Best Christmas Picture and Read-Aloud Books for Kids 2-12

Pulling out our bin (alright, several bins!) of Christmas books is one of the best parts of December in our house. Here are 45 of our tried and true favorites! I put an asterisk* next to books that mention Santa. For ideas of how to gift these books, check out my post: Books & Books for St. Nicholas Day, and for more reflective adult Advent books, see the post: 9 Prayers and Stories for Advent. Happy Christmas Reading!

Littlest Kids: Toddlers and Preschoolers

Toddlers love books about the manger animals, simple retellings of the Christmas story, and other people’s Christmases.

1. Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman . Mortimer the mouse is looking for a house this Christmas, and tries to move into a family’s manger scene. Adorable.

2. The Christmas Fox by Anik McGrory. Little fox doesn’t know what to bring the Christ child as a gift. This one makes me cry nearly every time.

3. Who’s Coming to Our House by Joseph Slate and illustrated by Ashley Wolff. The animals are wondering who is coming to their stable home. Beautiful poetry, a wonderful first Christmas gift for babies in board book form.

4. This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten and illustrated by Delana Bettoli. Beautiful pictures and rhymes.

5. B is for Bethlehem : a Christmas Alphabet by Isabel Wilner and illustrated by Elisa Kleven. Originally written for an early elementary Christmas play. The images are really beautiful mix media collage.

6. Born on Christmas Morn ( Arch Books) by Melinda Busch & Melanie Hall (or the whole Christmas Collection). Simple, sweet, and true. A perfect first book to tell the Christmas story to the littlest ones.

7. Christmas in the Big Woods * by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Renee Graef. Laura and Mary’s Christmas in the cabin! Short and sweet, this is a perfect first introduction to the little house books and a fun look at 19th century rural Christmas traditions.

8. Christmas in the Country * by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Diane Goode. Cynthia Rylant is the master, and this book captures her Appalachia childhood Christmases so beautifully.

Preschool & Kindergarten

9. Alfie’s Christmas (Also, Lucy & Tom at Christmas, Dogger’s Christmas, Snow In The Garden First Book Christmas) by Shirley Hughes. Shirley Hughes is a master of capturing the reality of the preschooler’s life, and these books are such a fun look at British Christmas traditions. Some of our very favorite books.

10. Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren, translated by Florence Lamborn and illustrated by Ilon Wikland * These century old spunky Swedish kids (from the author of Pippi Longstocking) are the most charming guides to Christmas in their Noisy Village.

11. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss * What can you say about this classic? Read the book; watch the movie. It’s Seuss at his very best.

12.Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer. Funny and a little in your face, Humphrey the grumpy camel is taking the wisemen to Jesus.

13. Jolly Postman’s Christmas by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Janet Ahlberg* Full of pockets of little cards and puzzles to pull out and examine, it’s just as charming as the original Jolly Postman with nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters in rural Britain having Christmas.

14. The Family Read Aloud Christmas Treasury by Alice Low and illustrated by Marc Tolon Brown. From the illustrator of Arthur comes this lovely collection of stories recommended to us from a dear friends whose 3 year old loves to have them read to him all year long.

15. Peter Spier’s Christmas! illustrated by Peter Spier. Wordless and timeless, these intricate pictures of what it’s like to wait for Christmas, go shopping, get Christmas cards, set up the tree, cook the meal, go to church and clean up afterwards are so wonderful.

16. The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. Beautiful pictures, and we love to watch the (also wordless) 1982 movie each year.

Elementary Age Kids

17. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg * I loved this Christmas train to the North Pole story as a child. I remember getting to check it out over Christmas break in 2nd grade. I thought I’d won the library lottery.

18. An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco. (Also Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco.) This one is a tear jerker, especially if you read the end note, but it’s so beautiful and wonderful and is true story about a rural Michigan Christmas during the Depression.

19. Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hakes Noble. A storm brings down a beloved apple tree that makes Christmas special as its wood is used in many ways. Charming and sweet.

20. Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoullin. Frances is getting ready for her church pageant when she sees an organ grinder out her window and wonders where he goes to sleep. Short and powerful.

21. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. A family awaiting the arrival of their father from war is responsible for the church’s Christmas tree that year. A picture of wartime strength.

22. The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. A little lamb wonders why he cannot play with the others because of his crippled leg is the lamb who keeps Jesus warm. Kind of over-written and sappy, but also so good and likely will make you cry.

23. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and P.J. Lynch. A gruff widower woodcarver agrees to carve a widow and her son’s Christmas nativity. Jonathan Toomey joins Scrooge and the Grinch in best redeemed Christmas grumps.

24. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola (Also The Night of Las Posadas, really any Tomie dePaola Christmas book is great!)

25. Prairie Christmas by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk and illustrated by Ronald Himler. A 19th century western prairie midwife and her daughter are called to help a baby on Christmas, and the scene slowly turns into a living nativity.

26. The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney * During the Depression, three sisters get a beloved doll, but sharing her is tough. A beautifully illustrated story of family.

27. The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve and illustrated by Ellen Beier. The Christmas donation box has arrived on the reservation. Virginia needs a larger coat for the long and cold walk to school, but as the pastor’s kid, she must wait until everyone else picks through the best coats. Full of small descriptions of the joys and grieves of a particular child’s Christmas that are somehow so universal.

28. Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet. Frankie waits every year for a special present to be thrown to him from the Christmas train that passes through his poor Appalacian town.

29. The Third Gift by Linda Sue Park and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. A beautiful look a the history of myrrh harvesting and a little boy who helps get that third gift of the wisemen ready.

30. Christmas Carol adapted from Charles Dickens’ classic and illustrated by Brett Helquist. Fun illustrations and great retelling for Children. A winner.

31. Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck and illustrated by Mark Buehner. A teenage farmer overhears his father wish he didn’t need to get his son up so early to do chores decides to surprise his dad on Christmas morning. A great reminder that kids can give sweet gifts to the people in their lives too.

32. Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien * Full of funny letters in JRR Tolkien’s handwriting and little pictures about Father Christmas and a Polar bear who falls through the roof one Christmas. They are quirky and don’t really make a whole linear story, but they are the real copies of the actual letters Tolkien left for his kids every year and somehow they are a favorite around here.

Christmas Novel Read-Alouds

33. A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy. A slightly heavy-handed allegory, but such a beautiful story of a community transformed at Christmas time by a stranger, Christ in disguise.

34. The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson and illustrated by Garth Williams. Grumpy man old man has to deal with children taking over his spot under the bridge in Paris at Christmas time by helping them and in turn himself.

35. Christmas with Anne of Green Gables and Other Stories by L. M. Montgomery. A collection of heart warming (maybe a little sappy, but who cares) stories LM Montgomery wrote for Christmas, a couple about Anne Shirley but most are stand-alone. Great to read a few each Christmas.

36. The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. A very long picture book about a doll longing for a girl to buy her and a girl longing for a family to find her.

37. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and illustrated by P.J. Lynch. If you have never read the real Christmas Carol, this is the one to get, or listen to Neil Gaiman read it for free. It’s short and just as wonderful as The Muppet Christmas Carol.

38. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and illustrated by P.J. Lynch. The perfect short story of the young couple who sacrifice what they love to give an extravagant gift to the one they love.

39. The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis. It’s always a good time to read The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe but with all the snow and a visit from Father Christmas, why not read it again at Christmas?

40. The Christmas Story Book edited by Ineke Verschuren. A big collection of Dutch translation Christmas stories that I grew up with. There are about 10 stories for Advent, 8 for the Birth of the Child, 8 for Christmas Night, 19 for Christmas around the world, and 13 for Christmas to Epiphany. They are old and strange and beautiful.

41. A Newbery Christmas edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh. A short story collection from Newbery winners like Carolyn Sherwin Baily, Eleanor Ests, EL Konigsburg, Elizabeth Yates, Nancy Willard, Lois Lenski, Katherine Paterson, Rachel Field, Ruth Sawyer, Hugh Lofting, Beverly Cleary, and Madeline L’Engle. Full of perfect little stories.

42. Box of Delights by John Masefield. My husband’s very favorite Christmas book (after growing up and loving watching the BBC version). Kay Harker is given a magical box to protect and help Tatchester Cathedral have its 1000^th Christmas eve service. It has talking mice and rats, wolves, magical shrinking and flying, time travel, lots of snow, and a fun cast of characters to aid and hinder Kay and his friends on their way. It’s an old and strange British children’s book that Evan says is best for older kids.

43. Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L’Engle. An Austin family story with a small chapter for each one of the days before Christmas. It’s also included in the larger collection of Madeleine L’Engle’s fiction and non-fiction writings on Christmas: Miracle on 10th Street.

44. Christmas Remembered by Tomie dePaola. From Christmas in the 1930s at three, the first Christmas after WWII, from monasteries to Vermont, to San Francisco in the 1960s, celebrated author and illustrator Tomie dePaola warmly recalls many of his past Christmases with humor, a vivid artist’s eye, and joy.

45. Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. A classic, has more naughty behaviors than you remember when you’re reading it to a sensitive (or impressionable) kindergartener, but such a story of redemption and seeing what is important.