Over 20 Christmas Books for Kids that are perfect for celebrating the Holiday Season!
Recently, I wrote about my family’s easy Christmas Book Tradition. It’s a personable way to start a new family tradition; so definitely check it out.
After finishing that post, it seemed like a natural next step to share some of the Christmas books my family loves to snuggle up and read.
This list has Christmas books including everything from your child’s favorite cartoon characters to the classics.
Let’s take a look at some of the current favorite books my 3 boys love during the holiday season.
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Christmas Books for Kids
Home Alone: The Classic Illustrated Storybook
The illustrations in this book are incredible and since the storyline is well-known, it’s nice to have those strong pictures to hold kids’ interest.
As far as Christmas Books go – this is my current favorite!
The best part is the book isn’t too wordy. My 6-year-old can stumble through it fairly quickly. In summary, in case you’ve never seen the movie, it’s about a young boy, Kevin, who is left at home alone and tackles the task of keeping two robbers from breaking into his home.
It’s Christmas, David!
Another fantastic Christmas book whose author, David Shannon, fills the entire page with colorful illustrations. Shannon lets his pictures do most of the storytelling and even with the words on each page being minimal, the pictures bring about great conversations.
David is your typical Christmas curious kid and this seems to mean he gets reminded to behave frequently. This book probably ranks high on my boys’ list because of the page where David is seen running in his birthday suit.
As I said, David is kind of mischievous.
Disney*Pixar Cars: Mater Saves Christmas
This book is a classic for all the Disney Cars fans. In true Mater fashion, it is full of silly antics and even a trip to the North Pole!
When fuel thieves steal all the town’s gas, Mater realizes that the mail trucks won’t be able to deliver everyone’s letters to Santa. Mater heads to the North Pole to deliver the letters himself and winds up meeting & helping Santa Car!
How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas?
This is the perfect Christmas book for your dinosaur-loving kiddo. This book starts with “What would dinosaurs do” Christmas scenarios.
It has hilarious pictures of the dinosaurs misbehaving. For example, one page asks if dinosaurs would eat all of Santa’s cookies and then shows the dinosaur “chugging” them down from the plate.
The second half of the book is examples of the dinosaurs behaving much better. A great story that has hidden messages of good behavior at Christmas time.
The Night Before Christmas
This is a version of the classic The Night Before Christmas, but the illustrations take it to the next level.
Each page is so full of colorful drawings that my boys find something new and funny each time we read it. It’s the little details that make this book special.
The reindeer all wear distinctive hats, the Christmas tree has a hot dog ornament, and on one page Santa and his reindeer are taking pictures with an inflatable… Santa. The classic story combined with the unique illustrations makes this book a keeper.
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
My youngest guy is a big fan of the Little Blue Truck series. If you’ve never read them, they are worth checking out.
This book follows the Little Blue Truck as he makes his Christmas tree deliveries. It uses rhymes and catchy wording perfect for toddlers and young preschoolers.
Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Bear’s friends wake him up this year for Christmas! He helps them prepare for Christmas morning, all while trying very hard not to fall asleep.
Eventually, his friends fall asleep, but Bear stays up and makes them all gifts. I love the lesson about “giving” and not just receiving in this book.
The Berenstain Bears Save Christmas
This book focuses on the true meaning of Christmas. It’s about remembering that it’s not the hustle and bustle that is important at Christmas but keeping the Christmas spirit alive.
Plus, it has those adorable bears from our childhood that I will forever love reading.
Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho!
As Farmer Brown goes to bed he believes all is calm and well for Santa’s Christmas Eve arrival. However, Duck is trying to deliver a Christmas present and gets stuck in the chimney.
Soon all the helpful animals are stuck too and it takes Santa to finally help Duck deliver his special gift. Spoiler Alert – the present is the star for the top of the tree.
A Magical Christmas
Little Mouse is trying to figure out the true magic of Christmas. He asks his family throughout the book and they all give him great answers that will help young children understand the importance of keeping Christmas Spirit in our hearts.
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas
Santa is sick, so he has asked Pete the Cat to help deliver the presents on Christmas Eve. Pete does so in a red, mini-bus being pulled by reindeer.
I love the message in this book – that even if you are small and facing a daunting task, you keep trying your hardest.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
This book is simply a must-have for your Christmas library. I love reading about how the Grinch comes to understand that “Christmas is more”. This is one of my favorite Christmas reads.
Mary Engelbreit’s The Night Before Christmas
Another version of The Night Before Christmas book, but they are all so unique!
This one has the classic illustrations Engelbreit is known for like whimsical scenes and enchanting illustrations.
Ninja Claus!
This is a new book for my family and it has been a hit! Maxwell, who considers himself a ninja, is going to try his hardest to catch a glimpse of Santa this year.
He quickly learns that Santa is sneaky like a ninja himself. This book is set at night and it’s unique because for a Christmas book, it has very dark pages and a comic book set-up.
The Magic of Christmas – A Treasury of Holiday Stories
This is a collection of 4 adorable Christmas Stories:
I’ve Seen Santa by David Bedford
Careful, Santa! by Julie Sykes
Bless You, Santa! by Julie Sykes
The Gift of Christmas by Christine Leeson
The Pups Save Christmas
If you have a Paw Patrol fan in your home, then you probably could recite this book from memory because it follows the TV show episode of the same name.
That does not keep my little guy from wanting to read it, however. Quick recap: Ryder and his Pups help Santa find his reindeer, fix his sleigh, and deliver the presents.
Richard Scarry’s The Night Before the Night Before Christmas!
In this classic Scarry story, Santa heads out a night early to deliver the presents because Mr. Fumble accidentally ripped a page off Santa’s calendar.
There’s just something fun about a book where the main character is driving a ski-pickle-doo.
The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree
Papa Bear is determined to find the perfect Christmas tree and he is not going to do it from a tree-lot.
The Bears slowly learn that the trees are the homes of their animal friends and they can not chop them down. Upon returning back to their treehouse, they see all the animals have decorated their treehouse for them.
Another story focusing on the Christmas Spirit!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Christmas 123
This Christmas book is perfect for infants and young toddlers, but the illustrations are truly so unique that I could flip through it over and over again. My favorite is the Santa!
The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition
We read this book when our Elf returns every year. I have 3 copies of it, one for each of my boys. I have on my “ever-growing to-do list” to add pictures of our elf and his antics into each book.
Picking the best Christmas Books
I am a self-proclaimed visual person, so if you are like me and want to see the insides of some of the Christmas books, check out the images through the title links.
There are sometimes options to take a sneak peek into the books and also in the comments section people will occasionally upload photos of the inside pages. I always like to see the book’s illustrations before I make my decisions.
Don’t forget to take a peek at our Christmas Book Tradition post. It’s an easy way to start a new family tradition this year.
So what are some of your favorite Christmas books to read to kids? I’d love to hear some other favorites! I’m always looking for ideas for the coming Christmas.
12 Comments
I had no idea there was a Home Alone book! That definitely needs to be added to our collection!
It’s a super cute book! I was worried it would be very “wordy” and with my 6 year old wanting to read everything I thought it would take us an hour to get through. Lol. But it’s a great read with great pictures! Glad you found a new book for your collection!
I love this list! I had no idea there was a Home Alone book! We just got Click Clack Ho Ho Ho from the library yesterday. My kids love the other ones from that series.
Becca that is how my kids and I stumbled across Click Clack Ho! Ho! Ho! too. The original series is a favorite at my house 🙂
These are super cute! My kids are loving Pete the Cat right now. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Emily! My boys love Pete the Cat too because they make me sing the lyrical parts of the story. Lol. One day they won’t enjoy my singing so much, so I take advantage of it now! Glad you liked the list!
Great list! My son have Little Blue Truck Christmas and loves it!!
Awesome! We are very big “Little Blue Truck” Book fans! I think there is actually a “spring” themed book coming out soon too!
Thanks for the great list! My little guy will love Mater Saves Christmas!
Glad you found it helpful Robbi 🙂 All 3 of my boys have gone through a “Cars” stage so that book is a staple at my house.
Great books suggestions ♥ we love “The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Christmas 123”. I’m going to add some to my Amazon basked. Hugs!
My youngest is probably “a little too old” for the Christmas Caterpillar book, but I love Carle’s illustrations so I kept it in the rotation! Glad you enjoyed the book suggestions!