Today is one of my favorite days of the year.

The house is in perfect order after all dishes have been washed and returned to their spots from the day before. There is leftover food, so I don’t have to cook. We’ll cut down a Christmas tree at our favorite local farm this morning, and then visit friends from all over the region at a Friendsgiving event this afternoon. Tonight, we’ll get all of the decorations out of the attic, trim the tree, and watch Elf.

Favorite holidays, favorite foods, favorite people, favorite traditions, and my favorite movie of all time.

It’s also a season in which its easy to incorporate another favorite – books.

Yesterday, I also got to hang out with one of my favorite 2 year olds. At one point we took a trip to the basement to grab some toys and books. He couldn’t get enough of the books, which was fine with me, because reading aloud is another favorite of mine. It made me look forward to sharing my favorite Christmas books with you today.These are mostly children’s books, but I truly believe they are as much for the one reading out loud as the one listening. My grown up heart is always reminded of simple, yet profound truths as I read them.

So, if you’re a parent, and you haven’t read these books to your kids, I’d highly recommend them.  And if you’re not a parent, I’d recommend that you start your collection now. (I started buying children’s Christmas books when I was a college student!) Keep them on hand for reading to the little ones in your life. I promise, you’ll both be blessed.

Okay, I’ll never be able to keep this list to five, and even though I list more than five, I’ll still leave out a lot of good ones.

Also, I’d love your recommendations, because I’m sure there are newer ones I’m not aware of. Please, leave me a comment with your favorites!

Ok, here are some of my favorites…

1. Mortimer’s Christmas Manger

This one definitely tops the list. I think I love it because there are so many parts that look so similar to what our house looked like at Christmas when my kids were growing up. Legos and Playmobile guys on the floor and more. Plus, it involves a nativity scene, which is such a treasured decoration in our house. Mortimer mouse receives a humbling lesson about whose bed he’s stolen when he hears the Christmas story read on Christmas Eve. I really love all of Karma Wilson’s books – Bear Snores On, Bear Wants More and the rest of the Bear books. She also wrote one for Thanksgiving called Let Us Give Thanks which includes the words of Psalm 92.

2. Who Is Coming To Our House?All of the barn animals eagerly anticipate a very special guest, whom only the mouse seems to know the identity of, and do what they can to prepare. Great pictures and a poetic refrain all throughout. Perfect for toddlers.

3. Peter Spier’s ChristmasNone of Peter Spier’s books have words, if I’m remembering correctly, but that is the biggest part of their charm. This one tells the story of ALL the parts of preparing for and celebrating Christmas from the sending of cards to the candlelight Christmas Eve service to the undecorating of the tree and throwing away of paper and boxes afterward through pages and pages of detailed illustrations. It’s a fun one for creating conversations and finding lots of relatable holiday scenarios. And you’ll definitely want to check out his other books…Noah’s Ark, People, Rain, Circus, and many, many more.

4. The Crippled LambMax Lucado also has lots of wonderful children’s storybooks and grown up books, too. He is a pastor and an incredibly powerful storyteller. This story is about a little lamb who feels very inadequate and insecure because he has a lame leg and can’t go play and travel where the rest of the flock goes. God answers his prayers by giving him a very special job that he is perfectly equipped to do.

5. The Small OneSimilar to The Crippled Lamb, The Small One is also about an animal – a donkey – who is sort of the runt of the litter and seemingly useless to his master. The master’s son doesn’t want him to be sold, but when his father demands it, the boy volunteers to take him to the city in order to sell him to a kind new master. The donkey’s new owner is indeed very kind and desperately in need of an animal to help him and his pregnant wife travel to Bethlehem.

6. Christmas in the Big WoodsOkay, now listen. The ENTIRE Little House chapter book series is a MUST read-aloud for all kids, but if they’re too young for hearing the chapter book read-alouds, start with these picture books. They are so beautiful and tell the stories of a simpler time before television and smart phones and commercialized Christmases. (Sigh…) I used to think that my boys would not enjoy these books, but I was wrong! Plenty of guy stuff in the whole series. Want your kids understand Christmas traditions from another era in American history? Be sure and expose them to Laura Ingalls Wilder!

7. Christmas Tapestry

This one is kind of a tear-jerker (the happy kind, though) and combines the stories of a Christian minister’s family and a Jewish couple during Christmastime. A Baptist minister and his family have worked hard to renovate their new church home for Christmas services, but a snowstorm cause a leak and hole in the plaster of the wall behind the altar. A beautiful tapestry is bought to cover the hole and is soon recognized by the one who made it for her wedding chuppah many years prior and before she was separated from her husband during the holocaust. Maybe you can guess what happens next?

8. Angela and the Baby JesusThis is the Angela of Angela’s Ashes, also written by Frank McCourt. From her bedroom window, Angela can see the baby Jesus shivering in the cold Irish winter while he lays in the manger of the nativity scene at the church next door. Incredulous over everyone’s lack of concern for him, she decided to take matters into her own hands. I love her earnestness about the baby Jesus which shows she is prioritizing right sentiments and only requires deeper understanding. The good news is, the local police officers decide not to throw her in the town jail for stealing!

9. The Great Christmas Bowl  

Clam chowder, church ladies, marriage, high school football, a church Christmas tea, a ten foot trout, an almost empty nest, surrendered expectations, sacrifice, and the true meaning of Christmas all make The Great Christmas Bowl by Susan May Warren a delightful and simple, and yet simply profound book. I found myself relating refreshingly to Marianne as she found herself in angst over the holidays, consumed with making sure her youngest son had a great football season, struggling with her expectations of family and friends, and also the expectations of others toward her. This one is for all my mom friends whether you are nearing the empty nest season or not, though I did read it out loud to my whole family several years ago during the Christmas season.

10. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever “Get away from the baby!” she yelled at Ralph, who was Joseph. And she made the wise men keep their distance. “The wise men want to honor the Christ Child,” Mother explained, for the tenth time. “They don’t mean to harm him, for heaven’s sake!” But the wise men didn’t know how things were supposed to be either, and nobody blamed Imogene for shoving them out of the way. You got a feeling that these wise men were going to hustle back to Herod as fast as they could squeal on the baby, out of pure meanness. They thought about it, too. You simply can’t read this account of an annual church Children’s Christmas Pageant without laughing out loud, and it provides such a wonderful reminder of just who the gospel is for – all of us Herdman ragamuffins – whether we can see it or not.
(A bit of a nudge to the church to acknowledge our own need, and our own equality with those we deem unseemly and unworthy.)
It’s simply a Christmas must read!

Hey! Unto you a child is born!

All right…time to head to the library or Barnes and Noble or Amazon and grab some of these. I hope you and yours will enjoy them as much as we have.

Pro tip: check them out at the library now, and then purchase them after Christmas to create your own collection. They mark these books down sometimes 75%-90% after Christmas!

We keep ours in a box along with the rest of our Christmas decorations and look forward to pulling them out only once a year.

Don’t forget to leave a comment with your own favorites!

(Oh, and here’s another favorite, but it’s kind of a secret, and I can’t even tell you why. So, if you want to know about another top ten favorite Christmas book of ours which may inspire you to create a new and secret Christmas tradition, click here. But you have to promise not to say anything to anyone if you start putting some puzzle pieces together and think you’re on to something. Deal?)