Christmas Picture Books add so much meaning to the Christmas season and they make the best Christmas gifts for kids. They allow you to instill great values into your kids and remind them about all the different reasons we celebrate.
Why Picture Books Make Great Christmas Gifts
Christmas picture books make a great family gift from aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even family friends.
Kids all the way from babies to adulthood love the little moments of joy that are added to a long day when we pause and read a good picture book.
They help you take a moment out of your busy day to reflect on all the goodness around you and inspire you to be grateful.
Christmas Picture Books do so much more than provide entertainment. They are great at instilling values into our kids. They help bring the focus back to giving, love, friendship, thankfulness, compassion, and Jesus.
We could all use a little help with that during a time that it’s so easy to be greedy.
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Their Favorite Part of Advent
Here’s a picture of our family every year:
I’m trying to get the pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving dinner all put away when I hear it …
“Please, Mom — can we get them out now?”
They know it – Thanksgiving weekend is the time that we get out all our Christmas Picture Books and our Nativity sets, their two favorite things in all the boxes of Christmas decorations.
It’s one of the times I get to say, “Yes, Yes, Yes!” as they rush to the garage to find the box of books.
It’s actually one of my favorite things, too.
Snuggled on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, fireplace roaring, Michael Buble in the background.
Reading book after book.
Reading books together is the best way to wind down during the busy season. It’s just one of the ways we Simplify Christmas each year.
Related Reading:
- The Best Advent Calendars for Kids
- How to Make a Simple Advent Plan
- 9 Simple Christmas Traditions
- 16 Great Gifts for Men With Beards
- 16 Great Gifts for Active Kids
Searching For Great Christmas Picture Books for Your Family?
We started a collection the year my twin girls were born … adding just one book each year to the collection.
Honestly, though, I’m a sucker for Christmas Picture Books and have been known to sneak an extra in now and then.
We read about 3 of these books every single night until Christmas is over, then we sadly pack them up and put them away until next year.
I want to share with you some of our books. According to the kids, these are The Best Christmas Picture Books and they are the ones that get read over and over throughout the season.
“The Best Christmas Picture Books”
Find the Books Listed Below on Amazon
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The Gingerbread Pirates – After making pirate gingerbread cookies with his mom, Jim heads to bed with one wish, that Captain Cookie had a ship of his own. During the night, the crew of gingerbread cookie pirates comes to life and has an adventure. After the crew is nearly eaten by Santa, both Jim and the pirate cookie crew get their wish.
One Snowy Night– After a little hedgehog wakes up from a deep sleep, some forest friends give each other a Christmas gift and rescue their friend from a cold, snowy night. This book focuses on friendship and giving.
Snowmen At Night – In this fun book we learn about the adventures snowmen have at night. I bet you always thought they just stood still there on your front lawn. This is technically a winter book, not a Christmas book, but it makes sense to read at Christmas. We also have the Snowmen at Christmas book, but we like this one better.
Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! – In this book mouse learns that it truly is better to give than receive.
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree – When Mr. Willowby has a Christmas tree delivered, it ends up blessing many others throughout the story. The repetition and rhyme in this story are followed by a sweet and surprising ending.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey – OK, every single year this makes us sob. It is an absolutely beautiful story about a lonely woodcarver, a widow, and a young boy. A surprising friendship develops between them and leads to a “joyful miracle.”
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger – An adorable story about a mouse just wanting somewhere nice to sleep. These illustrations are adorable and it’s a lovely story that reinforces the Nativity Story.
Bear Stays Up – Bear always sleeps through Christmas, but this year his friends want him to stay up and celebrate with them. They spend the night keeping him busy so he won’t miss out. Then they all have a surprise in the morning.
Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree – Here the Berenstain family works at decorating their Christmas tree in this delightful lift-the-flap book. Each of the flaps reveals a surprise as they work together at trimming the tree.
Merry Christmas Little Critter – In our house we love Little Critter and I think we’ve picked out every book that our library holds. In this book, Little Critter shares with us all about how his family enjoys the Christmas season. This is also a lift-the-flap book.
Gingerbread Friends – Jan Brett’s illustrations are as amazing as always in this fun gingerbread story. She even includes a gingerbread cookie recipe in her drawings. Gingerbread Baby is lonely and just wants to make friends. He leaves home looking for some and after being chased home, feeling disheartened, he finally gets his wish.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas! – Ok, I think we all know this story… my kids absolutely love to read it over and over but insist that their dad do it in his best Grinch voice … OK, I insist, too.
I Spy: Christmas – We all love laying in front of the fire and searching for the hidden items on the pages of this book. Even though we look at it every single year, there are still some things that it takes us forever to find.
Enjoy Some Down-Time This Christmas
My kids are now between the ages of 9 and 14 and they still love all of these books. We have many, many more, but I wanted you to see the ones that get read the most.
If you add these Christmas picture books to your shopping list this year, your kids will be delighted, and you will appreciate the extra downtime, snuggled on the couch.
It really is one more way to Simplify Christmas in your home.
And, remember, they make great gifts for your nieces, nephews, and grandkids, too.
