Christmas Books to Reserve at the Library or Add to Your Collection
Whether you wrap them up, and make your own Christmas book advent calendar or just snuggle up and read them together throughout the season Christmas books are a lovely part of this time of year for many families.
Update: I’ve added a couple of new Christmas books into the mix which I talk about here.
These are some of our personal favourites:
Brambly Hedge Winter Story by Jill Barkham
Brambly Hedge The Secret Staircase by Jill Barkham (Winter Solstice)
The Tomten and the Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren (I love these books so much.)
The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber (Set on Christmas Eve)
The Tale of Baboushka by Elena Pasquali (Second hand only – Amazon marketplace has copies.)
The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeiffer (non-fiction about the winter solstice)
Doing Christmas by Sarah garland (Check your library! This is a great book, especially for single parent families, but the online prices I’ve seen are silly-expensive.)
You can do it Sam by Amy Best (Out of print but super-cheap on Amazon marketplace. About a small bear and his mum sharing buns with their neighbours. Lovely.)
Lucy & tom’s Christmas by Shirley Hughes
Christmas in Exeter Street by Diana Hendry (how many people can you have round for Christmas? Enough for Santa to have to count his toes as well as his finger!)
The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston (A favourite for older kids. I think this will be the year I finally do it as a readaloud)
The truth about Christmas by Philip Ardagh (Non-fiction book about Christmas by a great funny writer. Check your library.)
Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore by Margaret Baker (Non-fiction. Out of print but cheap at Amazon marketplace.)
Emil and the Sneaky Rat by Astrid lindgren (The last Chapter – I love the Emil books so much, and the story set at Christmas is a great one.)
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T Smith (a short chapter a day, from Dec 1 – 24th, about a small mouse’s adventures trying to mail a Christmas letter.)
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson (a family favourite, which would also be good for discussing hibernation.)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (Note – I mangle the first chapter because there is stuff in there about bullying children due to their weight, which has nothing to do with the main story except to show that the bullies are bullies. But the rest of the book is a really good meta story about the Nativity. Out of print but cheap at amazon marketplace.)
Christmas Stories by Enid Blyton (short stories alternating with a running story about a family getting ready for Christmas, and discussing Christmas traditions)
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (Short novel set in Paris about a homeless man who helps a family who have just become homeless.)
The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher (A family favourite, and there is a sequel out now – The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch)
The Fairytale Hairdresser and Father Christmas and The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Sugar Plum Fairy by Abie Longstaff (Recommended by Miss Six)
The Christmas Baby by Marion Dane Bauer (Christian – recommended by Miss Six)
Sun, Moon, Star by Kurt Vonnegut (Christian – recommended by Mister Ten)
Santa’s Noisy House by Sebastian Braun (Recommended by Miss Six and Mister Ten though they are both too old for this now. It’s just nostalgia. Out of print but a decent price on Amazon marketplace.)
What books would you add to this list that your family loves?