Christmas Books

Kat
Any time someone says “books” I quote that line from ELF. It’s just a thing I do, and I won’t apologize. Today we joining Momfessionals and A Little Bit of Everything to bring you some of our favorite Christmas books for children because you know you want to start reading them now just like I want to start listening to Michael Buble and Dave Barnes’ Christmas albums.

I love Karma Wilson, not to be confused with Carnie Wilson. Although, I do love her too and was on a flight with her one time when Caroline and I went to Los Angeles. Caroline wouldn’t let me ask her if she’d sing “Hold On” with me. What a killjoy. This book, however, is not a killjoy. It’s precious. The illustrations are top notch, and it’s such a cute story for preschool to second grade.

Every year I let my students bring their favorite Christmas book to share with the class. I pull up a fireplace on the SmartBoard, and we read Christmas stories. This one made me cry with my third graders. Cynthia Rylant, who brought us Henry and Mudge and Dog Heaven really knows how to pull at your heartstrings. This is a great one for older elementary kids.

This book is so cute and talks about jobs Santa tried before he became Santa-baker, mail man, zoo keeper and how each of them prepared him for his current job. I usually read this with my students then have them complete “job applications” to apply for different jobs at the North Pole. After I receive their application, they have to do an interview with me. We talk about the importance of maintaining eye contact, speaking clearly and confidently, and addressing superiors with respect. They LOVE it.

Caroline
Read me this book and take me back to 1992. I loved this book as a kid, and thankfully they sell it today. If you’ve never read it, it’s a cute story about about a bear who is anticipating Christmas and knows it’s coming by the smells-candy canes, gingerbread, pine trees, all the good stuff. What makes it so magical to a child…or me is that it’s a scratch and sniff book. Is there anything better?

Room for a Little One is one of the sweetest Christmas books; I’m convinced of this. It tells the story of animals coming into the stable on the night Jesus was born to try and stay warm. Each animal makes room for the next one, and then Mary and Joseph arrive, and they make room for baby Jesus. The story is great, but the pictures are one of the reasons I love it so much-they are beautiful. You should get it, and see if you cry like I do when “Old Dog” comes into the stable.

A Silly Milly Christmas is a favorite around here because 1. it’s darling and 2. we also have a Millie dog. It’s adorably written, it rhymes, and it has cute pictures. It’s a fun book about a great dane named Milly and all the things she does at Christmas.

Humphrey’s First Christmas tells the story from Humphrey the camel’s point of view. He is traveling with the wisemen to Jesus. He was first so worried about himself and being a little selfish because he can’t find his favorite blanket on the journey. In the end, he finally gets it back but gives it to baby Jesus. It’s so sweet and has such fun pictures because many of them are close-ups of Humphrey and even though he needs to floss, I love them so much. 🙂 A definite read for kids at Christmas.

Hope you found some new ones for this holiday season! I was recently looking for new Christmas books for Claire and I to read, and I came across A Coronarvirus Christmas. Not lying. Please don’t buy that for your child; they deserve better. They deserve Mortimer and Humphrey.