Monday, December 10, 2012

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. 

25 comments:

  1. I don't think I've heard of any of these except for The Polar Express!! Thanks for the suggestions! :)

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    1. The Polar Express is definitely a classic. Hope you enjoy the others if you get a chance to check them out! xoxo

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  2. Same as Melissa. I hadn't heard of these other books. Off to Amazon! Thanks for the great selection. :)

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    1. Oooh let me know what you think if you get any of them :)

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  3. Ohmygosh we've read Fancy Nancy 5 times this season already! Love that one! You've got some great picks on here. Maybe I'll read Polar Express tonight!

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    1. Fancy Nancy is just awesome! Glad to hear she's as popular in other houses as she is in ours :)

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  4. We have and love the Fancy Nancy one! I will have to check out a few of the others! We have been on a big library kick lately. :)

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    1. Fancy Nancy is one of my favorite characters. We don't own it, and our library copy is due back soon. I'm thinking I will be heading to amazon shortly to buy it ;)

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  5. We love The Polar Express and the Berenstain Bears. We also enjoy "The Christmas Miracle of Johnathon Toomey".

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    1. Thank you for sharing! I will have to check out the Christmas Miracle one :)

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  6. My girls love Fancy Nancy. We read it constantly. They wanted me to put up lights like her house, but when I took the lights out they were all dead. I said I would buy a whole bunch after Christmas when they're real cheap.

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    1. Haha, too funny. I agree, buying after Christmas is the best way!

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  7. recently found out about this site: http://www.thriftbooks.com/

    Em & I love books just like you & your little's & I can't wait to fill the house with more for cheaper :)

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    1. Oh, thanks for sharing! I'll have to check that out.

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  8. Polar Express is my favorite!!! Great list :)

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  9. I LOVE Polar Express, but will have to get the others to round out our holiday book collection! I picked up Llama Llama's Christmas book, too! It's super cute.

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    1. We just got Llama Llama Christmas too. LOVE it, so cute :)

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  10. I added your button my blog (I hope that's OK) aisforadelaide.com.
    I'm not sure how to make a button for my page, but I hope to figure it out and be able to share it with you awesome blogging mamas!

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    1. Aw, thanks for including my button, I appreciate it! And let me know when you get one, I'll happily share it too :)

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  11. Great list! I want to check out the Olive book! I think my Liza would love it.

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    1. Aw I bet she would love the Olive one. It's really cute :)

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  12. FUN! I want to check out that Olive book too - and I'm guessing my daughter will be very into Fancy Nancy soon ;-) Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Glad you liked the list...I just love Christmas books :)

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  13. Great list!!! I love kids' books for the holidays! So many cute ones out there!

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    1. Yes, there are so many cute ones...so hard to pick which ones to purchase :)

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