Christmas Book Tradition

Last year we started a new Christmas tradition!

I am in love with this idea because it is something SIMPLE that we can do every day in December to help keep us all in the Christmas spirit!

This idea would of course also work for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa as well, just use different books and change the time frame to fit accordingly. 

I have been collecting a lot of Christmas books: 25 to be exact. I have collected a variety of books that are both silly and serious, with topics ranging from the true meaning of Christmas, to giving, helping, friendship, snowmen and Santa. There is a big variety (here are just a few)!

I will wrap them all, and put them under the tree. (*Hint: I bought two rolls of wrapping paper from the $1 section at Target. Because they are shorter than a traditional roll of wrapping paper, it is easier to wrap smaller items like books. Plus this way I know exactly what gifts under the tree are Christmas books!)

Then, each night in December (and on Christmas morning) our daughter and son will get to choose one book to open and we will read it together as a family.

You can start small. It is quite the feat and a big expense to collect 25 Christmas books all at once. Luckily I already had a lot to begin with, plus with Scholastic book orders last fall, and Grandma's help, I was able to acquire many more books last year.

But this is such a great idea because you can just start with the books you already have, borrow books from the library (just remember to return them!), or buy just a few each year to build your library. Instead of starting on December 1st, start later in the month and read one book every night until Christmas!

Now here's the best part of this entire thing. After Christmas, I will pack up all the books and use them again next year! Of course eventually, the kids will catch on that they are reading the same books every year. But I think that is what makes it part of a fun new tradition. (And really, won't it be just a little bit fun watching your teenagers read silly board books about snowmen every year?)

Here are a few of the books that we will be reading this month:

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess
• Christmas for the Snowmen by Wolfram Hanel
• Olive, the Other Reindeer by J.otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh
• The Christmas Song: Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire by Mel Torme and Robert Wells
• This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotton
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
• My First Story of the First Christmas retold by Deanna Draper Buck
• Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer
• A Christmas Dress for Ellen retold by Thomas S. Monson
• The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg
• The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

What's your favorite holiday book?

Happy book hunting!

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