One of our favorite family Christmas traditions starts tomorrow: counting down to Christmas with a book to open each day. We have been collecting Christmas books since my oldest child was little and absolutely love doing this each year. Here’s the how to:

1) Get 24 Christmas books.

2) Get yourself some wrapping paper, wrap up your books and number each one 1-24. I usually end up getting paper from the Hearth and Hand line at Target, as it’s always super cute. Here’s the link for one of the ones I got this year.

3) Each evening in December before bedtime, let your child open up the book for that day and read it together cozied up in front of your Christmas tree. We have 4 kids, so we alternate which child gets to open the book each night. Our rule is that whoever opens the book, gets to choose who they want to read it aloud.

That’s it! Super simple and your kids will love it.

FAQ

+ Are the books new each year?
No! For the most part, they are the same books year to year. Through the years we have “upgraded” some of them to replace the cheaper “filler” books we had while we were building our collection.

+ Where can I get books?
We’ve gotten many from Amazon. In the beginning when we were first building our collection, we got quite a few in the dollar spot at Target, so as to not break the bank, yet still have 24. I’ve also found some cute and affordable ones at Homegoods. Another option is to check out books at your local library.

+ Which books do you have? (faith based books are noted with an asterisk *)

1) Olive, The Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh

2) Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer *

3) Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner

4) Olivia Helps With Christmas by Ian Falconer

5) Last Stop On The Reindeer Express by Maudie Powell-Tuck

6) Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson *

7) The Littlest Christmas Tree by RA Herman

8) The Giving Manger by Allison Hottinger *

9) Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht

10) Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Connor

11) Merry Christmas Mr. Mouse by Caralyn + Mark Buehner *

12) Santa Claus: The World’s Number One Toy Expert by Marla Frazee

13) Night Tree by Eve Bunting

14) Sounding Joy by Ellie Holcomb *

15) The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll

16) Let it Snow by Holly Hobbie

17) Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anne Dewdney

18) Clifford’s Christmas by Norman Bridwell

19) There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro

20) The Christmas Story by Gill Davies *

21) Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer

22) Bear Stays Up by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

23) Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones *

24) Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

And here are a few others that we have had in the past:

+ The Littlest Reindeer by Brandi Dougherty

+ The Berenstain Bears Merry Christmas by Jan + Mike Berenstain

+ Biscuit’s Christmas Eve by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

+ Merry Christmas, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

+ Merry Christmas, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff and Felecia Bond

+ The Berenstain Bears and The Joy of Giving by Jan + Mike Berenstain

+ Merry Christmas, Little Critter! by Mercer Mayer

Please let me know if you have any questions! I hope you and your children will love this tradition as much as my family and I do!