Keep the true message of Christmas alive by sharing these stories together
Sometimes it’s the small things that help us find Jesus during the Christmas season: a card from a loved one, coming together in community to help others, or enjoying time with our own families.
Children’s picture books are a great way to deepen your child’s faith roots without feeling like you have to KNOW it all or DO it all.
Here are some of the best books that can help families celebrate the birth of our Savior and draw closer together as a family for the season. These are all books that share the meaning of Christmas, not just the details of the Christmas story.
Here are the books that I hope your enjoy with your children this Christmas season!
M is for Manger, Crystal Bowman
This unique alphabet book shares the story of Christmas while also teaching letters. Win-win!
Lift the Flap Nativity
The Nativity story isn't just a cute story, it's the Gospel! Use these children's picture books to share God's story of Christmas with your toddler, preschool, and elementary-age children.
There are a ton of junky lift-the-flap books out there, but this one truly has a surprise under each flap. Your little one will discover kitties lapping up milk, a mouse on a soldier’s head, and many other silly and sweet treasures.
Christmas in the Manger
This board book tells the story of Jesus’ birth and is nice an durable for tiny readers under age 3.
Room for a Little One, by Martin Waddell
A favorite for the Christmas season in our house! This sweet book for all ages tells the story of Jesus' birth through the animals in the stable.
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The Sparkle Box, by Jill Hardie
If you’re looking for a way to help your child see Christmas as a time to be generous, this book is perfect. The main character goes through his regular Christmas preparations and discovers that when he serves others out of Christ-like compassion, he has given a gift to Jesus! Plus, this book actually comes with a cardboard sparkle box in the back, so you can get your kids participating easily!
One Wintry Night, Ruth Bell Graham
If you’re looking for something longer, this book is chapter-book length, but with beautiful illustrations scattered throughout. The main character finds himself lost on a wintry night, and stumbles into the cabin of a woman who tells him the Christmas story in a way he’s never heard before!
Santa’s Favorite Story
This is our absolute favorite Christmas book in our house and we always read it before bed on Christmas Eve. Santa is not feeling well, and all of the animals in the forest are worried that Christmas will be cancelled. Santa teaches the animals all about the true story of Christmas and also what it means to spread the message of Christ each and every year.
Mortimer's Christmas Manger
This book contains the gospel-centered story of a mouse that searches all over the house looking for a new home. He thinks he finds the perfect home in a nativity set, and is chagrined when the little statues keep taking back their space. When he overhears the family talking about the Christmas story, he realizes whose house he’s crashing, and makes room for the baby Jesus.
The Christmas Promise
This incredible Bible-spanning book traces God’s promise to Israel that he would give them a King, but of course, this king showed up in a very different way. It provides a sharp contrast between earthly kingdoms and Christ’s eternal kingdom.
Song of the Stars, Sally Lloyd-Jones
This Christmas book contains one of the most expansive messages of what the Incarnation means, not just to humans, but to an entire broken planet.
The Legend of the Candy Cane
If your kids love candy canes (and who doesn’t??), they’ll love this gospel-focused story of a mysterious candy maker who brings the entire community together with his new treat.
God gave us Christmas
Part of Lisa Tawn Bergren’s “God Gave Us” series, this one has little bear’s dad explaining the depth of the Christmas story, going all the way back to the promise about the “stump of Jesse”. I love that the illustrations of this book go along with some of the more abstract parts of the Christmas story, and that it shows how Jesus’ birth can make a true difference in our children’s lives.