Best Children’s Christmas Books
Books are wonderful gifts that spark the imagination and allow the reader to explore and experience amazing adventures. They come in a wide variety of genres, ensuring there is something for everyone. As the holiday season approaches and the shopping season begins, this article hopes to help you complete some of the holiday shopping for those on your list. Listed below are a few of the best children’s Christmas books available for purchase.
Children’s Books for Preschoolers
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, by Alice Schertle is a tale your child will love to read during the holidays. Little Blue Truck is delivering X-mas trees to his animal friends. You and your child can help Little Blue Truck count the number of trees he will need for his delivery job. At each stop, Little Blue Truck will meet up with a friend and deliver them the perfect tree.
This novel is 24pgs, and for ages: Baby-3 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
A fun holiday book for young children is Llama Llama Jingle Bells, by Anna Dewdney. This is a fun, rhyming story about a little llama and his friends. The group exchanges gifts, sings songs, and decorates cookies. This is a very merry and cheerful tale for little readers. This novel is 14pgs, and for ages: Baby-3 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Nola Buck’s, Christmas in the Manger is a beautifully illustrated book. It is written in simple and easy to understand language. The story is about the very first Christmas. This novel is 16pgs, and for ages: Baby-4 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Aaron Blabey’s Pig the Elf (Pig the Pug), is a cute, funny story filled with holiday fun. Pig loves the holidays because it means lots of presents for Pig. Pig plans to wait up all night for Santa to get his presents. When Pig doesn’t get everything he asked for from Santa, he barks and bites Santa on the butt. Pig doesn’t release his hold on Santa’s butt, and ends up going on a sleigh ride with Santa. This novel is 32pgs, and for ages: 3-5 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Children’s Books for Elementary Kids
An award-winning book and film that is adored by people of all ages is Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg. This book tells the tale of a young boy, who boards a magical train to the North Pole. There he meets other children on their way to meet Santa. Each year, Santa chooses one child to receive the first gift of X-mas. The boy is selected to receive the first gift; he can ask for anything his heart desires. His wish is for a simple silver bell from Santa’s sleigh. This is a story about the X-mas spirit and a believing in the magic of X-mas. This story is sure to warm the hearts of those that read it. This novel is 32pgs, and for ages: 4-7 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
If your young reader is a fan of fun, silly books, then Santa’s Underwear by Marty Rhodes Figley is a great choice. The story follows Santa on his biggest night of the year. It is X-mas Eve, and Santa needs to get ready to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls in the world. One problem, his favorite pair of underwear is missing! His underwear is comfy and warm, although they were also worn and full of holes. Santa has a collection of underwear to match every occasion, but none of his other pairs seem right for his big night. When Santa thought all was lost, his reindeer surprise him with a special gift. This novel is 32pgs, and for ages: 5-8 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
A classic holiday tale loved by young and old is Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The dastardly Grinch hates all things happy and joyful like candy canes, caroling, and decorations. He devises an evil plan to steal X-mas from Who-ville, so no one can enjoy any holiday cheer. The X-mas spirit can grow anywhere, even in the coldest of hearts. After stealing Who-ville’s X-mas, the Grinch learns that material goods mean nothing, it is being together and caring for one another is what X-mas is truly about. This novel is 64pgs, and for ages: 5-9 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May), by Barbara Park is a story that will make you laugh. Junie B is in the first grade, and she is excited to sing X-mas songs and make elf costumes with her classmates. Junie B has one problem; May won’t stop being a tattletale! May keeps ruining all her fun. When the kids draw secret Santa names out of a hat, Junie B is disappointed to see May’s name on her paper. Junie B soon realizes this may not be a bad thing; maybe it is time to give May just what she deserves. This novel is 128pgs, and for ages: 6-9 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
If your child is a fan of the Harry Potter series, they may enjoy reading J.K. Rowling’s, The Christmas Pig. The Christmas Pig is a touching story about a young boy named Jack, and his journey to find a lost friend. One X-mas Eve, Jack loses his most beloved toy, Dur Pig (DP). DP was Jack’s best friend, and had always been there to cheer him on or comfort him when he was down. Jack’s parents bought him a new friend, Christmas Pig, to replace his old toy. But to Jack, DP was irreplaceable. Jack’s heart breaks thinking he will never see his best friend again. However, X-mas is a time for miracles. Jack’s new toy, Christmas Pig, comes to life and helps Jack devise a way to find DP. The two go on a magical journey to find what was lost and reunite the two friends. This novel is 288pgs, and for ages: 8 years and up. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Magic Tree House Merlin Missions #1: Christmas in Camelot, by Mary Pope Osborne is an exciting fantasy adventure novel. Annie and Jack are invited to Camelot to spend X-mas Eve. The kids are unaware that the reason they have been invited to Camelot is that Camelot needs saving! Can the kids do what the knights of Camelot could not and save Camelot? This novel is 144pgs, and for ages: 7-10 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Children’s Books for Middle School/High School Kids
A story full of adventure and imagination is E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King. This novel was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s ballet. Marie and her brother are given several gifts for X-mas. One gift is a beautiful nutcracker dressed like a soldier. Marie dreams of the nutcracker, envisioning him as a hero in an epic battle. The nutcracker leads an army of Marie’s dolls to fight against the evil mouse king and his army of mice. The nutcracker tells Marie he is under a curse that transformed him into a nutcracker, but he is really a prince. The nutcracker wages war with the mice, and eventually wins the battle. Marie tries to tell her parents about the nutcracker, but they do not believe in their daughter’s wild dreams. However, Marie knows what she dreamt was no fantasy. This novel is 66pgs, and for ages: 8-12 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn is a holiday romance novel. Lily is sixteen years old. She has left a notebook full of challenges on a shelf in her favorite bookstore. She hopes one day the right boy will find it and accept her dares. Dash finds Lily’s notebook and accepts her dares. The two teens travel all over New York City writing back and forth in the notebook, sharing dares, hopes, and dreams. Each teen hopes that when the two meet in person, they will like the real person, just as much as they liked the notebook version of them. This novel is 274pgs, and for ages: 12-15 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a tale about learning what the true meaning of Christmas is. Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean, selfish man. He is only interested in making money and has no time for trivial things, like holidays. Scrooge is cruel to his employee, Bob Cratchit, and rude to his nephew. Scrooge is haunted one X-mas Eve by three Ghosts: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Each ghost teaches Scrooge a lesson and warns him to change his ways. The last ghost frightens Scrooge with a vision of his own death. Scrooge awakens in the morning with excitement to learn it is Christmas Day. He is now able to makes amends to the Cratchit family and his nephew’s family in hopes of avoiding the vision of his death. This novel is 112pgs, and for ages: 12-16 years. Link to purchase on Amazon:
Hopefully, this list of the best children’s Christmas books will help you find some amazing gifts for loved ones on your shopping list. Novels make great stocking stuffers and are easy to wrap. Novels offer endless possibilities on where a child’s next adventure will take place, and they can even be personalized to ensure that your gift is extra special. Happy shopping!