The fact that I observe 40 days of Advent as an Orthodox Christian led me to come up with a list of 40 books. You by no means have to read them all! You can tailor the books to your own family. I tried to find books for all ages, some that capture all the beauty and meaning of Christ's birth, and some just for fun. Several are by authors and illustrators that you'll have come across in my past blog posts. There are picture books, poetry, and classics. Most, I'm sure, are available at your local library.
I listed books for younger children and the more secular stories first. The books I assigned to December are those that are especially meaningful leading up to the Holy Nativity. Many of these were our family's favorites, but some are recently published. Do you have any to add? Please let me know!
IDEAS FOR MAKING AN "ADVENT CALENDAR OF BOOKS":
-My sister puts a basket filled with all her kids' Christmas books by her fireplace and they read a book each night of Advent (or each night of December) until Christmas.
-My niece told me that she and her husband started a tradition of wrapping books in Christmas paper and either putting them in a basket or under the tree so their twin girls can take turns opening one book each night during Advent (or December) to read aloud - you can supplement with library books - just mark the outside somewhere, so they are read early on and won't be overdue!
40 BOOKS FOR 40 DAYS LIST
November 15 GOD GAVE US CHRISTMAS
by Lisa T. BergrenNovember 16 MY FIRST CHRISTMAS
, by Tomie DePaolaNovember 17 HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
by Dr. SuessNovember 18 WHO IS COMING TO OUR HOUSE
? by Joseph SlateNovember 19 THE TOMTEN
by Astrid LindgrenNovember 20 I SPY CHRISTMAS
November 21 THE JOLLY CHRISTMAS POSTMAN
by Allan AhlbergNovember 22 LOOK ALIKES CHRISTMAS
by Joan SteinerNovember 23 CHRISTMAS TROLLS
by Jan BrettNovember 24 BABAR AND FATHER CHRISTMAS
by Jean De BrunhoffNovember 25 CHRISTMAS IN NOISY VILLAGE
by Astrid LindgrenNovember 26 THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY
by Ezra Jack KeatsNovember 27 THE NUTCRACKER
by Susan JeffersNovember 28 MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHEEPS!
by Julie StiegemeyerNovember 29 CHRISTMAS MICE
By Richard ScarryNovember 30 CAN YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Walter WickDecember 1 ONE WINTER'S NIGHT
by John Herman, Diane Dillon, Leo DillonDecember 2 UNCLE VOVA'S TREE
by Patricia PolaccoDecember 3 LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS
by J.R.R. TolkienDecember 4 THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS: A MAGICAL CUT-PAPER EDITION
, Niroot PuutapipatDecember 5 SANTA, ARE YOU FOR REAL?
by Harold MyraDecember 6 (St. Nicholas Day) THE LEGEND OF ST. NICHOLAS
by DemiDecember 7 CHRISTMAS IN THE MANGER
by Nola BuckDecember 8 B IS FOR BETHLEHEM
, by Isabel WilnerDecember 9 THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY
December 10 THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
, by O. Henry, illustrations Lizbeth ZwergerDecember 11 THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER
by Barbara RobinsonDecember 12 THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
; THE FIRST NOEL
by Jan PienkowskiDecember 13 BABUSHKA AND THE THREE KINGS
by Ruth RobbinsDecember 14 THE FRIENDLY BEASTS
by Tomie DePaolaDecember 15 CHRISTMAS NIGHT FAIR AND BRIGHT
by Julie StiegemeyerDecember 16 THE MIRACLE OF ST. NICHOLAS
by Gloria WhelanDecember 17 TAKE JOY! TASHA TUDOR CHRISTMAS BOOK
December 18 WE THREE KINGS
by Gennady SpirinDecember 19 ANGELA AND THE BABY JESUS
(Children's version) by Frank MCourtANGELA AND THE BABY JESUS (Adult Edition)
December 20 THE NATIVITY
by Ruth SandersonDecember 21 CHRISTMAS POEMS Edited by Hayes and Laughlin
December 22 CHRISTMAS!
by Peter SpierDecember 23 CHRISTMAS ANGELS
by M.J. HummelDecember 24 (Christmas Eve) PREPARE O BETHLEHEM
By Niko ChocheliDecember 25 (Nativity) THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD by Mother Melania
I love your list, Wendy! As you may know, all it takes to make the Gary and Melissa Braun family happy is a few good books! (I may be the only parent in Goleta who had to use taking away reading privileges as a disciplinary action for my kids...which horrified the school principle.) We still have quite an Advent/Christmas collection of books that gets read every year to the "new" Brauns in the family. One I still love is "The Christmas Day Kitten" by James Herriot. I love his stories!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the wonderful blog, Wendy. you do good work-
Love, Melissa
Thanks, Melissa! I love his stories too. Haven't read that one - sounds really sweet!
ReplyDeleteHi Miss Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Advent reading list. We will be going to the library tomorrow to try and get some of the books on the list!!
Thanks Cybil
I can't wait until James is old enough to read these to him! (I mean I know I can now, but when he can understand them). :-)
ReplyDeleteSome of these I read when I was little, but there are some Christmas ones that aren't on the list. I'll ask my mom for the titles and get back to you.
Claire
Hi Wendy - I didn't know you had a blog - GREAT! I can’t to wait look through it all. Just last Advent we learned that Gennady Spirin and Ruth Sanderson were Orthodox, which was neat, as we already had some of their books and were big fans! Spirin's The Christmas Story is BEAUTIFUL too! We bought it for Joel last year in Spanish La historia de Navidad, when he was down at St. Innocent's Orphanage. The illustrations are AMAZING! Spirin’s Twelve Days of Christmas is neat too – again w/ incredible illustrations.
ReplyDeleteAnother favorite of ours which you don't have listed is One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham - Billy Graham's wife. It's a bit longer - not able to be read through in one sitting, but worth it! It goes back through salvation history, from Creation forward. Definitely a treasure to be shared year after year – I know you’d appreciate it. The illustrations are breathtaking!
Have you seen the new St. Lucia book which came out last year – Lucia, Saint of Light? It’s very nice for Dec 13th. Two others worth mentioning are An Icon for Christmas – Sophia’s Gift which we know some church schools have made into a play for Nativity, and for very young children, Jesus is Born by Sergia Clare Anatolios which slowly builds the icon of the Nativity through this wordless book. Also good for the 12 days of Christmas, specifically St. Stephen’s Day (on Dec 27th) is Good King Wenceslas by John M. Neale, illustrated by Ladwig, which tells the story behind the famous carol.
As you can see, the Schaefer’s are a bit nutty about books too! Sorry for going on and on. Blessed Advent and Nativity to you and your precious family!
Much love,
Barbi
Thanks, Barbi!! Yes, I've been in contact with Ruth Sanderson (she's on FB now, which is fun). I did a whole post on her beautiful books. I assumed Genadi was Orthodox - just did a post about him, too, in November.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to do a separate post for the 12 Days of Christmas - thanks for the recommendations. I have another Wenceslas favorite, but I'll google yours! I think my mom has One Wintry Night...I forgot about that one. These are all great!! Thank you and blessed Nativity Fast!!!!
I enjoy reading "The Birds' Christmas Carol" each year -- sweet story
ReplyDeleteThank you, Krista - I had never heard of The Birds' Christmas Carol, and just looked it up on Amazon. I can't wait to check it out from the library - sounds precious! I'll have to do a new list next year, I'm getting so many good suggestions! :)
ReplyDelete