Our Collection of Christmas Books

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We don’t have a huge collection of Christmas books, but I think they are a fun mix of Christ-centered and just for fun. I think they capture the magic of the Christmas season, and I delight in reading each of them with my children. Here’s what we have…

Our collection of Christmas books

The Christmas Promise

The Christmas Promise Storybook: A True Story from the Bible about God’s Forever King by Alison Mitchell is a great addition to any Christmas library. It is a retelling of the Christmas story from a very pointed perspective that Jesus is the promised King of the Bible. He is the new King, the rescuing King, the forever King. I like the illustrations, and I like that it is a simple but clear story about the importance of Jesus’ birth. It is aimed at children age 3–6.

Song of the Stars

I think the publisher’s description does a great job capturing the essence of this book—"Song of the Stars, written by bestselling author Sally Lloyd-Jones, takes children on the journey of Advent and the anticipation of Jesus’ arrival. All of creation comes together in this poetic and majestic telling of the Christmas story. Join every creature as they celebrate the arrival of Jesus!”

It is geared toward children age 4–7, and I think the poetic language does lend itself best to that age bracket. However, younger children can certainly engage with this book. I like that it takes a different perspective on the magic and anticipation we feel at Christmastime while still pointing to the reason we celebrate Christ’s birth.

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker, based on the New York City Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker is illustrated by Valeria Docampo. It is my very favorite version of The Nutcracker! I love, love, love the illustrations, and I think it does a great job of capturing and retelling the story. It is thorough but not too wordy. It pairs very well with The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker (next on the list), but if I could only have one, I would choose this one!

The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker

The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker by Katy Flint is a beautiful production of The Nutcracker, but what makes it unique is that as you read each page, you can press a button to hear an excerpt of an orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s score from the ballet. The illustrations are also very well done! I really like this one paired with the longer version I listed above; this is more abridged. I do like that this one is more interactive and introduces children to the music. If you can get your kids to go through it slowly, you can have a great conversation about how the music evokes different moods and feelings and actions going on in the story. It’s a fun addition to any Christmas collection, for sure.

Little Blue Truck’s Christmas

My daughter, Penelope, has always loved the Little Blue Truck books. We have many of them. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas is really cute for fans of the Little Blue Truck. It has the same lilting story, while counting and delivering Christmas trees. It’s cute and fun and has twinkly lights at the end! For littles, this is a fun Christmas book.

The 12 Days of Christmas

I’ve always loved the song about the 12 Days of Christmas, and this version by Jill Howarth is really cute. It’s in a board book format, so it’s great for toddlers and preschoolers. The illustrations are fun and festive and adorable!

The Colors of Christmas

Also by Jill Howarth, The Colors of Christmas is really cute for toddlers and preschoolers! It is simple, but the illustrations really shine. It captures the colorful, merry spirit of Christmas in a simple board book.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

I got ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (illustrated by Mr. Bodington’s Studio) last year to use as part of our Advent calendar on Christmas Eve. We actually don’t do Santa with our kids, but I think this book embodies the magic and excitement that kids feel on Christmas Eve. I really like that this one is done with a more modern style of colorful illustrations yet uses the traditional wording of the poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore. It’s a fun book to read during the season.


Tell me, do you have any favorite Christmas books that you read with your kids?

Our Favorite Halloween Books for Kids

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Over the years we have collected a number of Halloween books for our kid’s library. Finn has always loved Halloween, and he has passed that joy on to Penelope. Throughout the year, Penelope will randomly ask, “what do you think you will dress as for Halloween?” or “What costume do you want for Halloween this year?” It’s so adorable! Needless to say, she was so excited to pull out our Halloween books again this year. After a few readings through our favorite books for Fall, I added these to the book basket too.

No Such Thing

No Such Thing is hands down my favorite Halloween book. I love Ella Bailey’s illustrations, and the storyline is really sweet. There are so many details to the illustrations, and Penelope and I had a lovely time looking closely at every page to spot the little ghosts causing mischief. Sadly, it is out of print, but sometimes copies come available on eBay. I also highly recommend checking if your library has a copy! That’s where we first discovered it.

Ghosts in the House!

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara is such an adorable book! I really like the simplicity of the color palette, which really enhances the illustrations. It’s a simple story for toddlers/preschoolers. Penelope originally planned to dress up as a witch for Halloween this year, so she liked that the little girl was wearing a witch’s hat. Finn loved this one when he was younger.

Mr. Pumpkin’s Tea Party

I discovered Mr. Pumpkin's Tea Party by Erin Barker at the library last year, and it is so cute! Penelope is big into setting up tea parties, so this was perfect for her for Halloween. It is a simple counting book with beautiful illustrations. It’s fun and festive but not overly spooky.

The Scariest Book Ever

When Finn got home from school and saw The Scariest Book Ever by Bob Shea one in the book basket, he declared, “Oh yes! I love this book!” and promptly sat down and read it. He giggled all the way through. :) I read it to Penelope as well, and she liked all the illustrations. It’s been a favorite for a few years now.

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween

Penelope loved the Little Blue Truck books so much when she was younger. I added Little Blue Truck's Halloween to our collection two falls ago. She was excited to pull it out and read it this year, but I think it is geared much more toward toddlers and preschoolers. It is really cute, and I am excited for Azelie to enjoy it as she gets a little older.

Grimelda and the Spooktacular Pet Show

These—Grimelda and the Spooktacular Pet Show and Grimelda the Very Messy Witch—have been a very fun addition to our library. They each have a fun, festive, rhyming story featuring Grimelda, a little witch with big hair and a messy house. My personal favorite is the Spooktacular Pet Show, but both are good. (I bought my copies on eBay, but you can also check if Amazon has them.)

I have one honorable mention, not pictured above, that I would be remiss to leave out. Finn went through a big Curious George phase, and one of his favorites (year-round) was Curious George Goes to a Costume Party by Margret Rey. It is included in A Treasury of Curious George. It is a cute story for toddlers and preschoolers and definitely captures the magic of dressing up in costume!

Do your kid’s have any favorite Halloween books we should add to our collection?

Our Favorite Fall Books for Kids

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Autumn: Leaves Fall From the Trees

I first discovered Autumn: Leaves Fall From the Trees by Lisa Bell book at the library, and it is so fun! Not only are the illustrations wonderful and totally evoke feelings of fall, but the best part about it is that it comes with a cd to listen to the book sung as a song. My son loved this book as a preschooler, and I just got a copy for our home that I’m so excited to share with my daughter, who is 4. It seems to be out of print (sadly), but I have seen some copies floating around used on Amazon and eBay. You could also check out the publisher’s website, Cantata Learning, to see if they are still selling copies.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pan is a really simple book with pretty illustrations. It definitely brings fall to life across its pages, and of the author’s “Goodbye, Hello” series, this one is by far my favorite! It’s worth an addition to any toddler or preschooler’s bookshelf.

The Artists

So many books that I love have come from the library, and The Artists: Tales from the Hidden Valley by Carles Porta is no exception. One day while I was browsing the children’s section, I came across it, and I love, love, love the whimsical story of this book! Plus, the illustrations are so beautiful! It is really colorful and definitely evokes feelings of fall. I love the other books in this series as well: Hello Mister Cold, The Band, and Under the Water.

These next 3 are anthology books. They have stories/sections for each season.

Nature’s Day

Nature’s Day: Discover the World of Wonder On your Doorstep by Kay Maguire and Danielle Kroll is a nonfiction book with sections for each season. I really like the illustrations, and then it has little snippets about the different topics in that season. Fall focuses on the changing leaves, birds and butterflies that go south for the winter, and harvest items. Penelope’s class was talking about butterflies going south for the winter, and we saw a big flock of geese earlier this week, so I’d like to pull this one out again to look at and talk about. The nice thing is that each page is pretty self-contained, which I like because sometimes I only want to read one page at a time, rather than feeling like I have to read the whole book at once.

Little Witch Hazel

Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest by Phoebe Wahl was a gift for Penelope last Christmas. I recently added it to our pile of fall books, and I really enjoyed the Autumn story. The illustrations definitely evoked fall, and I thought it was a very sweet version of a spooky story for kids. I think Finn and Penelope enjoyed it. :)

A Year in Brambly Hedge: Autumn Story

I don’t have any photos of this one because I got this from the library a few years ago and then forgot about it. Then, earlier this summer I got a copy of Wilfred’s Rescue from the library, and I could not shake the feeling that I had seen this book before. Well, it turns out I had not seen this particular book before, but I had read a different Brambly Hedge story, the Autumn Story. All of Jill Barkley’s Brambly Hedge books are adorable! There is a beautiful 40th Anniversary edition, The Complete Brambly Hedge, that I put on our Christmas wishlist, but you can also get a set with just the four seasons books—A Year in Brambly Hedge.

Do you have any favorite kid’s books for the fall season?

Book Review: The Wizard of Oz Audiobook

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We recently had a long car ride ahead of us, and I was trying to think of ideas to keep the kids entertained. And then, I had the brilliant idea to try an audiobook. Dylan looked into a few ideas, and we landed on The Wizard of Oz by L.Frank Baum. We thought it would be a fun story that Finn could engage with. Little did we know that we would all love it!

Anne Hathaway is the narrator, and she does an amazing job! Truly amazing! Her voices are just so well done. I also think she does a great job capturing the spirit of the movie that is so beloved, but also makes it her own because the book is very different from the movie, in a good way. I think it makes more sense than the flow of the movie.

So all that to say—1.) If you haven’t read the Wizard of Oz, you should, and 2) If you do want to read it, you should definitely consider listening to the audiobook narrated by Anne Hathaway. Our whole family enjoyed it (and have listened through the book several times since that initial listen-through). Five stars from us!

Give it a listen here: Wizard of Oz Audiobook

Our Favorite Kid's Halloween Books

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Halloween is by far Finn’s favorite holiday. He looks forward to it all year! He loves the pumpkins, he loves the costumes, he loves the spooky ghosts and skeletons decorated throughout the house, and he loves the books. So here are our favorites.

The Scariest Book Ever by Bob Shea—I think this one is Finn’s favorite. At the beginning of September, he asked me when we could read it. :) I love it too! (Amazon)

No Such Thing by Ella Bailey—Sadly, this one is out of print, but we put it on our library request list each fall so we can still enjoy it. The illustrations are really cute, and the story is sweet. We highly recommend it.

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara—This is such an adorable book! Finn and I both love it, and I’m excited to introduce it to Penelope this year. (Amazon)

How To Make Friends With A Ghost by Rebecca Green—This one is cute and somewhat reminiscent of No Such Thing. It’s a little longer, though, and aimed at preschool to grade 3 kiddos. (Amazon)

Curious George Goes to a Costume Party by Margret Rey—Finn went through a big Curious George phase, and one of our favorites (year-round) from “A Treasury of Curious George” was the story where he goes to a costume party. It’s cute for toddlers, preschoolers, and even now as a Kindergartener, I think Finn would like it. (Amazon)

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween by Alice Schertle—Penelope loves the Little Blue Truck books sooooo much, so I picked this one up for her, and it’s super cute! (Amazon)

Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht (Amazon)—This is new to us this year, and it’s super cute! We are going to use some of the jack-o-lantern designs for our pumpkins to carve on Halloween.

One Spooky Night: A Halloween Adventure by Kate Stone—The description for this one says, “Intricately cut pages and shadowy sheets of vellum come together in this tale of a little monster’s moonlit stroll through the woods to a creepy old house and a festive, fold-out finale full of Halloween cheer.” I was highly impressed with it when we got it from the library last year. It’s great for toddlers and preschoolers. (Amazon)

And Then Comes Halloween by Tom Brenner—I remember this one being cute, and I’m excited to get it from the library to kick-off the month. (Amazon)

These are books on our list to check out this year (with our updates)—

  • Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Amazon): We were underwhelmed with this one.

  • Sir Simon, Super Scarer by Cale Atkinson (Amazon): This one has a bit of sardonic humor to it that both Finn and I enjoyed. It’s not my favorite ever, but I would get it again next year.

  • The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams (Amazon): I forgot that we got this last year. It’s a bit spooky the first time through, but I like that it has the rhyming and a surprise ending. We’ve talked with Finn about bravery, and he seemed to resonate with the lady choosing bravery. It’s definitely for preschool and kindergarten age kids, not toddlers, in my opinion.

  • Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown (Amazon): This one is ok. The story is a bit forced. We returned it to the library after one read.

We’ve been trying to read some chapter books aloud to Finn, and I’m looking forward to reading A Good Night for Ghosts by Mary Pope Osborne to correspond with this spooky season.