If you've been around here since last year, then you might remember this blog post I did talking about one of our favorite Christmas traditions---a "Christmas countdown" with opening one Christmas book per day leading up to Christmas Day.
Read last year's post to get all the details, but in a nutshell, every new year I use my leftover wrapping paper to wrap up our kids Christmas books and put them away in a tote. It is the easiest hack ever and then they are all ready for the following year! I also make sure any additional leftover wrapping paper is nearby so that throughout the year as I pick up new titles, I can wrap those right away and put them in the tote as well. Then whenever we are ready to start our little countdown unwrapping tradition, I just bring the books up and they are ready to go! As you can see above, we are stacking all of the opened Christmas books together on a nearby shelf, so they are handy to pull out and look at/read for the kids. I put away a lot of our other books during this season so we can focus on the Christmas ones. We always go to a tree farm and pick out our tree right after Thanksgiving, so since we started the countdown earlier this year, I just incorporated the wrapped books into our living room decor instead of having them under the tree.
Also in last years post, I talk about another tradition we have, filling the Giving Manger. (Pictured in front of the stack of books above) This is such a sweet little activity for children, and ours LOVE it!
I'm starting out my book links today with these three Thanksgiving books. With the kids getting older, I realized that this year I wanted to make sure they knew the meaning and history of the Thanksgiving holiday. So I got these three books and have been so happy with them. They each tell the Thanksgiving story in a unique way and the kids are obsessed with them too. With Amazon prime you might be able to get them in time for Thanksgiving, or go ahead and purchase ahead for next year! I included these books in our countdown stack, even though they aren't Christmas books.
And then here are a few of the new Christmas titles I've added to our collection for this year! I got these throughout the year-several at garage sales/thrifted, and several from Amazon. I have pictures of these few the kids have already opened.
My kids are really into Winnie the Pooh right now, so I knew they would love this one when I found it at a thrift store this fall.
This one is a bit above their level but I went ahead and got it and I have been surprised how much they have enjoyed it! It is full of really fun facts, verses, and details about the Christmas story and biblical timeline. Highly recommend!
The Llama books can get a little crazy...=) but they are really cute and fun especially for younger kids!
This one is our pastor's favorite children's Christmas book and such a sweet book. I am really excited to have it added to our collection!
These other four titles are all brand-new to me as well as the children, so I am excited to add them in with our "tried and true" favorites!
Their favorite time every morning---taking turns choosing and opening a book from the stack, and then reading it aloud with mama. =)
Our throw pillow covers (in the background of this above picture) are these and these. I love how easy they are to use for decor-I simply pop them on my existing throw pillows and they instantly turn our little living room festive!
For more book ideas, make sure you also click this link and read the post from last year!
What are your favorite books that you are reading to your children this holiday season?
Have a fabulous weekend!
Chels
Note: all of the items linked in this post, unless otherwise noted, are items that I own and love. Amazon links are affiliate links.
Please read my affiliate disclosure here.
Every Christmas, we purchase books for our children. Some are new but most are books that I have purchased at used curriculum sales throughout the year or books that I have bought from online sites- abebooks and thriftbooks. I highly recommend those sites. It makes buying books much, much cheaper! Thank you so much for all of these recommendations. When your children get older, I would recommend Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford. A great read aloud that I did when my children were in middle school/upper elementary grades. So nice to hear/read it straight from the source! Thank you for this post and your health update. Our own family is going through some minor health issues and I like to hear of others’ issues. You can learn so much that may help you down the road.
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