Do you love to read? These beautiful Christmas reading traditions will help you enjoy some Christmas stories with your family and loved ones!
Post updated November 2023 with new book lists and tradition ideas!
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Christmas Book Traditions
Reading Christmas Stories Each Night by Candlelight
When I was twelve, I spent the night at the home of a young couple from our church around Christmas. This was their sweet tradition:
Every night in December they would light a special candle with 25 marks down one side. They would turn off the lights and read from their personal collection of Christmas stories and poems until the candle burned down to the next mark.
It was so beautiful and peaceful listening to this couple read stories to their little baby in the candlelight. Isn’t this a lovely tradition?
A Wrapped Christmas Book Advent
Have you seen the Christmas Book Advent idea floating around Pinterest? You wrap 25 Christmas books and open one each day in December to read together leading up to Christmas! My kids loved this one.
I used to not have enough Christmas books to do this, and library fines for late books around the holidays were too stressful for us to try that route. But that might be a good option for you if you have enough books! You could even just do a “12 Days of Christmas” version.
We give our children one new Christmas book each year as a family gift, so we’ve built up a nice collection over the years. Thrift stores are also a great option for building a Christmas book library!
Depending on how fancy you wrap the books (I adore wrapping and had fun adding the numbers), the prep for this tradition is simple once you’ve gathered your books! You can also just keep your books in a pretty basket and choose one to read each day.
If you don’t have 25 Christmas books yet, scroll down for our Christmas book ideas list!
More Than 25 Beautiful Christmas Books to Read This Year
#1 The Christmas Tree That Grew
My husband Joey and I both grew up reading this sweet story about a family that buys a living Christmas tree that grows as tall as an apartment building. I love that we get to read it from the original copy Joey received as a gift when he was a boy!
#2 A Christmas Carol (illustrated and abridged)
A beautifully illustrated version of A Christmas Carol. I’m picky about abridgments of my favorite classics, and this one gets a big thumbs up.
We have a tradition based just around reading the unabridged A Christmas Carol. Joey and I started our 17th round of reading it tonight with our family, and I love it more each time. You can read more about that and find some of our other favorite versions of this story here.
Tommie DePaola is one of my favorite authors/illustrators, and his version of this Christmastime legend pulls at my heartstrings every year.
A unique Christmas story about a man who hates children and his transformation. It’s a sequel to another family favorite book, Cranberry Thanksgiving.
A fun, interactive book that my parents got for my oldest when he was a baby. Even my bigger kids still love it!
#6 The Mitten
A short but classic wintry tale that is enchanting for all ages and perfect for little animal lovers.
Yes, here it is again! We bought this unabridged version for our oldest son to read along with us and as a keepsake to remember our family tradition.
#8 The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale
I heard this story for the first time at a church activity as a teen, and I was so excited to find this story of redeeming love years later so I could share it with my children. It’s a perfect way to tie Christmas to Easter.
#9 The Worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Such a fun, heartwarming story. I do use it as a read-aloud and edit for name-calling type stuff because I don’t want our children to copy that.
#10 Little Women
We won’t be able to read this whole book during the holidays, but I at least want to read the lovely Christmas scenes to my children.
Based on a true story of hard work and love that will take you from Thanksgiving to Christmas with lovely pictures.
A Christmas classic with gorgeous illustrations. You can watch the movie too or pair with a community Polar Express activity.
#14 1001 Things to Spot at Christmas
Seek and find lots of Christmasy things in this beautifully illustrated book. Great for counting skills and conversation starters or for reading in the car in between Christmas light drive neighborhoods.
#15 Disney Christmas Storybook Collection
We don’t usually read these as a family, but my kids love reading these collections at bedtime on their own or reading to younger siblings.
Does your family love Spot the Dog? This is a cute lift-the-flap book for Christmastime.
#17 Santa is Coming to Missouri
Missouri is home to me, and it’s fun to read this personalized book with cities and sites that my family loves. Check to see if there is a book for your city or state!
#18 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
A Christ-centered story that makes me cry every time I read it. It’s definitely on my must-read list/
#19 The Reader’s Digest Merry Christmas Songbook
Joey and I both grew up with this book also. What better book could there be for Christmas than a book for caroling or singing around the piano together! I was thrilled when my in-laws gave me my own copy a few years ago!
#20 The Nutcracker
We have a few versions of The Nutcracker story, and they are all beautiful. This particular one is a hit with young guests.
#21 The Mansion (illustrated, includes both abridged and unabridged text)
Another book that my family reads all together each year, right before Christmas. This gorgeous illustrated version makes the timeless lesson easier for little ones to understand.
#22 Jacob T. Marley
A charming companion story to The Christmas Carol. We love adding a good chapter book to our Christmas Book baskets.
#23 Frosty the Snowman (Little Golden Book version)
The book match to my favorite movie version of Frosty the Snowman.
A precious board book with cute illustrations that share the real meaning of Christmas.
A darling take on the Christmas story that will make a sweet companion to reading the Christmas story in Luke 2.
Wishlist Books
(These are books that we don’t own but already love and recommend! We’re planning to add one every year from this list to our collection.)
- Christmas Oranges
- The Legend of the Candy Cane
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- A Christmas Dress for Ellen
We hope this post helped you find a new Christmas reading tradition or new book that your family will love! Happy Reading!
Does your family have a tradition incorporating Christmas books or stories? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!
-Maegan
What a great tradition you guys have! I am sure your kiddos enjoy the stories a lot 🙂
Thank you! It’s definitely one of our favorites this year!
Thank you for the book list, I found some that I am going to seek out! And wrapping the books is such a fun surprise.
Oh I love this tradition! Thank you for sharing!!
Oh my goodness, I love this tradition! My family is all about books so this would probably work really well for us. Thank you!
Thank you! I think your family would love it! It’s such a fun way to add a little sparkle to something you already love doing together.
Both of those are great ideas! When my kids were little we had a Christmas countdown on paper gingerbread men. My kids decorated the gingerbread man, and each day we opened one and did that activity. I included things like reading Christmas books, decorating a tree for wildlife, making cookies, and watching some of the Christmas movies. It was a lot of fun!
This is perfect and a great tradition to start with your little ones!
There is nothing better than Christmas tradition, i wish we have one, but unfortunately no. You guys are having great time for sure, and love all the wrapings xo
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I love this idea! We have had advent calendars and “Elf on a Shelf”, but this idea is wonderful!
I love the best Christmas Pageant Ever! I have not read it in years. I will have to bring it out with the grandkids.
I love this tradition and can’t wait to try this with my daughter when she gets old enough!