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 Hanukkah, Latino 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
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+ 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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