POLL: What are your favorite holiday books?
It’s that time of year.
Holiday music, movies, and TV specials suddenly seems to be playing everywhere.
Lights and decorations are being set up with care.
Traditions guide our plans for everything from parties to services to what we’re going to eat.
No matter what – or even if – you celebrate in the coming weeks, chances are you have a book that speaks to you about the winter holiday season.
What holiday titles are your favorite? Leave yours in the comments below!
Nerdy Book Club 
Dash ad Lily’s Book of Dares ❤️
I reread this one every year since I’ve first read it! 🙂
I am a SUCKER for holiday stories (and movies)! I even have a shelf on my Bookreads page dedicated to this. I love the classics, but some of my faves that maybe not everyone has read are: My True Love Gave to Me (short stories) collected by Stephanie Perkins, My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Alda, Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou (picture book version = gorgeous!), Good King Wenceslas (picture book version by John M. Neale. If you cry every time you hear The Red Shoes song on the radio, dig out this classic carol and read all the verses. A beautiful narrative poem set to music), On Christmas Eve by Ann M. Martin. And for a fun book for adults, I just read Elin Hildebrand’s Winter Street – her first Nantucket holiday novel – and really enjoyed it. But then again, I’m a sucker for holiday stories. Did I already mention that? Season’s Readings!!
I just love Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I am one of four sisters so I always imagined it was really all about my family. Plus as a little girl I loved that one of the characters is called Beth – it was the first time I ever read a book with my own name in.
The Christmas House by Ann Warren Turner is filled with beautiful language and illustrations. Besides being a great read (that chokes me up every time I read it), it offers multiple teaching opportunities from writing short narratives to point of view to figurative language…on and on. It’s out of print but worth tracking down. Very close second is Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant for many of the same reasons PLUS a wonderful lesson for all of us. Happy, warm holidays from sunny Florida.
I always am quick to point out that I’m no literary snob. So I declare without shame, that my holiday necessity is – The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
I have an LP of Boris Karloff reading this story. I loved playing over and over – even after I got sick of people calling me Cindy Lou Who every year.
Every year I read Santa’s Book of Names by McPhail to my first graders – and I am also a die hard Grinch fan. Charlie Brown’s Christmas would be my favorite holiday movie.
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden with beautiful illustrations by Barbara Cooney.
I love this one, too! Actually anything by Barbara Cooney. 🙂
I love this one, too! Also Barbara Cooney’s The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.
While straightening the December holiday book display this week, I picked up AN ORANGE FOR FRANKIE by Patricia Polacco, which I had never read. Tears ran down my face!!! Heartwarming is Polacco’s trademark. Also love UNCLE VOVA’S TREE and WELCOME COMFORT.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, the Chanukah Guest-both by Eric Kimmel (great for RA w/character voices); The Polar Express, Dinosaur vs. Christmas (for niece & nephew)-Bob Shea, The Night Before Christmas…
I don’t know ! I bought a lot of books from this sale, and I’m just about to get started. Suggestions, anyone?
The Little Match Girl. It’s a classic. I’m currently reading Let It Snow, the holiday short story trio by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. So far so good!
I have the Let It Snow book on my TBR list! One of my students gave it to me for my birthday! Good to hear that it is good so far!
The Christmas Spurs by Bill Wallace
I suggest an older, short chapter book and beautifully touching true story called The Lion in the Box by Margeurite DeAngeli. It takes place in the early 1900s in NYC and well worth finding. I read it to both 5th and 3rd grade classes and it was well-received. It is the story of a poor family whose father had died, hard-working mom, siblings who take care of each other and the caring and generosity of neighbors and a stranger. The children went on to much success in life. ( Available at Amazon, I checked, with 5 star of reviews.), Manger. The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale is lovely and the illustrations are detailed, richly crafted and stunning. I think the new poetry anthology, Manger, from Lee Bennett Hopkins is even more beautifully illustrated than The Baker’s Dozen and filled with poems that kids and adults will like, I think (hope) it will become a classic holiday gift/read. Of course The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is terrific. I agree about the Patricia Polacco books that Bethe Lehman listed in her comment. They are treasures! And The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans is a lovely picture book and message.
*Manger before The Baker’s Dozen is a TYPO, please ignore!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Is one of my most favorites 🙂
I am reading this book to my 4th grade class right now! They are loving it! When it is time to read, they get excited and exclaim that they love it!
Yes! Happy memories of my mom reading us this each holiday season. I was so shocked by those rotten Herdmans! 😉 So much to love about this book.
I read Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming and The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg to my 5th and 6th graders every year.
My 2 year old loves Bear Stays up for Christmas by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman AND The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tillman.
One of my favorites is Anna’s Special Present by Yoriko Tsutsui. It isn’t a winter or Christmas book though. It is a story of giving from the heart.
I love “Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas” by John Baxter. Memoir about an Aussie who met and married a Frenchwoman and took up the challenge of cooking an authentic French Christmas meal. If you love Christmas, France and food… you’ll love it.
No question–Marla Frazee’s SANTA CLAUS THE WORLD’S NUMBER ONE TOY EXPERT. Sweet, funny, and impeccably illustrated!
I am also currently reading Let It Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson. My students loved Space Case, and Merry Christmas, Space Case (which you can find online as a video). Night Tree by Eve Bunting. Not a “Christmas” book but I always read Owl Moon by Jane Yolen in the winter. The crazy and hilarious Chritopher Moore’s Stupidest Angel. Happy Holidays all you nerdy book lovers and thanks for the other suggestions!
My favorite picture book is How The Grinch Stole Christmas. My favorite chapter book is The House Without A Christmas Tree.
The Story of Holly and Ivy. I read it every year to my first graders. Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo is a beautiful Christmas story with amazing illustrations. I also love to read Owl Moon by Jane Yolen the first time it snows.
A couple favorites: Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and The Magic Dreidels by Eric Kimmel.
The Christmas Extravaganza…a student gave me a signed copy years ago when our class was building gingerbread houses on our last day before winter break. Last year my class held a Grand Conversation off of the book…beautiful ideas emerged about the true meaning of the holidays and a tie to the Golden Rule.
I read my Ron Searle-illustrated A Christmas Carol every year, about 3 pages at a time, during Advent. It’s the one that started off the holiday book genre and probably still the best IMHO! Try it–there’s no stiff language, just great descriptions of characters and scenes, hilarity that will make you suggest blind man’s bluff at your family Christmas, social commentary, villain turned hero, and more!
The Sparkle Box
The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff. I’ve given it to a lot of adults and they all cried.
The one that comes to mind as my recent favorite is The Polar Express. It was my go to book when my son, tear stained and sobbing, questioned me about whether or not Santa Claus existed. We read The Polar Express and it had a calming effect on him. The question of whether or not Santa exists is still up for grabs for him but the message of the book about the power of one’s beliefs was all that was needed, and we are not religious by any means. I take the message in the book from a spiritual perspective.
I discovered the gem of a holiday story “Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory” one year watching PBS. It was the original TV production for ABC Playhouse from 1960 starring Geraldine Page. Only later did I discover the short story it was based on. It’s been a part of my school library and holiday traditions every year since.
I love introducing my first graders to Jan Brett and her buddy Hedgie through all of her magnificent Winter and Christmas titles. We supplemented the books with learning how to draw Hedgie and Polar Bears from her Youtube videos. She is so generous with her talents by inspiring children to write and draw. I am actually giving my students Dear Santasaurus by Stacy McAnulty, Illustrated by Jef Kaminsky, and The Snow Angel by Christine Leeson, Illustrated by Jane Chapman for their Christmas gift. Both titles are available through Scholastic. We are using Dear Santasaurus as a mentor text for writing letters to Santa this week. I adore teaching first graders!!
BTW-A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone connected with Nerd Camp 2014. It has changed everything about how I have approached my classroom this year. I am so grateful that you came into my teaching life!! Merry Christmas!
Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant. I read this aloud to middle schoolers every year, and I get choked up at the end every single time. But so do many of them….
I enjoy The Grinch and The Polar Express. A newer book that comes to mind is The Christams Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood.
Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera. It has a great message and it’s just so fun to read aloud. But my absolute favorite is A Small Miracle by Peter Collington. It’s a beautiful and magical story told without words.
I love The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza by David Shannon and Santa’s Stuck is also a fun one!
Christmas books by Debbie Macomber and Melody Carlson.
For me, it’s a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I try to reread it each year. I have the edition with illustrations by P. J. Lynch, and the artwork is delightfully spooky but still festive.
The Bells Of Christmas by Virginia Hamilton
A beautiful book, set in 1890, in rural Ohio, an African American family prepares for Christmas- What a wonderful book about family love, set at Christmastime- great read a loud-
A Christmas Carol (dickens), The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree (Cooney), Olive the Other Reindeer
I also love A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. Last year I discovered A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck. It was a delight! Another favorite is Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck. Some great suggestions here!
Ezra Jack Keats’s The Little Drummer Boy, Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas by Russell Hoban (illus. Lillian Hoban), The Night Before Christmas by Rachel Isadora, Morris’s Disappearing Bag by Rosemary Wells, The Nativity by Julie Vivas. Hanukkah Lights by David Martin (illus. Melissa Sweet).
I love Auntie Claus, Why Christmas Trees Are Not Perfect, and the books by Jason F Wright
The Christmas Alphabet and The 12 Days of Christmas by Robert Sabuda, The Night Before Christmas- Mary Engelbreit/Clement Moore version – Fisher Price Little People Christmas (memories with my kiddos on that flap book) – The Jolly Christmas Postman by Allan/Janet Ahlberg – The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
Two years in a row now I have read Soup On Ice by Robert Newton Peck and LOVE it! Might have to continue to read this one each year!
Santa’s Book of Names
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. I cry at the ending every time I read this book. It evokes such memories and longings.
I also love The Polar Express for the classroom. We discuss what we would do if we were on the train.
I love THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER as a read-aloud with my fourth graders. I think my favorite PB is THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY by Susan Wojciechowski, and always get a little choked up reading it.
The velveteen rabbit. 🙂 only the first part is about Christmas, but I love it!
I have to echo Suzanne’s comments above. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a long-standing favorite. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey was given to me for Christmas a few years ago and has become a favorite as well. And the Peanuts Christmas is another long-standing favorite.
I am working with a teacher in a challenging, urban neighborhood who is reading aloud THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER to her second graders. It is great for kids who are a bit like the Herdmans to chuckle along and get into deeper discussions about the Herdmans’ behavior.
“Amahl and the Night Visitors”
One of my absolute favorites is The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell. It was originally a radio broadcast in 1939. I share it with my students every year, and I always cry when I read it. I then play the song that Bing Crosby recorded based on the story.
Since preschooler’s are my life – I would have to say Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry and Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson are two of my favorites.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is one of my all time Christmas favorites. It is a beautiful picture book with a heartwarming story.
I still love the O’Henry story “The Gift of the Magi.”
Two other favorites: The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L’Engle and Angels and Other Strangers by Katherine Paterson.
Welcome, Comfort by Patricia Polacco.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel
Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect by Richard Schneider
We also love GREAT JOY by Kate DiCamillo. We also love, love, love LISTEN TO THE SILENT NIGHT by Dandi Daley Mckall and ROOM FOR A LITTLE ONE by Martin Waddell. Also, SONG OF THE STARS by Sally Lloyd-Jones.
Loved reading all the suggestions in the comments!