This year we’re starting a new family tradition where we’ll read a Christmas themed story each night from December 1st- 24th. I was so thrilled to find the idea on Pinterest because I just love building family traditions around books! Over the last several weeks, I’ve researched exhaustively to determine what books we would use. Not just any Christmas book would do. I was looking for quality literature that is either entirely about Christ’s birth, weaves His birth into another story, or at least reflects the importance of loving and caring for others. I did not want to use any books that would feed the idea that it is all about getting things. I am so thrilled to have found so many wonderful books. I really feel that the true meaning of Christmas will resound loud and clear with all of our selections. So, with all that said, here is our book list! I will try to update periodically and review some of our favorite books, but considering it’s the holiday season, I may get pretty busy.
1. Mr. Willoby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
2. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
3. B is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner
4. Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant
5. Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell
6. Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer
7. Night Tree by Cynthia Rylant
8. The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown
9. This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten
10. The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden
11. The Christmas Tree Ship by by Jeanette Winter
12. The First Christmas by Carol Heyerdahl
13. The Candy Maker’s Gift: The Legend of the Candy Cane by Helen Haidle
14. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by by Gloria Houston
15. The Fourth Wise Man by Susan Summers
16. A Certain Small Shepherd by Rebecca Caudill
17. Cranberry Christmas by Wende Devlin
18. There was no Snow on Christmas Eve by Pamela Ryan
19. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie Depoala
20. Lucy’s Christmas by Donald Hall
21. Why Christmas Trees aren’t Perfect by Dick Schneider
22. Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
23. The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Hunt
24. Luke chapter 2 of the Bible
We’re really excited to place these under our tree in just a few days and begin the reading! I’ve also matched several of them up with activities. For example, we’ll start out with Mr. Willoby’s Christmas Tree on the evening we decorate our tree. We’ll get out our Melissa and Doug wooden nativity when we read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (about a man who carves a nativity from wood) and we’ll read B is for Bethlehem on the evening we go to Journey to Bethlehem. We’ll also do some Christmas baking when we read Cranberry Christmas and we’ll enjoy candy canes while we read The Candy Maker’s Gift.
Just as a side note, you may notice none of these books are about the modern-day Santa (We will read about the real Saint Nicholas.) and that is because we don’t “do” that part of Christmas. We don’t think any less of people who choose to do it (and our kids know not to ruin it for others who enjoy pretending), but we have made the choice not to include it. We have a long list of reasons, but at the top of that list is the strong desire to make Christmas all about Jesus and not invite any confusion about what we are celebrating. We also don’t want to encourage the materialism, greed and self-centeredness that the secular Christmas can often encourage. In addition to all this, we want to build an unwavering trust with the kids and we don’t believe purposely deceiving them will provide a good foundation for that. We want to stand for truth first and foremost.
I know people think our kids will be deprived and miss out on excitement, but that certainly is not the case. Our kids anticipate the joy of Christmas as much as much as any other kids. It’s just not based solely on what they are going to receive. There is still a very wonderful, mysterious, and magical element to Christmas when you really think about what happened in that stable in Bethlehem so many years ago and we want our kids to understand that. With our book collection and several other traditions we’re going to be including year after year, we hope to create a joyous Christmas experience that completely radiates God’s truth and love.
