25 Christmas Countdown Books
It’s little man’s first Christmas and I’m looking for new traditions to do as a family. I don’t know if this is a new thing or I’m just out of the loop, but several readers suggested a 25-day Christmas book countdown. And I love it!!!
Here’s how it works: Wrap one book for every day of December leading up to Christmas. Then let the kids open one and read it together each night. So fun!
As I put together a list of Christmas books to buy, I decided to share the books I picked (and a few more that we might use when the kids get older).
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Little man is obviously still very young, so I tried to mostly pick shorter books and board books. But I threw in a few of our favorite Christmas classics, too! Since he won’t really know any different, I’ll probably only buy half the books this year and then fill in the rest next year when he’s a little older.
This list is in the order we’ll open them. I tried to put some of the books on the days that made the most sense for them. For example, “5 More Sleeps ’til Christmas” is on the 20th (when there is five more sleeps ’til Christmas).
Since we’re Christian, I also tried to choose a good number of books about Jesus’ birth. If that’s not your thing (or you have older kids who aren’t into board books), just switch out the books that don’t work for you with some from the list below!
25 Christmas Countdown Books
2. Christmas in the Manger (Board Book)
4. Jesus Calling: The Story of Christmas (Board Book)
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
6. Room for a Little One (Board Book)
9. Bear Stays Up for Christmas
10. The First Christmas (Board Book)
11. Construction Site on Christmas Night
12. The Snowy Day (Board Book)
13. The Twelve Days of Christmas
14. Who is Coming to Our House? (Board Book)
15. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
19. The Christmas Baby (Board Book)
20. 5 More Sleeps ’til Christmas
21. Silent Night
22. The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving
23. ‘Twas the Evening of Christmas
24. The Night Before Christmas
25. Nativity
Related: 13 Things to Do By Yourself During the Holiday Season
More Christmas Books for Kids
There were too many wonderful books to settle for just 25! So here are some more books that may work for elementary age kids. We’ll definitely be adding several of these to our collection over the years.
(As I found these books, a couple of my favorites were “How to Catch Santa” and “The Tree That’s Meant to Be”.)
Christmas is Coming! An Advent Book
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree
Christmas Books for Older Kids
While most of the books above are great for elementary age kids, I also wanted to include a few Christmas chapter books. If your kids are more interested in chapter books right now, maybe open one a week and read a few chapters together each night.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
How Winston Delivered Christmas
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
One Last Note
If this is your first time hearing of the Christmas countdown too, I hope this tradition blesses your family and that you make some wonderful memories reading Christmas books together!
I can’t wait to share the joy of Christmas with little man as we do this Christmas book countdown together as a family. Merry Christmas and happy reading!