Create a Christmas Book Advent Calendar
Have you ever heard of a Christmas book Advent calendar? It’s so simple and yet so fun. And best of all, it’s the perfect way to incorporate read-aloud time into your family’s holiday traditions.
Here’s How It Works
With a Christmas book Advent calendar, instead of a toy or a piece of candy, your child opens a Christmas picture book every day. It’s like a chocolate Advent calendar … only better!
Gather Your Books
First, gather enough books so that you’ll have one for every day of Advent. You can use my library list to gather books from the library, or you can use this holiday activity as an excuse to build up your own library of beautiful Christmas books!
So how many books will you need?
The traditional Advent calendar begins on the Sunday nearest the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30) and continues through four Sundays, ending on December 24. This year (2020) Advent begins on Sunday, November 29, so that means you’ll need 26 books.
Wrap Your Books
Wrap enough Christmas books for every day of Advent and add a numbered tag to each one. Create your own tags or download our Printable Advent Tags and choose a set to print and attach to your wrapped picture books.
Display Your Books
Now it’s time to display your Christmas book Advent calendar.
Put the books under the Christmas tree, on a shelf, or in a basket. You might even want to keep them hidden so that your kids will have to hunt for them.
How you display them is up to you. Be creative and make it fun!
Countdown to Christmas with Picture Books!
Now comes the fun part. On each day during Advent, have your children open one of the wrapped books for your family to read together. The “togetherness” is part of the joy of this engaging holiday activity.
Perhaps this is the year you’ll start a new reading tradition in your household. Grab a cup of cocoa, a warm, snuggly blanket, and some kids, and get started with some beautiful Christmas books!
Looking for Christmas Picture Books?
If you’d like to create your own picture book Advent calendar but need some picture book inspiration, here are some of my favorite picture books for Christmas. Click to download a checklist of my favorites to take to your local library.
Looking for MORE books? You can find more great library lists here!
Holiday Book Traditions Shared by Our Readers
- Use a mix of books and movies! – shared by Angela
- Go outdoors to read your books every day. – shared by Cheryl
- Read The Advent Book by Jack and Kathy Stockman. – shared by Danielle
- Wrap a new book for each child to deposit on their beds after they fall asleep on Christmas Eve. – shared by Heather
- Keep a collection of Christmas books that stay in a special basket during Advent. – shared by Danielle
- Re-wrap Advent picture books before they get stored for the next year! – shared by Beth
- Just leave unwrapped books under the tree for the kids to choose for anytime reading. – shared by Kelsy
- Keep a basket of Christmas books under the tree to read aloud during the Christmas season. – shared by Jessica L.
- Every Christmas our family reads each night from the Jesus Storybook Bible. As soon as dinner is over, we read a chapter and put a corresponding ornament on a little tree. – shared by Annette
- Start a “12 Days of Christmas” tradition with a different theme for each day. Have books to read, crafts to create, and movies or special foods to enjoy. – shared by Meggen L.
- Light the advent wreath’s candle and read a Christmas book. – shared by Elizabeth
Does your family have any favorite holiday book traditions? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
Elaine
says:I have been doing this with my kiddo since preschool. He is now in 3rd grade. We have all of the titles on paper folded up and put them in the boxes of our Christmas tree Advent Calendar that has little magnetic ornaments too. There are 3 that are not random. The 19th is Daddy’s choice and he can pick from any of the books even if it has already been read. The 24th is always The Night Before Christmas and the 25th is always illustrated Luke 2. We have different books than you have listed. A couple of them are The Velveteen Rabbit, The Tale of Three Trees, Mickey Mouse’s A Christmas Carol, and The Nutcracker.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you for sharing the variation on this that you have done, Elaine! It sounds like a lovely Christmas tradition.
Jennifer
says:We haven’t done the advent pictures books yet. But last year we did read The Nutcracker as our daily read aloud for the time of advent, this year we will be reading A Christmas Carol- by dickens!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceEnjoy, Jennifer! I have read aloud A Christmas Carol a few Decembers! I’m not normally a fan of Dickens, but I really enjoy this book. There is some wondrously unexpected descriptive language to be found in it, and of course the classic theme of good will toward our fellow man.
Janine
says:Hi there
I can’t seem to download the printable tables tags??
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m sorry about that, Janine! Here is the direct link to download them: Christmas Book Advent Tags.
Let me know if that doesn’t work for you.
Joan L Jensen
says:LOVE IT! Thanks for this idea.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Joan!
Milli
says:Thank you so much for these wonderful tags! I have been looking all over for some cute ones and finally found yours!
Thanks again!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Milli!
Morgan
says:We have been doing this for the past 2 years. My kids love it everyday counting down until Christmas. I will be using some of these books listed to change it up. Thank you!
Becca
says:So cute! My boys would love this!
Diana
says:Love this idea!!
Emily
says:Love this idea!
Denise
says:I love this idea! And thank you for the book list!
Ashley Daugherty
says:Definitely a great idea to try next Christmas. Thank you for the free printable list of Christmas picture books!
Carrie Phillips
says:What a great idea!!
Kimberly michnik
says:Love this idea! Defiantly will need to be on the list of things to do this Christmas!
Beth C.
says:We do this each year. Wonderful tradition!
Alyce
says:Can’t wait to try this next year!
Tracey Johnson
says:This sounds like such a fun tradition!
Laura
says:This is such a fun idea! My daughter loves to unwrap gifts and I think she would enjoy this so much. I’ll be trying this!
Laura Goetsch
says:We did this last year and put all the books in one giant wrapped box. Made it easy to add books or change the order.
Elena
says:This is our new favorite tradition
Anne Jetton
says:I’ve done this! It’s such fun for littles!
Lauren
says:My kids would love this!
Jennifer
says:This is such a fun idea! We use a reusable cloth bag I made to put in a new book every day instead of using wrapping paper.
Gee Aquino
says:I’m definitely doing this!
Nicole
says:Our kids loved this, even my oldest who just does not like to read. We keep it simple, and pick out “pretty” books, instead of good reading books. Its a busy time of year and I don’t want the kids to dread their books. And we never buy new books unless it is something specifically requested. We are fortunate to have a nice used book store nearby, and thrift stores might have a good selection. We’ve also used library books. I like wrapping a craft book from the library. One year we did origami, the kids loved it.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceNicole,
Thank you for letting us know how much your children enjoyed this, even your oldest. I especially like the idea of doing craft books as well. How fun!
LeAnn A
says:I love this idea!
Deborah Gambrel
says:Cute idea
Heidi
says:So fun! Our family does this every Christmas season, and it has made reading with our kids really intentional during the busy holiday season. They’re always so excited to see which book will be opened that day, and continues to make reading so fun! ☺️
Melissa
says:What a wonderful idea. I cannot wait to do this for Christmas! I think I will get a head start while my Christmas wrap is still out and then I will be ready for December 1, 2020.
Julia
says:Love this idea and being able to continue reading through the winter break!
Michelle Watson
says:This is such a wonderful idea! Books are truly a gift!