christmas roundup without including this timeless poem.
The Nativity The Story of Baby Jesus
We have a few Nativity versions and this is probably my favourite. Helpful when little ones are starring in a nativity play and need an understanding of the Christmas story.
There is something truly magical about sharing a special bedtime story with your little ones at a busy time of year for us parents; this can often be the time of day when we kick back, relax, take a breather and enter into a creative world of imagination and escapism that we so very crave for as adults. I hope you enjoyed our top picks and we would love to hear any of your recommendations. Please pop them in the comments box below to help our community of like-minded readers.