One of my favorite Christmas traditions is reading a Christmas story to my kids every night before bed during the month of December. I think this is probably a fairly widespread tradition. 🙂 Some of our favorite Christmas books have changed as my kids have gotten older, but some stay favorites every year! I love that my kids haven’t outgrown this tradition- they are still excited for me to pull out the books every Christmas season. And they still look at the pictures as I read each night.
I thought I’d share some of our favorites with you. They are in no particular order- we love them all!
- Laughing All the Way by Sam Beeson is one of my absolute favorites! The premise of this book is an old man by the name of Thomas Bunk, who is sick of Christmas
and Santa Claus and wants to put a stop to it. And he tries everything. Such a fun book! There are some buying options on Amazon HERE. - Queen of Christmas by Mary Engelbreit is one my kids never get tired of! Ann Estelle spends the entire year writing out her Christmas list, but will all
her expectations be met on Christmas morning? The pictures in this book are stellar, in typical Mary Engelbreit fashion! I couldn’t find any new copies of this book, but found some great deals on used copies on Amazon HERE. - We love Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner for the storyline, but also for the fabulous artwork. We spend time searching for the hidden mouse on each page as we read. Find out what snowmen do
while we sleep in this book- it’s awesome! We bought our paperback copy through Scholastic, but they have a Kindle version HERE. - On the 23rd of December we always read The Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Natasha Wing. Kind of silly, but we think it’s fun! Anything and
everything goes wrong as this story unfolds. But in the end what truly matters holds true and strong. Our copy came through Scholastic, but you can also get a Kindle version HERE. - Have you ever read any of the Skippyjon Jones books by Judy Schachner? Oh my goodness! If you haven’t, you must! You must read every one of them! They are hilarious! But if you read them,
you must promise to do so in a spanish accent. It is the only way. Or get the books on CD at the library and let someone else read them to you. Skippyjon Jones Snow What is our Christmas homage to the cute little Siamese cat, who thinks he is a dog. You can find all the Skippyjon Jones books on Amazon HERE. - The Biggest Snowball Ever by John Rogan is a silly story about a snowball fight
gone wrong. Again, we love the pictures that go along with a great storyline. We got our copy through Scholastic. - Every Christmas Eve since my kids were tiny, we have been reading The Visit, written by Mark Kimball Moulton. It is the story of how The Night Before Christmas came to be. It is long and takes some time to get through. And quite honestly, the first few years were rough because my kids couldn’t focus and concentrate on such a long story. But I love it and I’m so glad I started this
tradition! Let me tell you why: this story, as it is being told, tells how Clement Clarke Moore came up with such a wonderful tale. It tells the backstory of a jolly, old man in his town who secretly and quietly gave what little he had to others on the eve of Christmas. So even though my kids may not have realized it, I am teaching them that the true spirit of Christmas isn’t in Santa, who lives at the North Pole, but in the quiet and selfless deeds of others, such as this old man who Clement Moore knew. We have a beautiful hardcover copy that was a gift from my parents the year our first child was born. But they now have a Kindle version, as well. You can find it on Amazon HERE.
I actually don’t think it matters what you read to your kids as long as you are reading to them. These are a few of our favorites, but they won’t be for everyone! It’s the time you spend with your kids that they will remember. It’s the traditions you create that they will carry with them. So, if you have traditions, keep at them! If you don’t feel you have any, start one! It only takes you saying and believing that something is a tradition for it to be one.
Have any new books my family should add to our collection? Let me know! We are always up for more! 🙂
