Christmas Themed Books for Babies and Toddlers
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USING THEMED BOOKS AS A TOOL
When it comes to holidays or significant life milestones, I've discovered that books offer the perfect avenue to introduce children to new ideas and concepts in a fun and approachable manner. In our household, our passion for books knows no bounds! We LOVE them. If we, a friend or a family member ever find ourselves wondering what to gift any of the kids in our every-growing family, our no-fail solution is always - BOOKS!
We rely on them to introduce new concepts and holidays, to enrich and ease our daughter's journey through new adventures, be it starting school, visiting the doctor or dentist, or even mastering the art of potty training or teeth brushing.
We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite Christmas themed books here, as well as some favorites recommended by a few of my best friends (who happen to be teachers).
CHRISTMAS BOOK COLLECTION
As we approach the Christmas season (my personal favorite), we will be sorting through her bedroom bookshelf to pull out all of our favorite Christmas themed books! Although she has a larger bookshelf in her room, containing the majority of her book collection, we also have a smaller book display in our living room that we rotate out with new, Holiday themed, or age/stage specific books. As each different Holiday approaches, we like to rotate in all of the Christmas books she has collected from past years as well as a few new additions.
As she gets older each year, we like to add new additions that are more tailored to her age at the time. That’s not to stay she doesn’t enjoy seeing some of her favorite classics pop up on the shelf from prior years and she will continue to engage with them all!
Here are a few of the books in our collection as well as a few we’d recommend (based on friend and teacher recommendations).
BEST FOR BABIES
We personally have 2 books that are GREAT for the young ones (6 months - 1 year). That doesn’t mean we still don’t read these and play with these books til this day as a 26 month old but they’re much better for the younger babies than the longer form options.
JOLLY (peek-a-flap) and Moo, Baa, Falalalala are a few of the fun ones that Mila has enjoyed since her first Christmas.
The JOLLY (peek-a-flap) book is an interesting one. It surprised me a bit when it arrived because it had a lot of odd Holiday facts under some of the flaps but it’s turned out to be one of Mila’s absolute favorites!
We don’t actually own this one but another lift-a-flap book I’ve considered picking up is Santa’s Workshop (lift-a-flap book). Babies love lifting flaps and revealing things so I figure you can’t go wrong!
Another favorite is Moo, Baa, Falalalala. I just love the Sandra Boynton books and we have many in our collection. They’re great for babies because they’re so short and simple and typically have fun rhymes.
Generally speaking, we love ALL BOOKS by Sandra Boynton. They have always been books that our daughter has been drawn to. As well as this Christmas book, we also have her Halloween Books (Boo, Baa Lalala, and Spookie Pookie), and her Thanksgiving Book. For 2 years straight we read her book - The Going to Bed Book before bedtime EVERY NIGHT. I’ve bought it for countless friends and family when they’re pregnant and they’ve all loved it too!
If you want a perfect stash of multiple baby books, snag this Sandra Boynton multi-pack of her bestsellers. You can’t go wrong.
BEST FOR BABIES 1-2 YEARS
If your child is in the age range of 1-2 years then these 3 books are great options since they’re only slightly longer but still short enough to keep the details simple and engaging. These were our favorites for our daughter’s 2nd Halloween when she was just over 1 year.
From the moment we bought this book - Christmas Songs, Mila has been obsessed. It still gets pulled out when it’s not the Holiday season (and I secretly don’t hate that).
It plays 10 different Christmas Songs, each with corresponding pages and lyrics so you can sing along! The length of each song is truncated so it’s not playing for AGES but long enough to enjoy. You just better be a fan of Christmas songs if you’re going to get this one because it will be playing non-stop!
Another favorite is You’re My Little Christmas Cookie by Nicola Edwards. I just ADORE all of her books. The stories are so sweet and kind. They’re the perfect length (short…hehe) and the imagery (illustrated by Natalie Marshall) and stories are SO SO CUTE and well done. They don’t tend to get too specific about the actual Holidays but they’re a good accompaniment. The other’s we have in our collection are; You’re my Little:
Honey Bunny - Good for Easter
Cuddle Bug - Good for Spring time
Lucky Charm - Good for St. Patty’s
The Little Blue Truck Christmas is just another book in the Little Blue Truck collection by Alice Schertle. In this book, you go on an adventure with Little Blue Truck as he delivers Christmas trees to his friends! The last page also has flashing colored twinkle lights so what’s not to love? Perfect for bringing holiday cheer!
Other favorites in the series are
BEST FOR 2+ YEAR OLDS
The Littlest Reindeer is a super sweet story about a reindeer who is quite small but wants to help Santa pull the sleigh but she struggles to fly properly. It’s a great story to teach about helping and not giving up. I can see this one having more appeal to Mila now that she’s two. Understanding the concepts of helping and trying your hardest will resonate more this year.
I’m also considering adding The Littlest Elf to the collection this year too!
I’ve been waiting for Mila to get old enough to appreciate this one. I’ve had it since the year she was born and I’ve been waiting for the year she might finally start understanding and appreciating it!
Jimmy Fallon’s 5 More Sleeps ‘Til Christmas book is a total winner in my eyes. It’s so well written and funny (shocking!) and really creates the excitement and anticipation of Christmas in that last 5 day countdown. I can’t wait to get Mila into this one this year!
A few others I’d consider:
These are books I’d likely buy this year for a toddler that’s 2-4 years.
Little Red Sleigh - A New York Times and USA Today bestseller!
The Giving Snowman - A book about kindness and gratitude.
How to Catch a Reindeer - From the best selling How to Catch series.
If you haven’t yet begun building your collection of Christmas themed books, now’s the time! The great thing is, Amazon always has tons of options and offers great deals. Adding even just one new book a year is enough to create a collection they’ll treasure for years to come.
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