Feasts & Seasons :: Advent & Christmas Collection

by | Nov 17, 2014 | Advent and Christmas, Christmas Picture Books | 2 comments

So… Our family has this little collection of Christmas books! 😉

As I’ve mentioned in the past, we started collecting Christmas picture books in 2000, following the birth of our oldest son, and we still love adding to our collection each year.  In 2007, following the release of Christmas Mosaic: An Illustrated Book Study for Children, we started reading a picture book as a family each day during Advent, incorporating some of Cay’s wonderful study guides and activities. That same year our public libraries were all closed due to a lack of funding (and stayed closed for a few years) so I was very thankful to have her booklists to use as a guide when searching for new books to purchase for my children.

In 2010 I started wrapping our books for Advent with purple and pink wrapping paper, coordinating with the liturgical color for each week. I wondered at first if it would be worth the effort (and all that paper!) but this is now one of my children’s favorite Advent traditions.  They love taking turns unwrapping the books and we all love the special time we spend together reading.

Here is the sample of the books featured in Christmas Mosaic:

Christmas Mosaic Theme: Decoration and Preparation

Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar
The Christmas Cobwebs
Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel
The Cobweb Curtain: A Christmas Story
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey with CD: Gift Edition
Santa’s Favorite Story
A Christmas Memory (*This was a new purchase in 2013 and we decided not to keep it in our collection.)

Christmas Mosaic Theme: Giving 

The Christmas Candle
Shoemaker Martin (*using the guide for The Shoemaker’s Dream – same story but depicted by a different artist)
The Christmas Coat (local library)
The Gift of the Magi
The Bear’s Christmas Surprise
A Small Miracle

Christmas Mosaic Theme: Family (and Birthdays!)

An Orange for Frankie
Silent Night
The Christmas Promise
One Christmas Dawn
Night Tree

Christmas Mosaic Theme: Nativity, Angels and Epiphany

The Christmas Bird by Sallie Ketcham
The Christmas Bird by Bernadette Watts
Father and Son: A Nativity Story
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger
Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of our collection: 

~ Advent and Christmas Chapter Books ~

Christmas at Stony Creek 
Destination: Bethlehem
Letters from Father Christmas (not pictured)
The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories by O. Henry
The Story of Holly and Ivy
The Thirteen Days of Christmas
The Trees Kneel at Christmas
Kersti and Saint Nicholas (not pictured)

A Christmas Chronicle
The Catholic Christmas Book of Cherished Christmas Customs
The Church Mouse of Saint Nicholas
The Eternal Babe (poetry)
The True Meaning of Christmas by Fulton Sheen

Samantha’s Surprise
Josefina’s Surprise
Kirsten’s Surprise
A Surprise for Caroline
Addy’s Surprise: A Christmas Story

~ Early Advent ~

Advent Storybook: 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas
The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas, An Austin Family Story (more of a chapter book)
Waiting for Noel: An Advent Story
A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays

~ December 6th :: Feast of St. Nicholas ~

A Gift from St. Nicholas (we don’t love the illustrations in this one)
Saint Nicholas
St. Nicholas: A Closer Look at Christmas (coffee table style book)
The Baker’s Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale (our “Baker’s Dozen” inspired cookies)
The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi (great book, definitely a favorite)
The Legend of St. Nicholas (not pictured)
The Miracle of Saint Nicholas (about a church named “Saint Nicholas” – definitely near the top of my list of favorites for Advent and Christmas)
The Real Santa Claus: Legends of Saint Nicholas (another favorite, most appropriate for older children, especially love the illustrations)
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (board book)
Kersti and Saint Nicholas (chapter book, not pictured)

~ December 9th and 12th :: Feasts of St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe ~

Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe (not pictured)
Our Lady of Guadalupe by Father Lovasik
Our Lady of Guadalupe (Coloring Book)
Our Lady of Guadalupe  by Carmen t. Bernier-Grand
Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop-up)
The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe Empress of the Americas (*there are still a few copies available here at the old price, plus you can support the sisters with your purchase!)

~ December 13th :: Feast of St. Lucia ~

Bells of Santa Lucia
Hanna’s Christmas
Kirsten’s Surprise: A Christmas Story
Lucia Morning in Sweden
Lucia, Child of Light: The History And Traditions of Sweden’s Lucia Celebration
Lucia, Saint of Light

~ Christmas Around the World ~

Baboushka: A Christmas Folktale from Russia
Christmas Around the World
Marta and the Manger Straw: A Christmas Tradition form Poland
Miracle of the Poinsettia
Pablo’s Christmas
The Miraculous Child: A Christmas Folktale from Old Russia

~ Christmas Books Inspired by Music ~

All for the Newborn Baby
Good King Wenceslas
Good King Wenceslas
Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker
Nutcracker  (not pictured)
O Holy Night
Stephen’s Feast
The Huron Carol

~ Christmas Crafts and Baking ~

A Christmas Manger (Punch-out-and-play Books)
The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus’ Birth
The Baker’s Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale
The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher
Cranberry Christmas

~ Historical Christmas Books ~

Christmas from Heaven: The True Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber (not pictured)
Christmas in the Trenches
War Game: Village Green to No-Man’s Land

~ Just for Fun ~

A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up Book (not pictured) 
Golfer’s Night Before Christmas , A
Home for Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Katie’s London Christmas
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
Snowmen at Night
Snowmen at Work
The Dolls Christmas (not pictured)
The Night Before Christmas: Book & DVD
The Night Before Christmas (not pictured)
The Mitten 20th Anniversary Edition
Pinkalicious: Merry Pinkmas! (not pictured)

~ Legends, Inspirational Stories & Other Miscellaneous Books ~

Angela and the Baby Jesus
Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing (not pictured)
On Christmas Eve
The Christmas Knight
The Legend of the Candy Cane
The Legend of the Christmas Rose
The Little Fir Tree
The Little Match Girl
The Three Gifts of Christmas: Book with Audio CD
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

~ Christmas ABC’s ~

ABC is for Christmas (A Little Golden Book)
S is for Star: A Christmas Alphabet (*also available in paperback for much less)
The Christmas ABC (A Little Golden Book – reprinted this year, not pictured)
The Angels Alphabet by Hilda Van Stockum (OOP – I found our copy on ebay)

~ The Christmas Story ~

Bethlehem
Christmas in the Barn
Christmas Night Fair and Bright
Little Star
On That Christmas Night (not pictured)
One Winter’s Night

Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey
The Christmas Bell
The Christmas Story (A Little Golden Book)
The Donkey’s Dream
The First Christmas
The Nativity by Ruth Sanderson
The Stable Where Jesus Was Born
The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale (not pictured)
There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve

~ The Twelve Days of Christmas ~

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Laurel Long
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Gennady Spirin
The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Christmas Carol (A Little Golden Book)
The Twelve Days of Christmas: The Story Behind a Favorite Christmas Song
Twelve Days of Christmas Stained Glass Coloring Book

~ January 6 :: Feast of Epiphany ~ 

Babushka and the Three Kings
Small Camel Follows the Star
The Last Straw
The Third Gift
We Three Kings

~ Board Books for our Littlest Ones ~

A Christmas Carol
B Is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet Board Book
Christmas in the Manger
One Night in Bethlehem
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend
Stable in Bethlehem: A Countdown to Christmas (not pictured)
That’s Not My Reindeer (not pictured)
The Christmas Story Board Book
The Legend Of The Three Trees – Board Book
The Saving Name of God the Son
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Touch and Feel Baby Jesus Is Born
Who’s Hiding: A Christmas Lift the Flap
Who Is Coming to Our House?

~ A Few More Out Of Print Finds  ~

A Child’s Story of the Nativity Illustrated by Masha
That Wonderful Night: The Story of the Very First Christmas
The Christmas Anna Angel 
The Little Juggler

I plan to add to this post as our collection continues to grow. Links to all of my book posts for the various feasts and seasons can be found here.

Note: I haven’t finished adding our new additions for 2014 to this list but you can find them listed in my post of New Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas.

2 Comments

  1. Angela Schaefer

    Will you be putting out the Advent labels for 2023? Our family just loves this and your labels are perfect. Thank you for all you share on this blog!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      Yes! I had hoped to have the post up this past weekend, but I’m running behind… The last of our Thanksgiving company left today and I am hoping to finish up the post tomorrow!

      Reply

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