Best Christmas Books for Morning Basket and Advent

The Best Christmas Books

If you are looking for recommendations for the best Christmas books to read with your children this Christmas then you are in the right place!

Whether you have toddlers, teens or children in between, there are books here for all ages, along with a few ideas of how you can incorporate reading together into your Christmas celebrations.

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The Gift of Reading

Christmas is perfect for snuggling up and reading some books together. There are so many wonderful Christmas books to choose from – from picture books with gorgeous illustrations for younger children to chapter books for older children, as well as books that are suitable to use with the entire family.

One of my favourite things to do is to read a different Christmas book each day of Advent.

Some people wrap their books in paper and put them under the Christmas tree, choosing a different one to read each day.

Others like to add them into their Morning Basket routine.

We do ours slightly differently . . . I wrap a different one each day, using plain brown paper and a decorative ribbon. I then read this story as part of our Advent calendar tradition. Sometimes I will link the book in with the part of the Christmas story we are reading that day and sometimes I will just choose a Christmas themed story. We have our own selection of Christmas stories which we reuse each year, but I also like to add in new ones from our local library.

Christmas book recommendations

This list includes many of the books we have personally read and enjoyed over the years, along with a few that we are hoping to try soon.

Christmas Books for Younger Children

The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Alan Allberg: perfect for younger children – following on from their other classic book The Jolly Postman – this story tracks a postman as he delivers letters at Christmas-time. Full of pockets of letters and games to explore as the Jolly Postman visits characters from fairytales as well as Father Christmas himself.

Mog’s Christmas by Judith Kerr: Mog books have always been popular with my children when they were younger and this is another lovely book by the author Mog the Forgetful Cat and The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

Usborne Nativity flap book: brilliant for very young children – a robust lift the flap picture book with a very simple retelling of the Nativity.

Snow in the Garden by Shirley Hughes: Although I don’t personally have this one, Shirley Hughes is a firm favourite with us, and this book looks like a lovely compendium of Christmas stories, poems and activities which should be perfect for your little ones.

Christmas Books for Children aged 7-12

The Christmas Story by Ian Beck: beautifully illustrated picture book retelling the Christmas Nativity story.

The Empty Stocking written by Richard Curtis and illustrated by Rebecca Cobb: A heartwarming story about two identical twins- Good Sam and Bad Charlie – who are easy to confuse. One Christmas, ‘Santa has to get tough’; but a mix-up leaves Charlie facing a difficult choice. A well written tale tale with excellent illustrations.

Room for One More written by Maggie Pearson and illustrated by Gavin Rowe: a twist on the Nativity Story – setting it in medieval Britain and retelling it from a different perspective.

How Santa Really Works by Alan Snow: always a popular book with my children – very funny and the illustrations are crammed with interesting things to find.

My Christmas Treasury by Armadillo Books (ISBN: 1 84322 133 0): A collection of Christmas Stories interwoven with Christmas Carols.

Father Christmas’s Fake Beard by Terry Pratchett: a collection of short, funny Christmas themed stories.

Christmas Books for Teens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: the classic story with Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett: a Disc world Christmas novel full of Pratchett’s own unique style.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: not so much a Christmas story, but definitely worth reading for the atmosphere created in the Christmas scene of the first chapter (and the rest of the book too!)

A Country Child by Alison Uttley: again not actually a Christmas story, but has beautiful language and imagery, and a vivid description of Christmas.

Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder: again not specifically a Christmas story, but also has lots of wonderful desriptions of Christmas. I especially recommend The Long Winter and Little House in the Big Woods.

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Christmas Books for all the Family

The Box of Delights by John Masefield: this is such a magical story set at Christmas time set during the 1930s. Full of snow, magic and mystery.

Christmas Round the World edited by Lois S. Johnson (ISBN: 0 7232 131 0): I have included the ISBN as this is quite an old book, first published in 1970 and might be quite difficult to get hold of. It might seeem quite dated, but I love how it journeys around the world – sharing how Christmas is celebrated in lots of diffrent countries such as Austria, Japan, Mexico and Sweden. It then gives a short story to read about Christmas that is set in that particular country.

Christmas is Coming – Traditions from Around the World by Monika Utnik-Strugala and Ewa Poklewska-Koziello: A non-fiction book with colourful illustrations. It explores how Christmas is celebrated around the world.

Christmas Reading list

In addition to, or as an alternative to the ‘book a day‘ idea above, you could add in the Christmas tradition of reading part of a story every day throughout advent. This idea is easier than the book a day idea, as you simply carry on with the same story, reading an extra bit each day: perfect if you are finding your days are already quite full.

There are many different texts you could use for this, but below are my favourites:

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones: There are lots of recommended reading lists online that you can use so that you read a portion of the story each day to tie in with the advent story, but I would recommend signing up for the Advent Resource Pack that you can download direct from Sally Lloyd-Jones’ website. This is a wonderful free resource that includes printable Christmas baubles with a picture on one side and a daily reading on the other side. The reading links to the Storybook Bible and follows the Christmas story. Sally has a lovely way with words, making reading and listening to her book a delight. I would also recommend buying the version with the audio CD as the narrator, David Suchet, really brings the story alive.

The Story of Christmas: Story Book Set and Advent Calendar: This is something we have used for years and years, since my children were tiny. Each day of advent has a tiny illustrated book that you can hang on the Christmas Tree. My children take it in turns to read a different book each day. As my 5 children have grown from non readers to readers, it has been so lovely to see each child join in with reading the books for the first time.

Otto and the Secret Light of Christmas written by Nora Sorojegin and illustrated by Pirkko-Liisa Surojegin: this is a book I bought last year. It has the most beautiful illustrations and follows a little elf who meets lots of characters on his quest to find the Light of Christmas. There are 14 chapters so we read a chapter on Day 1 and another on Day 2, and then half a chapter every day until day Day 23 and Day 24 when we read a whole chapter each day again.

The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits written by Ulf Stark and illustrated by Eva Eriksson: This is another book I bought last year. Again, it is beautifully illustrated and is divided into 25 chapters so easy to read day by day throughout Advent. It follows the story of a grumpy gnome like character who, with the help of characters from the forest, finally discovers the true spirit of Christmas.

How to incorporate reading into your daily rhythm

There are many ways to make reading a part of your daily rhythm.

Here are a few ideas to try:

• read a story at breakfast or at snack-time
• read a story at bedtime
• start a Morning Basket and add a few of your favourite books . Chapter books and non-fiction books may well stay in your basket for a few weeks or more, whilst picture books might get changed on a daily basis
• add short passages or quotes to read as part of your Advent Calendar tradition
• leave piles of books in prominent places for children to discover themselves

Sharing a book together does not need to take ages (unless you want it to!). A picture book can often be read in five to ten minutes.

Sharing a book together doesn’t mean that you have to read it . . . it is equally valuable to look at and talk about the pictures.

Try turning it into a cosy experience by snuggling up under some blankets.

Make it a special activity to look forward to, with a dedicated place and time set aside especially for it.

But most of all enjoy sharing books – make it light and fun and enjoy spending quality time together!