holiday reading basket

December is coming! Our family started a new tradition last year of wrapping Christmas, holiday, and giving-related children’s books and arranging them in a basket by our tree. Every day during December, one of the girls picks a book to unwrap and we read it together. I’ve amassed quite a collection at library sales, used bookstores, and thrift stores, and I also add a few library books to the basket unwrapped. I might wrap only a few of the books this year to keep it simple and save paper, but the girls love unwrapping the books so much that it’s worth making the effort.

I’ve listed some of our favorites from last year below. I would add Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree to the list, but I can hardly even think about that book without crying! This year I’ll be adding Kate DiCamillo’s Great Joy and Kathleen Bostrom’s Josie’s Gift, along with any others I hear about.

• The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (Susan Wojciechowski)
• An Orange for Frankie (Patricia Polacco)
• The Tale of Three Trees (Angela Elwell Hunt)
• The Christmas Lizard (Cory Edwards)
• The Crippled Lamb (Max Lucado)
• B Is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (Isabel Wilner)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Dr. Seuss)

Related Links:
Five in a Row Christmas Reading List

The Advent Book Box

Christmas Reading List

Advent and Christmas Book and Movie Lists

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