Christmas (or Advent) books for Kids

In general I think it is easier to find good Christmas books for children than, say, Easter or Lent books.  Christmas -- a celebration to be sure, and one of a baby at that -- is just already closer to a child's level of understanding and enjoyment.  So there are many more quality books that could be written about, but I'm going to share the ones I have for my kids this year.  We will continue our tradition of giving a book to each child during Advent and pulling out the books they were given in past years as well.  Since this year we have a total of 4 books, I'm wrapping them up and letting Susie open one each Sunday of Advent. 

For Chip -- Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck illustrated by Felicia Bond.  I stumbled upon this book and ordered him a good used board book copy and I am delighted by it!  It reads well and has sweet illustrations -- just perfect for a baby's first Christmas book.  Susie will love it as well, and will probably memorize it since it rhymes.  I tend to look for books by Christian writers/publishers, but not in this case.  It's truly not important to explore the depths of the incarnation with an infant, so I'm happy with this little book that ends with "I am the baby asleep in the hay; I am the reason for Christmas day".


For Susie -- Song of the Stars, A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones.  This is a new title just out this year and it's very good.  I checked it out of the library just to be sure it was going to be on Susie's level, and I would say it is a touch above her, but it's so beautiful and she enjoyed it anyway.  I'm getting my copy from LifeWay with a 33% off coupon tomorrow which is a better price than Amazon!  As Sally Lloyd-Jones does so well, she has brought to life real drama and excitement that is particularly fitting for a book you'd read during Advent.  All over the world creatures are announcing "it's time! It's time!" as the Savior is born.  Younger children will enjoy all the animals in the pictures even if they can't grasp the idea of all creation yearning for Christ's arrival (and thus, his 2nd coming).  


Two other titles I considered this year, and would still like to get down the road are Little One We Knew You'd Come also by Sally Lloyd-Jones (but out of print, bummer. . . gotta find out what the deal is with that) and Mary's Happy Christmas Day by Kathleen Bostrom.  The former is a gorgeous hardcover with rich words and the latter looked like a cute board book for Chip (I have not read it in person, so don't bank on it being amazing! In this case, I am quite literally judging a book by its cover!).

I have written about the books I've given the past couple years in past posts, so I'm linking to those below.  Keep in mind that I have a 2 year old, so we've done really young books!  I tend to jump ahead of myself, but Lord willing we have many more years to get to those deeper things.

Here are links to what I have done for Advent in the past:
Last year
Pre-children years here and here (there are some kid-affiliated ideas in these posts)