Christmas Children's Books

Last month I wrote about our favorite Thanksgiving children's books, and today i'm excited to be doing the same thing with Christmas books!

We actually own a lot more Christmas books than we do Thanksgiving ones, which is nice because we can read them all season without having to return them to the library. There have been a few that we've borrowed from the library though, and some of them will eventually become part of our home collection since they are so well-loved!

Here are five of our favorites this year:

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This is one of our books, and even though I put it out after Thanksgiving I didn't expect to read it to her. It's a classic and beautifully illustrated but I assumed there were just too many words. That just goes to show that I shouldn't assume anything when it comes to my kids. This is Stephanie's absolute favorite Christmas book and we read it almost every day.

Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh. This is a cute little tale about a dog named Olive who hears her name on the radio and assumes it means Santa is calling her to come be his reindeer. (She misinterprets the song lyric "all of the other reindeer" as "Olive the other reindeer.") Santa takes pity on her and lets her join his team on Christmas night. I had watched the movie that's based on this book a long time ago, and I feel like the book is much cuter! Stephanie requests it often, and will be pretty disappointed when it has to go back to the library.

Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor. We adore Fancy Nancy, and this book about Nancy's extra fancy Christmas doesn't disappoint. Full of colorful pictures and "fancy" words, Nancy's Christmas book is one that we will definitely need to buy at some point.

The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear by Stan and Jan Berenstain. This is the original Berenstain Bears Christmas book (there have been other modern ones that have come out since.) I read this one growing up, and love sharing it with Stephanie now. In fact, the copy I'm reading to her is the one I owned when I was little. It tells the story of how Sister Bear writes a huge list to Santa, but eventually learns that it isn't good to be greedy, and that there is much more to Christmas than receiving gifts. Definitely a good one!

Franklin's Christmas Gift by Paulette Bourgeois. This is a sweet story about Franklin the turtle and his class's Christmas toy drive for needy children. When Franklin goes home to choose a toy, he discovers that all of his toys are too special for him to donate. But then at school the next day he hears about the generous donations his friends are making and feels like none of his toys are good enough to donate. He eventually figures out just the right toy to give and feels filled with the Christmas spirit. Franklin books are perfect for preschoolers. They are sweet and simple, with concepts that are easy for little ones to grasp. If you can get your hands on a copy of this (Franklin books are hard to find!) I highly recommend it.

Since I love children's literature, especially holiday-related books, I would love to hear some of your suggestions! Please share your favorites, either in the comments or on my Facebook page.

I shared my favorite Christmas books because that's the holiday we celebrate in our house. If you celebrate Hannukah or Kwanzaa, feel free to share any children's books about those holidays that you love too!

*I was not compensated in any way to write about these books. I either own them or have borrowed them from the library. 

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