A few years ago, we started one of my very favorite Christmas traditions where we wrap up new Christmas picture books (2-3 for each child) and let one of them open up a book each night for the week and a half or so following Thanksgiving. Thanks to this tradition, we’ve started to amass quite the collection, and one of our favorite boxes to unpack each year with the Christmas decorations are the picture books.
Below are 16 of our favorites, for various reasons. Some are much more my kids’ favorites than mine (like Pete the Cat), but all the books below have a special place in our Christmas book treasury, and we think all are worth reading every Christmas season.
If you’re looking for some wonderful additions to your Christmas picture book library, I hope you find some great titles below to add to your wish list! (Note: Many of the titles below are currently part of Amazon’s 3 for the price of 2 sale, so you can stock up at a discount!)
Note: There are Amazon affiliate links if you click on the book titles below.
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
This gorgeously illustrated classic is a quiet favorite. It’s not the shortest picture book so it’s not always the one my kids reach for the most, but it’s definitely one we enjoy reading all snuggled up together on a couch while the snow falls outside at night. I’m sure most people are familiar with this one, but just in case not, this is the story of one boy’s very special trip to the North Pole on one Christmas Eve night, where he was granted the honor of requesting the first gift of Christmas. It’s a story all about magic and believing, and the illustrations in it are particularly beautiful.
Christmas for a Dollar by Gale Sears
There are some books that are pretty much guaranteed to make me tear up when I read them every year, and this is one of them. Ruthie’s family has been struck hard by the Great Depression, and she sadly thinks that Christmas isn’t going to come for them again that year. Her brother had been left crippled from polio, and her mother had died. As she and her siblings all come in for dinner one day in December, their father announces a surprise — they’re going to make a very special Christmas using just a dollar among all of them to make a special surprise for one other member of their family. Make sure you have tissues handy when reading this one.
Pete the Cat’s 12 Groovy Days of Christmas by Kimberly and James Dean
My kids LOVE singing this one together at the top of our lungs, and it’s basically impossible to read a Pete the Cat book without smiling. This is the 12 days of Christmas like you’ve never heard them before, completely with 9 ugly sweaters, 5 onions rings, 4 far-out surfboards, and a ton of other groovy gifts. Such a random book, but it gives us all a good laugh when we sing it together.
The Christmas Alphabet by Robert Sabuda
This is a wordless book, but its intricate paper cut-outs and pop-ups are truly incredible. This definitely isn’t the kind of book you’d give a super young child because it would get ruined in about two seconds, but for an older child, this is a very special ABC book, where each letter of the alphabet has a colored flap that opens to reveal a beautiful cut-out on white paper that pops right up out of the book. This is particularly a favorite with my oldest, who is very artistic herself.
Drummer Boy by Loren Long
This is a bit of an unusual take on the popular Christmas song, all about a toy drummer boy who gets lost and goes on a journey around the town before he is found again. It’s a quiet reminder of the true reason we celebrate the season, and it’s one my kids bring out time and again each Christmas season.
Decorate the Tree! by Amanda Jane Jones
This is a super fun interactive book in the style of Press Here where kids help to “decorate” the Christmas tree within by following the written instructions (which then makes the decorations “appear” on the next page). All my kids love this, even all the way up to my 9-year-old.
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Schertle
My youngest boy would probably request this one every single night in December if we let him. All of the books in the Little Truck series are fun, but this one feels extra special since it has a Christmas tree that actually lights up at the end.
Christmas Oranges by Linda Bethers
Another tearjerker for sure. (Seriously — it doesn’t matter how many times I read this, I cry every time). A beautiful story of friendship and sharing among children at an orphanage at Christmas. This is one I actually remember my own mom reading to me growing up (albeit a slightly different version).
Red & Green by Lois Ehlert
Ehlert is the author of the wildly popular Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and this one’s illustrations and rhyme are in a similar bent, although it has less text overall. This is a colorful, simple story about a mouse who fell asleep near the family’s Christmas tree and got to meet a very special visitor on Christmas Eve night.
The Mitten by Jan Brett
This is one of my husband’s top favorites from his childhood, and I can see why. This story isn’t necessarily Christmas-y, per se, but its definitely winter-themed, and it’s the completely charming story of how a lost mitten made a warm and cozy home for many animals in the forest before finding its way back to its owner. Simple and classic.
Construction Site on Christmas Night by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Another of my boys’ favorites. This shows how each of the heavy duty construction machines each gets his or her own very special Christmas gift (like a new candy cane striped drum for the cement mixer) as a thank you for completing the new fire station. Not exactly the most riveting plot, but my kids loving finding the funny little bits in the illustrations, and the repetition is always a win with small kids.
The Miracle Maker by Ann Acton
Here’s one that I love, especially because of the rich symbolism with Christ (as a grown man, not just as a babe in Bethlehem). Basically, this is the story of an unhappy town that didn’t believe in celebrating Christmas — life was too hard to rejoice in anything. Until one Christmas Day, when a man reputed to be a miracle maker came into town. The people thought that such a man must be uncommonly powerful, or rich. This man was neither. He rented the ugliest house in the village, and each day, he removed one large stone from the rocky yard and planted a handful of flower seeds. In the meantime, many villagers came by asking for his advice, and they always went away surprised by the simplicity but power of his answers. Anyway, it’s a lovely little story that shows just how life-changing some of the simplest acts of kindness and caring can be.
Otto the Ornament by Troy Cummings
This was a recent addition we added last year, but it quickly rose to the top as my kids’ favorite new pick from that season. All the ornaments on the Christmas tree get along great, until a shiny new ornament named Otto comes along. The other ornaments are happy to include him and invite him to join them in the middle of the tree, but Otto, who is shiny and bedazzled and new, does not think he should belong in the middle of the tree with the “boring” or “broken” ornaments — he thinks he deserves the spot right at the top. However, when a mishap happens that knocks him off the tree altogether, Otto learns a lot of valuable lessons about what really matters in life a lot more than being shiny and beautiful.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
You’d think this classic would get old after so many readings, but it really doesn’t. It’s one I never mind reading aloud again and again every Christmas, and my kids love watching the different movie adaptations of it, too.
The 12 Sleighs of Christmas by Sherri Duskey Rinker
This is right up there on the favorites list for both my boys (and my oldest girl loves it, too!). This book all about a sleigh-making competition the elves have to build Santa a new, fancy sleigh after his traditional sleigh breaks has fun illustrations and imaginative new offerings (like a motorcycle for a sleigh!). In the end, classic style wins out, but the elves sure have a lot of fun with their new creations, regardless!
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
I had actually never heard of this classic picture book until our next door neighbor gifted it to our children a couple years ago, and it’s definitely one of our favorites now. When Mr. Willowby brings in the Christmas tree for the season, it’s discovered that it’s too tall, so the top is cut off, and the new top is the perfect thing to create a new little tree for the upstairs maid. But then SHE discovers that it’s too tall for the spot she had in mind for it, so she cuts off the top of hers, and it ends up going to the gardener. And so on and so forth, until little tree tops are turned into little Christmas trees for all, from the people all around to the mice. So darling!
I’m about to put in my order for our picture books for this year, and I’d love to know about YOUR favorite Christmas books so I can add some to our collection! Drop a comment below and let me know which ones you love 🙂
