The Advent is upon us. If you don’t have a plan, here is an idea for you using books about Christmas. (It’s still early days, you can totally start today or tomorrow, or later, if you want!) Wrap up a book for each day until Christmas, and every day your child can unwrap the book and you can read them together. A friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that she did this last year, and I thought it was a fabulous idea so we are doing it this year. I’m not buying 25 new books. We already have several Christmas books, I packed them away with the Christmas tree so they feel new at Christmas time, so this will work perfectly for me. The few new books we have in the mix this year were given to me by Scholastic to review.
1. The Nights Before Christmas (24 Classic Stories Illustrated by Tony Ross)
If you were going to choose one book from this list, (and you have children 6 years and older), choose this one. The stories are quite long, so it’s not the best book for toddlers. If you got it while the children are under 8, it will certainly be a keepsake to treasure in years to come. I think the stories would be suitable right through to upper primary. The reason I would recommend it so highly is that I suspect most households would have a selection of modern Christmas books in their libraries. This book is literary extension for the modern day kid and has classic tales, which sometimes take longer to tell, but also develops the child’s literature appreciation as well as extending vocabulary and gaining literary knowledge. Many of the stories are age old classics that our grandparents would have read or listened to during their childhood. With the wealth of children’s books available these days, sometimes the classics that have been passed down the generations are being overlooked for some of the newer stories and their bright glossy covers. This book has a story for each day in December (a perfect advent alternative) and includes work by authors such as Leo Tolstoy, Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Dickens and The Bible. Titles include The Snow Queen, Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus, The Little Match-Seller, The Story of the Christ-Child, Good King Wenceslas and The Nativity.
I love that the lavish images depicted by Tony Ross bring these golden oldies to light.
2. My First Countdown to Christmas (Dr. Mary Manz Simon)
If you have a toddler and you were choose one book from this list, choose this one! I bought our copy years ago from Koorong, they are still selling it, click here if you are interested. Each day has an explanation about Christmas traditions or the Christmas story, followed by a simple activity for children to do which will channel a young child’s anticipation for Christmas and help them celebrate the birth of Jesus. There is also a simple prayer and Bible verse for each day.
This is a board book, so it really is suitable for little children, but my lower primary child still engages with the text and it’s a great springboard to discuss the significance of Christmas each day.
3. There Was an Old Bloke Who Swallowed a Present (P. Crumble & Louis Shea)
My boys love this crazy old bloke. We enjoyed The Old Bloke Swallowing a Rabbit at Easter, so there is no doubt that the boys are going to once again be laughing at this silly old codgers antics, starting with its amazing lenticular moving image cover! There are funny elements to look for on each page, which always engrosses them following the sub-stories contained in the illustrations.
4. Child of Bethlehem (Elena Pasquali)
This story very closely follows the Biblical account of The Nativity, yet uses simplified, (but not dumbed down) easy to understand language with bright and colourful illustrations. It is so important to our family that the children understand the real reason behind Christmas, so it is imperative that The Nativity features in this list.
5. My Merry Christmas (Rosie Smith & Bruce Whatley)
This is a particularly good book for very small children. Even older babies would be able to engage with much loved illustrator, Bruce Whatley’s, illustrations of friendly animals on each page. There is only a few words on each page, so their attention should be maintained the duration of the book. I’ve had 5 babies though, and know there is no guarantee when it comes to babies and attention! The book describes some of the traditions we follow at Christmas, so toddlers are quick to engage with the content and relate it to their own experiences.
6. Santa’s Busy Reindeer (Ed Allen, Nathaniel Eckstrom)
It’s nearly Christmas! The presents are wrapped and the sleigh is packed, but ten of Santa’s reindeer still have lots to do. This rhyming story can be sung to the tune of ‘Ten Green Bottles’. Personally, I see the benefits of these counting/subtraction stories, but singing them to my kids often bores me to tears, even though the child isn’t bored in the slightest. This particular book has got enchanting illustrations in it though, so I quite enjoyed it. Trent also loved finding the hidden number to look for in each scene. So I have to admit, even though these are not my favourite books, there are great reasons for reading/singing them. (It must be helping, Trent already recognises all numbers 10 and under. Subtraction isn’t an easy concept to learn either, so this is a good into. He will be well and truly ready for Prep next year!)
7. Santa Koala (Colin Buchanan & Glen Singleton)
Our children are a little bit in love with Colin. Any book that accompanies a CD of Colin singing is bound to be a winner in our house. Feature Santa in the story … and well, you can’t lose! (We also love have a Christmas DVD with Colin outlining the Christian elements of Christmas which brings a bit of balance to all the fun also!) This song is to the tune of Waltzing Matilda and very Aussie, particularly with the real Santa calling Santa Koala a great galah for delivering the presents early!
8. A Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Christmas (Mark Mac Leod, illustrated by May Gibbs)
This is a Christmas story based on May Gibbs’ best-loved characters, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie introducing the timeless artwork of May Gibbs to a new generation with illustrations capturing the beauty of the Australian bush. I hadn’t realised that when May Gibbs died in 1969 she bequeathed the copyright of her bush characters to charities.
In doing so the sale of May Gibbs products have supported thousands and Australian children with disabilities and their families. Royalties from this book goes to Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Northcott Society.
9. The Twelve Days of Christmas (Alison Jay)
It’s a song that must be sung every Christmas, never mind that it makes no sense that a man would give a woman bizarre gifts like geese, milk maids, jumping lords and swans. (The five golden rings of course are not bizarre, that is a dazzling good choice.)
Alison Jay is a graduate of the London College of Printing and a critically acclaimed illustrator of many children’s books. (The Nutcracker, Welcome to the Zoo & Nursery Rhyme Rainbow.) The old style illustrations in this book are simply enchanting, and have been presented in such a way that much of the gifts happen around an ‘olden days’ couple, rather than turning up on her doorstep, so it doesn’t feel so silly, but instead quite beautiful.
10. My Christmas Crackers (Bronwen Davies)
This book contains a host of funny Christmas jokes that are sure to delight any child. My children loved this book last year. (Read about that here) I am positive that it will be a popular book again this year.
11. Deck the Sheds with Bits of Wattle (Colin Buchanan & Greg Champion)
A hilarious Australian take on Deck the Halls performed by Colin Buchanan and with gorgeous Aussie illustrations by Glen Singleton.
18, 19. Thomas and Friends books
These are just little books I have picked up at the supermarket, but nevertheless the children really do love the stories. I mean, you can never go wrong with Thomas, can you?
20. The Nativity (illustrated by Julie Vivas)
The text in this book is straight from the Bible, however the illustrations are in the contemporary style of Julie Vivas. Julie Vivas is became famous when she illustrated Mem Fox’s Possum Magic in 1983. Since then her illustrations have continue to enchant and delight children. This account of the nativity is no different, the illustrations draw you in and make you examine them carefully and contemplate what life really was like during that first Christmas.
21. We Wish You a Ripper Christmas (Colin Buchanan & Greg Champion)
Yes, I know, another Colin book, but seriously, it’s impossible to overdose on Colin. If you are going on a road trip, it would be an even better reason to own all these books and CD’s (yes, there’s a CD again!) to play throughout the trip while the children delight in the wonderful Aussie illustrations in the back.
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| OK, so this is the CD for one of the above books and I was too lazy to go and take another photograph, so be inspired anyway. CD’s and road trips, a perfect Christmas combo! |
This time the book is illustrated by Roland Harvey and his funny and distinctive Australian flavour.
22. My First Christmas – Magnetic Adventures
This has been a much loved book in our family that I bought quite some time back at our local Koorong. (Brilliant Christian bookstore) I actually need to go hunting a little bit before I put this book out this year because I realised when I unpacked it that the baby Jesus plus Joseph and Mary are missing (and perhaps a few other key characters from the Nativity.) I hope I can find them, because the children adore moving the magnetic characters through the various magnetic scenes and telling the story together.
23. My First Story of Christmas (Tim Dowley)
The Christmas story told in a child friendly manner with cute illustrations.
24. ‘Twas the Night – The Nativity Story (Melody Carlson)
I thought on Christmas Eve it would be good to pause and remember it’s not all about Santa coming, but rather that the arrival of baby Jesus would be the beginning of salvation for mankind. This is a beautiful book and a wonderful retelling of the nativity story to the cadence of “The Night Before Christmas”.
A perfect book the night before the big event!
Do you have any favourite Christmas stories/books in your home? Are you counting down the Advent this year and if so how?
I am linking with Essentially Jess for IBOT
* I was gifted some of these books by Scholastic Australia. All opinions are my own, and I wouldn’t make a recommendation unless myself and/or my children enjoyed the books.
19 Comments
I love that the book advent calender is all the rage this year! I think it’s much better than chocolate. Thanks for these book ideas. I’m just in the process of collecting together books for some kind of Christmas count down. I think by the time I get organised it might be the eve of Christmas!!! Maybe I’ll just do 12 days of books for Christmas… instead of 24!
We got the Old Bloke who swallowed a present yesterday from our Elf (who couldn’t fly in the storms ie I couldn’t find him, he has since been located!!) it is a great one.
You’ve got some great choices there! I am so lazy I haven’t organised anything for advent, this year has just been too crazy and I ran out of time. Definitely going to do something like this next year though.
(Visiting on behalf of #teamIBOT today x)
I love Christmas books! I had quite a collection of them when my kids were little. I still have them somewhere. We used to read them at bed time every night of December up until Christmas 🙂
What a fantastic list! I tend to gift a new book each Christmas, so I’ll bookmark this. I especially appreciate the Australian flavour – so many books reviews are Northern Hemisphere centred. Now, for more Aussie EASTER books!
Gosh!! What a fabulous collection. I love this book advent calendar idea. I wish I’d heard about it earlier. Maybe I’ll do half of it like Vicki suggested below.
I think twelve books is a really great number, and would still be worth it. In fact, if you have small children, they probably would like to re-read some of the books a few times over anyway, so it might be a good thing!
That’s been my tradition in the past. Another day has gone by and the books remain unwrapped. It may be the tradition this year also if I don’t get my act together!
Yes it does take some preparation, although it would have been quicker for me if I didn’t want to write a blog post about it first! I’ve still run out of time also, I haven’t wrapped them all, I’ve just dished them out one by one these first couple of days.
There’s no shame in Peppa Pig! It’s nice to give them exposure if you can to other stuff, but hey, if Peppa and George are the only suitable candidates, reading about pigs is better than nothing!
Oh, that elf knows what kids like! Such a fun book.
Have you got any of the Colin books and CD’s Lace? I would imagine your girls would love them. (And your boy one day too!)
The Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Christmas book is so sweet, you should keep your eye out for it. It could be expensive, but if you work on it gradually, it should be OK. I had someone comment on my Facebook page that she is doing something similar using library books. I think this is a great idea, and if you were buying a new one or two every year, you would soon have a largish collection anyway. Maybe pop one in the Christmas stocking and then pack it away soon after, they won’t be too familiar with it, it will seem newer than ever!
PS. Did you see my link to the Easter books? Some Aussie selections there – although not overtly Christian.
Yes, you should! I’m sure Miss 4 would be very excited. 12 is a good start, then you can keep building on it each year. You can always do it every second day until Christmas and re-read the faves on the off days.
That’s true, I might keep collecting slowly and thanks – using the library to top up in the meantime is a great idea!
Thank you!!! Just the post I needed. I am going to make a cuppa and come and read it thoroughly!
Great list. We love Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – my kids understand that’s it’s okay to be different!
This is such an amazing collection! I am so going to start my own Christmas advent I think