New Christmas Books to Read with Kids

I used to do a book advent calendar for my daughter when she was younger, and I tried to fill it with as many books about Christmas and the winter holidays as I could. If you’re looking for a few new Christmas themed books for your library at school or at home, here are a few I’ve read recently.

Christmas by Annette Whipple (illustrated by Emma Randall) is narrated by Charlie and tells the story of his family’s preparation for and celebration of Christmas.

They have an advent wreath and play with a nativity set, write letters to Santa and make goodies to share with others. They go to a Christmas tree farm to pick out their tree and decorate it, have a movie night with friends and help out at the shelter. They attend a Christmas Eve service at church and celebrate on Christmas with presents, reading the Bible, food and fun with family.

The book includes a little bit of the traditional Christmas story within the narrative but also has more information at the back of the book about why Christmas is celebrated and the Christmas story. There are instructions for making your own nativity, scented ornaments and dipped pretzels, as well as a little information about how Christmas is celebrated around the world.

It’s a good overview of Christmas celebrations for kids who don’t celebrate or who see it as more of a secular event.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures. Suggested retail price $14.99.

One Christmas in Our Building: A Very Merry Mystery by Johanna Lindemann (illustrated by Andrea Stegmaier) is a cute, quick read about a holiday dinner that didn’t go according to plan. When dad buys a turkey for Christmas dinner that’s too big for the roasting pan, not to mention the fridge, the family decides to leave the turkey in the cool hallway to defrost, but in the morning it’s gone.

The family goes from floor to floor asking about their turkey and seeing different people getting ready for the day. In the end the community of their building comes together to share what they have, even though the missing turkey is still missing. It’s a sweet and silly story that shows a variety of families and how they can all celebrate together. It does not include any religious aspects of the holiday.

About the book: 36 pages, paper over boards. Published 2023 by Floris Books. Suggested retail price $17.95

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Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids

As I write this, back to school time is right around the corner, and if you have kids going to school for the first time or who might need a refresher on what school is like, books can be a big help in calming fears and letting them know what to expect.

School Days by Fabiola Sepulvelda is a wordless picture book full of photographs of various things that happen during the school day, such as leaving home, getting off the bus, greeting your teacher, raising your hand to talk, circle time, reading, quiet work, lunch, recess, art and music, and greeting your parent at the end of the day.

This is a nice book to prompt conversations about the way things might look and things that might happen at school, and could also be used in the classroom to talk about routines and what happens each day. It’s meant to be for kids who don’t yet know how to read, but could be used with older kids as well.

Ready for School by Dona Herweck Rice and illustrated by Amanda Morrow follows a little girl through a day getting ready for school and thinking about all the things that happen at school. It covers things like calendar time, mat time, being read to, math (they’re learning to count to five), recess and art. She’s so excited to go she wakes her mom up and it’s still nighttime.

This one is good for kids who like reminders of how the routine goes (both getting ready for school and being there) and those who might be apprehensive about what’s going to happen or if it will be fun.

The same author has a series of books that are meant to be for ESL learners but would work for others as well. Welcome to School has photos and single words or short phrases for things you do to get ready for school, different ways you might travel there, greetings, morning meeting activities. people you might see at school (like teacher, student, custodian), places and objects you’ll find around school, things at recess and school rules (like line up and raise hand).

Your School Day uses longer phrases (“riding in car” instead of just “car,” for example) and older children in the photos. The routine is also for older kids and uses bigger words like announcements and equipment. It also shows photos of different subjects kids might study, different kinds of learning groups and more people and places you’ll find in school.

A Day at School is kind of in between these two, with older elementary students going through many of the same things. This one doesn’t mention morning meetings but also doesn’t use the level of vocabulary of the book for older kids. Either this one of Welcome to School would be fine to use with young kids who already speak English but might like to see all the things and people they’ll see at school.

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