Christmas Picture Books

November 28, 2022

As we head into the advent season, I wanted to share some of our favorite Christmas picture books with you. I pray they bring your family joy and special memories together.

“The rooms were very still while the pages were softly turned and the winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting.”

-Louisa May Alcott

Gathering Books

The biggest thing that helps in reading Christmas books together is to have them accessible, all together. When we decorate the house for Christmas, I make sure and have all the Christmas books together in a cozy place. There are a lot of good ideas for reading through all the Christmas books, like wrapping them all and opening one a day leading up to Christmas. I just tend to put them all out in a wooden crate and have my children bring the ones they want to me to read.

Cozy Schooling

This is probably my favorite time of the year to read to my children. Our home is cozy and full of twinkly lights. It’s the perfect atmosphere to pull out picture books and curl up to read aloud.

As you gather books to be read aloud, no matter the season, remember that you do not have to add them all at the same time, and I encourage you to search for them second-hand. Most of my books have been collected from thrift stores, ThriftBooks, and even Ebay. Make sure to even check the used section on Amazon. Lots of books are in excellent condition on there. You do not have to spend a ton to fill your home library with good books for your family. I try and add a few books each year, each season. This really does add up over the years! You can also search your library for these books too.

Christmas Picture Booklist

Holly and Ivy : A beautiful story about a little orphan, a doll, and a journey toward finding a family.
The Tale of Three Trees: The tale of three trees and their point of view of what they want to become.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: A lovely story about a family choosing a Christmas tree and the story of their family life.
Twelve Days of Christmas: The traditional carol with beautiful illustrations.
The Little Drummer Boy: A beautifully illustrated version of the famous Christmas song.
B is for Bethlehem: An ABC Christmas books with creative illustrations that show the nativity story.
The Christmas Cat: The tale of a family’s journey to acquiring a cat on Christmas. Lovely illustrations by Tasha Tudor.
The Christmas Day Kitten: A story by James Herriot that is sweet and full of Christmas spirit.
Christmas in the Big Woods: A Little House on the Prairie christmas story that is based on the original book and has pretty, old-fashioned illustrations.
The Legend of the Poinsettia: This story is written by Tommie dePaola and is based on the Mexican legend about how the Christmas Poinsettia came to be.
Christmas Farm: A story about a woman and her five-year-old neighbor, and their journey to nurturing a Christmas tree farm.
Christmas Tapestry: This story is about a family that relocates their home and they make a discovery leads to a real miracle on Christmas Eve.

Here are a few short, chapter books that we read every year and love:

The Family Under the Bridge: A family favorite that follows a homeless man and some children. It portrays kindness and the hope of Christmas.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: A funny book about different types of families at Christmas. This is great on audio.
The Fir Tree: The Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale about a little fir trees journey to being a Christmas tree.