Our family absolutely loves snuggling up on the couch and reading Christmas picture books each Christmas season. This brings so much joy to all of us and we look forward to revisiting these stories every year as Christmas approaches. Christmas picture books are my absolute favorite thing to pull out the day after Thanksgiving. We fill a basket next to our couch with them and enjoy them all through December. We’ve invested in a few new titles every year to build our collection and it has been so worth the investment. Here is a list of our absolute favorites.
Our Favorite Christmas Picture Books
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
Christmas Farm by Mary Lyn Ray
An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lidgrin
Cobweb Christmas by Shirley Climo
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hakes Noble
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston
Great Joy by Katie DiCamillo
Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco
The Friendly Beasts: an Old English Christmas Carol by Tomie dePaola
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson
The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePoala
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
The Christmas Promise by Allison Mitchell
Just Nicholas by Annie Kratzsch
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell
Christmas in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Mouse’s Christmas Gift by Mindy Baker
Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer
Twas The Evening of Christmas by Glenys Nellist
The Animals’ Christmas Eve by Gale Wiersum
The Carpenter’s Gift by David Rubel
One Starry Night by Lauren Thompson
Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin
The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola
Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
Lullaby for The King by Nikki Grimes
Tips for Collecting Christmas Books
- Bookmark this list and pull it up on your phone the next time you visit your local used bookstore.
- Shop Thriftbooks or Ebay for used copies of Christmas picture books
- Ask grandparents to gift them to your family for Christmas gifts – you can enjoy them the day they are gifted and then add them to your collection for years to come
- As you budget for Christmas with your spouse, add a budget line item for new Christmas picture books
Fun Ideas for Christmas Read Alouds
- Try wrapping your Christmas picture books in wrapping paper and unwrapping a new read-aloud each day.
- Search Pinterest for cooking or craft activities to pair with some of your Christmas picture books
- Choose a routine time of day to read aloud a Christmas picture book – your children will look forward to it each day!
- Make a piping hot cup of hot chocolate and a bowl of popcorn to enjoy while you read aloud – this will help keep your listeners still and quiet!
Let me know in the comments if you found some new Christmas picture books to add to your collection or if you’ve read some I should add to my list! Merry Christmas!
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