Every year after Christmastide we put our Christmas themed books away so that when Advent begins it is the first time my children have seen them all year. I check out the ones we don’t own from the library and we place them in a basket with a festive bow. I love how these stories work their magic all Advent long as we prepare our hearts for Christmas morning.
An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola*
Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins, illustrated by Nicholas Sidjakov
The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard
Christina’s Carol by Tomie dePaola
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Christmas Carols by Marjorie Wyckoff, illustrated by Corinne Malvern
The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot, found in James Herriot’s Treasury for Children
Christmas for 10 by Cathryn Falwell*
Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck
Christmas in the Stable by Astrid Lindgren*
A Christmas Like Helen’s by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock*
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P.J. Lynch
The Christmas Story by Gennady Spirin*
The Christmas Story by Jane Werner Watson
The Christmas Story by Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Dolls’ Christmas by Tasha Tudor*
The Donkey’s Dream by Barbara Berger*
Good King Wenceslas by John Mason Neale, illustrated by Christopher Manson*
The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
The Nativity by Ruth Sanderson*
The Nativity: Six Glorious Pop-Up Scenes by Francesca Crespi*
Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell
Stephen’s Feast by Jean Richardson*
The Story of Christmas by Felix Hoffmann*
The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaola
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Gennady Spirin
Unwrapping the Christmas Crèche by Lisa Flinn*
A Wreath of Christmas Legends by Phyllis McGinley, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (Christmas poetry)*
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
* indicates book is out-of-print.
Advent & Christmas Feast Days:
The Bakers Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard (St. Nicholas Day, December 6)
The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola* (Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12)
Lucia: Saint of Light by Katherine Bolger Hyde (St. Lucy Day, December 13)
Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins, illustrated by Nicholas Sidjakov (Epiphany, January 6)
The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie DePaola (Epiphany, January 6)
We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin (Epiphany, January 6)
The Nutcracker Ballet:
The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers
The Nutcracker illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
Lili on Stage by Rachel Isadora*
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