We cannot even believe that it is Christmas time already! This year has been a weird mixture of time moving really slowly, but at the same time passing by so quickly. It is a bit insane!

We really loved creating a book checklist for Thanksgiving (click here to see Thanksgiving checklist) meant to inspire feelings of gratitude and thankfulness, so we decided to make one for Christmas time as well! We searched high and low through our collections to find 20 Books to Get Your Child in the Holiday Spirit! These are some our favorite books to read during the holiday season and some new ones we added to our collection too! We hope you enjoy reading them and that they help get you and your child into the holiday spirit!

20 Holiday Books to get Your Child in the Holiday Spirit//Book Descriptions and Links

1. Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht // We love this book! It’s written by the same author who wrote Pick a Pumpkin and it is so cute! The illustrations are beautiful and it’s a book we have cherished during the holiday season! It talks about all of the holiday traditions people do with family and friends and we hope it gets your child in the holiday spirit like it does for ours!
2. Everybody’s Tree by Barbara Joose // This book just came out this year and I am predicting it will become a classic. It’s a beautiful story about a little boy who planted a small sapling, watching it grow his whole life into a beautiful evergreen. But after many years, the tree gets older and needs to be cut down. It gets chosen as the city Christmas Tree and enjoys one last hurrah as everybody’s Christmas tree! I’m pretty sure it will make you cry!
3. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Schertle // This is a great book for younger kids! Little Blue Truck delivers Christmas trees to the different animals and your child can help count each green tree from one to five and back again!
4. I Got the Christmas Spirit by Connie Schofield-Morrison // We found this book at the library last year and loved it. It follows a mother daughter duo as they prepare for the holiday season. The main message is that holiday’s aren’t just about receiving, but about giving too! My daughter loved the way the words rhymed together and it really captured her attention.
5. Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner // The illustrations in this book are so cute. You can see little pictures of the snowmen enjoying life while we sleep! It’s a cute and fun read! There are also hidden characters on each page that my daughter loved to find!
6. The Tree That’s Meant to Be by Yuval Zommer // I love this book for its super sweet message. It talks about celebrating our differences, sticking by our friends and the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a classic feel good Holiday book!
7. The Snowman Shuffle by Christianne Jones // My daughter loves this book and honestly, so do I. It’s playful and interactive and it encourages movement and dancing. We love how it rhymes and keeps us all entertained. My younger daughter really loves this book right now!
8. Snow Sisters by Kerri Kokias // I might be biased since I have two daughter’s but this is one of my favorite books. We rented it from the library and loved it so much I purchased it afterwards. It’s a short and sweet story about two sisters who enjoy their snow day in their own unique ways, apart but then together. It’s just beautifully illustrated, which is always a big win in my book!
9. The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen // This is such a sweet story about a friendship between a little girl and a lost reindeer! It’s cute, has beautiful illustrations and has little interactive die cuts that make it fun and interactive for kids!
10. S is for Santa by Greg Paprocki // We have a ton of these books. It basically just has an illustration for every letter of the alphabet. I use it to talk to my daughter’s about the images and they make up little stories! We also use them during our homeschooling adventures!
11. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg // This is a Classic in our house! We read it every year and it’s just tradition! It’s a beautiful story about a little boy who is starting to not believe in Santa and Christmas and his journey on the Polar Express! In the end, he finds his Christmas Spirit and keeps it forever!
12. Merry Christmas, Little Elliot by Mike Curato // We love Elliot and Mouse books in our house! They always have such great messages. In this story, Little Elliot the elephant isn’t quite sure what Christmas spirit is, but he suspects he doesn’t have it. Nothing really helps, until a letter for Santa gets blown his way into Elliot and Mouse’s path. The two friends discover what Christmas is all about―and make a new friend, too. Such a cute story!
13. Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney // This is the perfect book for younger kids! It’s short, simple and sweet! Little Llama and his friends give gifts to each other, sing songs and decorate cookies!
14. Olive, the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh // We love this story! It’s about a little dog named Olive who thinks she is a reindeer and goes off to the North Pole to help Santa and the reindeer at Christmas. Olive has quite an experience with Santa and the reindeer and ends up saving Christmas! 
15. Dasher by Matt Tavares // This is wonderful story explaining how the reindeer came to pull Santa’s sleigh. I think it’s a prequel to Rudolph so it’s a great book to read before you read that! It also has such beautiful illustrations!
16. When Posey Peeked at Christmas by Ann Dixon // My older daughter loved this book last year! It’s about a little mouse named Posey who loves Christmas, especially the presents! One afternoon, when she’s alone, Posey picks up a present and lifts the wrapping just a little and peeks! On Christmas, while all of her siblings are happy and surprised, she is sad because she ruined the surprise of it all. It’s a great book that teaches a lesson for kids with a cute little twist at the end.
17. The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tillman // The message of this book is super sweet. It talks about how you can have all the fancy decorations, elaborate feasts, pretty presents and everything else, but what really matters is the love that makes angels sing!
18. The Great Spruce by John Duvall // This is a cute story with a little environmental twist. The little boy is attached to a tree his grandfather planted years ago and they decorate it together every year. One year, a nearby city wants to use it in their Christmas celebration and Alec, the little boy, protests and says it can only be borrowed. They borrow it, return it and Alec replants it in his yard. The town then grows a sapling so they can have a tree of their own. The author encourages readers to go back to the ancient practice of decorating a live tree, instead of cutting one down.
19. Snow Globe Wishes by Erin Dealey // This is such a sweet book about community and sharing. It’s a story about people enjoying a little respite from their everyday hustle and bustle to have fun in the snow. A great reminder to slow down and enjoy life!
20. The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear // My girls love this book. It has adorable illustrations and a sweet little story, with the added bonus of having some real life facts about animals in the winter. It’s a perfect addition to your holiday book collection!

Read Along With Us Using the Hashtag #readwithSG

We want to challenge you to follow along with us and complete this reading list challenge! Download the PDF below, share your progress and tag us in the hashtag, #readwithSG. You don’t have to purchase all of the books if you don’t want. Rent them from a library, share with a friend, or see if there is an audio version on Spotify! If you want to support a local bookstore and shop small, you can shop via Powell’s or a local family owned San Diego bookstore, Warwick’s.

We hope that these books help get your child in the holiday spirit! It’s been such a crazy year so it’s nice to focus on a holiday and all the fun it brings!!

Thank you for following along!

xoxoxox,

Kari

P.S. Just a disclaimer, if you click on the links above and purchase within 24 hours, we do make a small amount of commission! Just wanted to be totally transparent! xoxox

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