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I am all about traditions and things that my kids know they can look forward to! When we initially started our Christmas Book countdown tradition, it actually wasn’t a countdown at all! But something we only did on Christmas eve.
A few years ago we decided it would be so fun to enjoy doing it every evening counting down to Christmas! You can do it either way, but let me tell you all about our Favorite Christmas Book Countdown Tradition!
Our Countdown Tradition...
Don’t you love the glow of the Christmas tree? I absolutely love just sitting by the Christmas tree with the family. So a few years ago we decided to have some mandatory family sitting by the Christmas tree time.
And to do that, we incentivized our kids with a wrapped book every evening until Christmas!
From the beginning of December they’re always so excited to have 25 brown paper wrapped books under the tree.
We have added to the collection over the years, and we buy a new book or two every year. But they have read most of the books in there.
And yet, it’s magical! It’s so fun to let them open a gift every night.
Then we sit by the Christmas tree, enjoy the ambiance of the Christmas lights, and read a Christmas book as a family!
We look forward to it every evening!
Starting Out...
Like I said when we first started this tradition, it only happened Christmas Eve.
We would have a new book for the kids to open Christmas Eve that was always the Christmas story in some way.
When they were young it was in small board books, and as they’ve gotten older it’s been longer and more details.
After a few years of getting books just on Christmas Eve we had a small collection. I slowly picked up Christmas books on closeout, at second hand stores and purchased some new.
And now we have a really good collection of Christmas books!
Some are just fun and light hearted, others are symbolic, and some are just great Christmas stories!
But we love the time we get to sit and read!
Don’t stress about needing to purchase 25 books to do this tradition! Start slow, and just add books as you find them!
You could always count down the 12 days to Christmas to begin, and work your way up to 25 days until Christmas!
But seriously, you will love the time your family spends around the tree, reading uplifting and fun Christmas stories.
So I won’t leave you hanging without some recommendations for great Christmas Books! And our dear friend Amazon has a top 100 best selling children’s Christmas books to help you out as well!
If you have really little kids who have short attention spans, I would recommend some board books. They aren’t as long, but you still get to enjoy the time together.
We have a combination of board books and some longer books since we have little and bigger kids.
But even my older kids love the stories in the board books.
Two of my favorite Christmas board books are “Who is Coming to our House” and “Christmas Oranges”
Who is coming to our house by Joseph Slate is all the animals in the stable talking about who is going to come to their house. And we all know that person is the Baby Jesus. It’s a simple and cute book for little ones that still holds the spirit and meaning of Christmas.
Christmas Oranges is a little harder to come by. But it’s a cute story about kids in an orphanage taking care of one another and sharing what they have!
I narrowed down my favorite Christmas books (that aren’t board books) down to 5! But even that was hard to do! There are just so many good ones out there!
The Joy of Giving by Jan Berenstein is a Berenstein Bears books that is a great way to teach kids about giving rather than receiving at Christmas. We usually try to read this one early on in the season so that they can remember to try to give!
The Littlest Elf is about the smallest Elf in Santa’s workshop trying to find a job to do. It’s very relatable to little kids, and is a great way to teach them that there is always some way they can help, and something they have to offer. The pictures are fun and colorful too!
The Tale of three trees is by far my favorite children’s Christmas book! I love everything about it, the story, the pictures, and the message! It’s about 3 trees and what they dream to become, and how their dreams are reached in ways they never could have imagined. It follows the life of Jesus Christ, and has such a beautiful Christmas message to it!
The Symbols of Christmas looks like the name has been changed to just This Christmas. But it tells all about the symbols of Christmas in a cute way. It also has beautiful illustrations and makes you think about all the symbolism surrounding Christmas.
The Christmas Train by Thomas S. Monson is a story that he tells from a Christmas as a child. It’s very relatable for kids at Christmas time and another good reminder that giving is usually better than receiving!
All of these books are also great gift ideas for kids, neighbors, and friends! If you’re in search of other great gifts we love, you an check out my gift guides here!
Other Christmas Stories in our Collection
I didn’t want to leave you hanging in case you did want to splurge and have a 25 day countdown! So here are some of the other stories in our rotation!
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
- The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore
- How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace
- Pig the Elf by Aaron Blabey
- I Spy Little Christmas by Jean Marzollo
- My First Story of the First Christmas by Deanna Draper Buck
- One baby Jesus by Patricia A. Pingry
- The Story of Christmas by Patricia A. Pingry
- You are my merry by Marianne Richmond
- Get well Santa by Julie Sykes
- Hurry, Santa by Julie Sykes
- The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
- Drummer Boy by Loren Long
- How many miles to Bethlehem by Kevin Crossley Holland
- Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
- Christmastime is Here by Fisher Price
- Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney
And here are some Christmas books I’d love to add to our collection!
- Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney
- Pete the Cat’s 12 Groovy days of Christmas by James Dean
- Dasher by Matt Tavares
- The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
- Merry Christmas Stinky Face by Lisa Mccourt
I hope you find a favorite Christmas Book for your family to fall in love with this Christmas season! And if you decide to start this tradition, I’d love to hear how it goes!
1 Comment
What an awesome idea!