So... I love books. I love KID books. And I love Christmas. Translation? I have a large collection of Christmas books. They stay up on the top shelf until the start of December, when I pull them down for my children to "rediscover" all over again.
Now there are a TON of Christmas books out there. But I thought I would share our favorites--ones with great meaning, illustration, prose and rhyme.
Create your own Christmas library by giving a new book to your children each year. In the meantime, you can get all of these at the library.
Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Heyer
I think this is my all-time FAVORITE Christmas book. It tells the story of a prideful camel who travels to see "some baby." Hilarious, beautiful and meaningful.
Animals in the stable make room for all small creatures: a stray dog, a mouse and finally a tiny baby.
Christmas Is Here by Lauren Castillo
The Christmas story in told in adapted King James scripture. A community gathers around a church nativity scene. Really great illustration and it's short for little ones with short attention spans.
Song of the Stars, by Sally Lloyd-Jones
This one is written by the author of the Jesus Storybook Bible (a great Christmas gift, by the way!). I love how it tells not of the people who discovered Jesus' birth, but of creation--animals and nature who anticipated and welcomed "the One who made us has come to live with us!"
The First Christmas by Jan Peinkowski
This
is one you will want to open up and put on display because of its
incredible illustrations. Beautiful metallic and black silhouettes tell
the Christmas story. Completely magical
This Is The Stable by Cynthia Cotten
This one has a wonderful rhythm that makes it both fun to read and listen to. It's short enough for younger ones and a good one for early readers.
The Christmas Story by Patricia Pingry (board book version)
This board book sturdy and perfect for the youngest of children. Toddlers will love holding this smallish book and turning the pages with no fear of tearing. Simple, short and straight-to-the-point about why we celebrate Christmas.
The First Christmas by Carol Heyer
Written by the author of Humphrey's First Christmas (see above), this one tells the complete story of Jesus' birth. It starts with the angel appearing to Mary and reminds us at the end that "through his death and Resurrection, he saved us all." Look for a "cameo" appearance of Humphrey!
Be sure to leave a comment and share your favorite Christmas books.
All images from Amazon.com.
I wish I had this list a month ago! My daughter is Beth's age, and we are giving her a book a day during Advent. I would have liked to keep most of them Christmas focused, but I couldn't find many that I liked. Oh we'll, I'll save this away for next year!! :)
Posted by: Allie | December 08, 2012 at 11:57 PM
What age group are these for?
My boys are 7 1/2. I am trying to start a Christmas book collection that will grow for their age.
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Tasha | December 10, 2012 at 02:51 PM
Janna, Do you remember when Mom and I brought this book home from a small bookstore in Sonora? The art is outstanding. It is also a great example of printing with the bronzing method. I have been dreaming of reproducing the cover as a display for the front lawn.
Posted by: Kelvin Perrien | December 11, 2012 at 11:57 AM
This is such a great list and is inspiring me to get a few Christmas books for my boy. I hadn't even realized that we don't have a single one yet! Yikes!
Posted by: erinL | December 20, 2012 at 06:50 AM