The 12 Days of Christmas: Day 2, Read All About It!

Every year about this time, our kids always look forward to unpacking our collection of holiday books.  During the month of December, we keep them in a basket in the family room, ready for a read-aloud or a quiet read-alone. This is the season to enjoy some really terrific books as a family. Trust me. Your kids will love a nightly reading time as they cuddle up in blankets, nibble on popcorn or cookies and listen to Mom or Dad read.

If you don’t have many, or any, holiday books, you can visit the library, borrow from friends, download on Kindle, or purchase.  Any day now, your library’s shelves will be emptied of every book related to Hanukkah and Christmas, so don’t wait!  Grab your library card and make a book run!  Not surprisingly, Amazon has a huge selection with prices generally lower than bookstores. This can be a very budget-friendly tradition, and once you have your collection of books, you store them away with your other holiday decorations and pull the out each year.

One more way to enjoy these books for free is to use your library’s electronic audiobooks. Depending on the book, you can either download it onto your computer or other electronic device, turn up the volume, and listen.

The nice thing about these books is that they never get old.  We read them only during the month of December, and pack them away until next year.  Here are a few books my kids have been enjoying for years.

• The Christmas Crocodile by Bonnie Becker
• The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg (The movie creeped them out, but we watched it anyway.)
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
• The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
• Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate
• Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas Treasury
• The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
• Bah!  Humbug?  by Lorna Balian
• The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry — This story will stick with your kids for the rest of their lives.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
• The Story of Hanukkah by David A. Adler
• The Night Before Hanukkah by Natasha Wing

If you gather together 31 Christmas/Hanukkah themed books, you can create your own Advent calendar of sorts, presenting a new book to the kids each night.

Maybe your kids are fascinated by other countries and cultures around the world. It’s easy to combine a little geography with stories about international Christmas festivities.

• The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola (Mexico)
• Lucia Morning in Sweden by Ewa Rydaker (Sweden)
• How the Russian Snow Maiden Helped Santa Claus by Gail Buyske (Russia)
• Christmas Around the World by Mary D. Lankford (International)

One of the best bonding times you can have as a family, with kids or grandkids, is a read-aloud time. When we went to Iceland this fall, I read Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, which, coincidentally, begins in Iceland. Even though my kids are now teenagers, they still enjoyed the story and when there were still a few chapters to go by the time we returned home, they bugged me to continue reading.

There’s something about the read-aloud experience that is positively addicting.

Any of the above titles would be suitable for read-alouds, but if you’d like a longer, chapter book, check these out:

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
• Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements
• When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke

It wouldn’t be hard to stage the “perfect family Christmas evening” with a read-aloud, hot chocolate and everyone in pajamas. I think kids instinctively love being cozy, and this has all the necessary ingredients.

Enjoy your family time this year, and if family is scarce this year, here is a list of children’s hospitals around the country in need of volunteers.