Book Advent & Little Owl's Snow

This is the third year we’ve celebrated "book advent." It's essentially an advent for holiday literature, beginning December 1st and running through Christmas Eve. Each night, we gather under the twinkling glow of the Christmas tree and unwrap a favorite wintry/holiday book. Our collection is a mish mash of books from my childhood, new titles purchased for my children each year, and library books. It's the perfect opportunity to pull out our favorite, beloved holiday books and read them anew.

If you're interested in starting this tradition in your own home, below is a list of some of the books that we've included in our book advent this holiday season.  Since we are a family who celebrates Christmas, our list includes several books with biblical undertones, but there are also a few non-religious, wintry themed books as well. When adopting this tradition, you could easily tailor your book list to suit your families beliefs or traditions. Here are some suggestions for those celebrating HanukkahLatino winter celebrations, and African American Christmas traditions and Kwanzaa.

Little Robin's Christmas by Jan Fearnley

The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Mr. Willowby's Christmas by Robert Barry

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Finding Christmas by Leslie Evans

Star Bright by Alison McGhee

This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Britta Teckentrup

The Christmas Fox by Anika McGrory

Red & Lulu by Matt Tavares

A Wish To Be A Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving by Jan & Mike Berenstain

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Heyer

This is Christmas by Tom Booth

The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear

Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht

The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen

Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

The Christmas Eve Tree by Emily Sutton

The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

The Great Spruce by John Duvall

Twas the Night Before Christmas retold by Jan Brett
Little Owl's Snow by Divya Srinsivasan

And for more in depth reviews of the books listed above, hop on over to Lovely Little Reads, my children's channels including instagram and facebook.
This year, we added a few new titles, including The Christmas Fox, This is the Stable, and Little Owl's Snow.  The last title is especially lovely and will delight young readers, for whom the first appearance of snow provokes curiosity and utter joy.  

Little Owl observant, silently watching at the animals scurry about, preparing for the cold front, his friends abandoning him for the warmth and security of their burrows one by one. When the last leaf falls, a quiet forest is met by the falling of the first silent flakes, much to Little Owl's delight. Quickly, a few crystals glinting in the sky become a white blankets covering the ground. At one point he comments "how strange and wonderful it all was!" Such wise words to encapsulate the mystery and awe of a first snow.

And for more in depth reviews and links to the books listed above, hop on over to my blog, Lovely Little Reads or my instagram channel, @lovely.little.reads.

How about you?  Any book advent favorites this season?

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