Advent & Christmas Books

Recently, I shared what we can learn spiritually from the Advent season during my monthly Relevant Radio Morning Air segment. You can listen to the conversation here. During our chat I mentioned some of our family’s favorite Advent and Christmas season books. One of my most treasured traditions – and one that doesn’t require hardly any work from Mom – is sitting down to read good books together. The benefits of reading out loud to children are many, and research of the benefits of family read-alouds suggests we shouldn’t stop sharing stories out loud with our kids when they become independent readers. If you’re looking to learn more about the myriad benefits of reading aloud to your children – from the youngest to the oldest – I highly recommend The Read Aloud Revival website and its accompanying book, The Read Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie.

Our family’s own Advent and Christmas collection of books has taken quite a few years to build (and it’s still growing; I included some wish list items at the end of this post). Below, I have shared some of our favorite titles. I’ve heard  some parents make a tradition wrap a book from their library for each day of Advent or for the 12 Days of Christmas to build excitement. The kids open a book each day, and they read the gifted book aloud. As for me, I am the world’s worst wrapper, and I barely have enough time to wrap gifts for others – let alone wrap a slew of books that aren’t new gifts but are most certainly gifts to be shared year after year. Thus, I just have a special place to stash our seasonal books. In the past, I put seasonal books in a big basket, but we’ve outgrown that receptacle. I also used to plan crafts and copywork (back when I still homeschooled) associated with different books. These days, I keep things really, really simple. I gather the littles around – and invite the older ones as well if they’re not too busy with school work or sports – and I just read the magical books. It’s as simple and as special and memorable as that. If you’re looking to be more ambitious,  here are some of my old Advent posts that include crafts, recipes, etc. that we used to do:

Advent Traditions: Preparing Our Hearts & Homes

Advent Smorgasboard

Christmas placemat craft

Shell angels and poinsettia angels crafts

But, if you’re lazy like me, or just trying to embrace the whole “less is more” mantra this Advent, I give you full permission to *only* enjoy evening read-alouds with your family.

Without further ado, here are some of our favorites:

 

All of my kids have enjoyed counting the days down until Christmas with these daily stories that follow Little Bear and his journey to Bethlehem. Thomas (age 7) adores this book right now and as soon as we pull out the Advent wreath, he asks about the Little Bear stories. We read this each night just before bed while he curls up close to me. The book’s daily stories do wonders in “keeping Christ in Christmas” and not allowing the hyper-secularization to take over during this special time of preparation. Yes, Thomas incessantly asks how many days until Christmas and is constantly adjusting his Christmas wish list (argh!), but he also asks just as frequently about Little Bear’s journey to Bethlehem.

Strega Nona, Tomie  dePaola’s beloved enchantress, is busy preparing for the Feast of Christmas. Only she refuses to rely on any of her spells because Christmas has a “magic of its own.” My kids love this magical tale that not only captivates their imaginations but their hearts, too, as it teaches an important lessons in giving, hospitality, and obedience. One year the girls even put on a puppet show acting out the book. We just made copies of the characters from the book’s pages. They then colored the pictures, cut them out, and glued them to Popsicle sticks and then “performed” Merry Christmas, Stregna Nona! for family members. It was a big hit!

Mary asked about this one last year, saying, “When are we going to read the one where the real Mary and Joseph come to life?” From Amazon: Tomie dePaola’s glorious paintings are as luminous as the farolitos that light up on the Plaza in Santa Fe for the procession of Las Posadas, the tradition in which Mary and Joseph go from door to door seeking shelter at the inn on Christmas Eve.This year Sister Angie, who is always in charge of the clebration, has to stay home with the flu, and Lupe and Roberto, who are to play Mary and Joseph, get caught in a snowstorm. But a man and a woman no one knows arrive in time to take their place in the procession and then mysteriously disappear at the end before they can be thanked.That night we witness a Christian miracle, for when Sister Angie goes to the cathedral and kneels before the statue of Mary and Jospeh, wet footprints from the snow lead up to the statue.

This is one of my personal favorites because it’s such a touching tale and reminds us that Christ only desires us and our love and doesn’t need anything fancy. I’ve also always loved the poinsettia, and this story – another one by Tomie dePaola (clearly a favorite author of ours!) – makes the beautiful flower even more meaningful during this special time of year.

Yet another Tomie dePaola book that we love. The story’s indiscriminate-eating-goat always gets my kids laughing. I love the book because it takes the readers through several liturgical celebrations from the Feast of St. Nicholas to Epiphany and shares Italian customs and traditions tied to these feast days. The book features our beloved Big Anthony and Strega Nona as well.

 

We have the book and CD set of this one, and it makes me cry EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Its lyrical language is as beautiful as its life-like illustrations.

 

A classic not to be missed! We started listening to this back when my kids were all quite young, and it’s amazing how much they absorbed – how little minds can figure out that a specter means a ghost when the word is used context. Don’t underestimate children! They can listen to classics and enjoy them. I’m very excited because this year we are seeing A Christmas Carol on stage. Growing up, my parents took my siblings and me to the stage production of this classic each Advent/Christmas season, and I’m so excited to be sharing this new tradition with my kids (only Charlie will miss out this year).

 

We have this beautiful, illustrated edition of this classic. Once again despite the vocabulary being rich and advanced, even my younger children soak up this story of love and sacrifice. It’s another one that triggers the tears in Mom.

 

I’m getting a little ahead of myself here because this book is really an Epiphany tale about an old, prideful camel named Hoshmakaka who learns a lesson in humility as he carries a heavy load of gifts to the Christ Child. This book was Madeline’s favorite Christmas book when she was younger, and now she likes to share it with her younger siblings. Mother tested, kid approved. The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola is another great Epiphany read.

 

 

And now I’m behind for this book recommendation (as well as the next one) since we usually read this book on the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas. The Miracle of St. Nicholas is beautifully written using rich descriptions and is a powerful reminder that celebrating Mass is a gift and a privilege that not everyone could always safely have (or can even nowadays safely celebrate). The book teaches children about icons (an icon of St. Nicholas is at the center of the story) and how we must always keep faith and hope close.

I love this story of generosity and its legend of how the baker’s dozen might have come to be as well as the book’s detailed illustrations. In past years, we baked St. Nicholas Day cookies using the recipe in the book and a cookie cutter from the St. Nicholas Center (lots of great resources here!).

Jan Brett is one of my favorite children’s authors and illustrators. The details in her books’ artwork is exquisite. Each time I read one of her stories, it seems I discover something new in the eye candy that surround her equally lovely words. My kids all loved Trouble with Trolls, a tale of a clever girl who has to outsmart a bevy of trolls who try to steal her beloved dog, and so we welcome another story about the mischievous trolls. This time the trolls are trying to steal Treva’s Christmas, and she is determined to teach them the true meaning of the holiday.

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I would love to add a book on Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Lucy to our Advent collection, and I welcome any other book suggestions readers might have. Happy reading!

***Please note: Affiliate links are included in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.