The Best Christmas Books For Toddlers

One of the best ways to celebrate Christmas is by reading Christmas books with your toddler (or baby!). My toddler and I love seasonally themed books. And books make great Christmas gifts for toddlers!

Every year, I love to get a few new seasonal books for my toddler’s collection. Typically I like to do this after a holiday to take advantage of sales. Other times I make use of Amazon’s rare buy 2 get 1 free deals.

Christmas themed books make great gifts for toddlers, especially if you’re looking to cut down on the amount of toys in your house. They’re also a great item to add into Christmas Eve boxes, too.

Of course, with so many books out there, it can be hard to know which ones are worth adding to your collection. I thought I’d share a few of our favorite Christmas and winter themed books.

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Holiday Books For Little Ones

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you’ve probably figured out by now that I’m a big proponent of reading. Not only is reading essential for growth in moms, but it’s also incredibly important for babies and toddlers as well.

Reading to your baby or toddler helps language development, communication skills, and of course promotes bonding by spending time together.

The best way to take advantage of the benefits of reading is to find a regular time to read together every day. For toddlers, this might include a lot of picture books and simple board books. And that’s okay!

A great way to change up what you read is to get seasonal books. You might leave seasonal books out all year around, or try switching them out for variety and sense of “newness.”

Buying tip: many of these books (and more!) are included in Amazon’s rare buy 3 books for the price of 2. Be sure to take advantage of these deals when they happen!

How To Make The Most Of Reading Time

I know, not everyone particularly likes to read with their kids. I get it—I really do. For a long time I wasn’t crazy about reading with Elijah, and a big part of it was it was boring.

I love to read myself, but I hated reading out loud. And short picture books just weren’t engaging enough. In short, for a long time it was a struggle to enjoy reading with him.

Here are some things I’ve found help a lot. And if you are feeling the same way I did, hang in there. It will get better, I promise!

1. Set a regular reading time, and commit to just 5-10 minutes.

One thing I found that really helped me was to find a reading time that worked for us every day. For a little while it was bedtime, but eventually that stopped working for us as it became an evasive technique for bedtime.

I know a lot of people recommend reading at bedtime, but for us it just got to a point where it wasn’t working. Instead, we switched to just before naptime.

After Elijah was already for naptime, I started letting him pick out 1-3 books, depending on how much time we had. If he took a long time getting ready for nap (cleaning up toys, using the bathroom), then we would only read one. And if he was quick about it, we would read a few more.

2. Find books with an actual story to them

When Elijah was a baby, I really didn’t like reading to him, and that was mostly because it felt boring. The “age appropriate” books we had for him were incredibly simple, and often didn’t even have a story line to them.

If felt like torture to read and reread the same boring books over and over. Once he got a bit older and we started collecting more books, it got less and less boring as the books began to have actual story lines.

Even if they are simple story lines, getting books with an actual story helps keep you from getting bored with reading time. In retrospect, I kind of wish we had skipped over “baby books” and gone straight to picture books with stories.

3. Get seasonal books to mix things up

I love getting a few new seasonal books for Elijah every year. It helps keep his book collection fresh, and keeps both of us engaged in reading together.

Right now I leave seasonal books out all year around, but I’ve been playing with the idea of switching them out seasonally. I think it would help keep things fresh and interesting.

The Best Christmas Books For Toddlers

Okay, by now you’re probably wondering what winter and Christmas books would be good to add to your toddlers books. Here are some favorites that toddlers will love.

The Itsy Bitsy Snowman

The Itsy Bitsy Snowman is a really cute short board book, probably best suited for young toddlers.

In this book, the story is set to the tune of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” which makes it a great rhyming book. It’s short and sweet, but very cute.

It doesn’t have the most in depth story line, but it’s a good book to work on rhythm and rhyming. And of course, it’s all about a baby snowman.

Bear Stays Up For Christmas

Bear Stays Up For Christmas is another shorter book, but it has more of a story line to it.

In this book, Bear is determined to stay up for Christmas this year. His woodland friends work to help him stay up, despite his bear-ish tendency to fall asleep and sleep through Christmas.

By the end of the book, each one of his friends begins to drop off to sleep. Toddlers love finding out if Bear is able to stay awake all the way to Christmas!

Little Blue Truck’s Christmas

Little Blue Truck’s Christmas is one of our favorite Christmas books for toddlers! This series is especially good for toddler boys—we all know boys love trucks!

In this book, Little Blue works to bring Christmas trees to all his friends. And at the very end, his very own tree actually lights up in the tree.

This is also a great book for toddlers to work on counting. There are plenty of opportunities for toddlers to count how many trees there are, and how many animals there are at each of Blue’s stops.

Baking Day At Grandma’s

Alright, this one isn’t strictly a Christmas book—more of a wintery book.

In Baking Day at Grandma’s, three little bears make their way through the snow to Grandma’s house to bake.

This rhyming, sing-song-y book is great for toddlers, and a lot of fun to read!

The Polar Express

The Polar Express is a classic Christmas book for little kids! While we don’t have the book, we do have the movie. It’s one of Elijah’s favorites!

Let’s be real, it’s hard to not like a book that has Christmas and trains in it—especially if you have a little boy.

In the Polar Express, a young boy rides the train to the North Pole, where his belief in Santa is eventually restored just in time for Christmas.

Buying tip: this book is often included in Amazon’s buy 3 books for the price of 2 deal!

The Berenstain Bears and the Joy Of Giving

While we haven’t read this specific book yet, we do love the Berenstain Bears series!

This series is full of good lessons and interesting stories. Perfect for little ones.

Buying tip: this book is currently included in Amazon’s buy 3 books for the price of 2 deal!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

It’s no secret that my toddler and I both love Dr. Seuss books. Not only are they fun, but they also help babies learn to talk, and toddlers learn to pronounce words better.

In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch sets out to steal Christmas from the Who’s. He just hates Christmas that much!

But in the process of ruining Christmas, the Grinch begins to have a change of heart and learns the real meaning of Christmas.

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

Can you tell we like the classics in this house? So much nostalgia!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a classic Christmas book every kid loves.

This book follows Rudolph as he is first picked on as a baby reindeer, runs away because of his shiny red nose, and eventually returns to save Christmas during a terrible storm on Christmas Eve.

Llama Llama Jingle Bells

I have a love-hate relationship with Llama Llama books. Some I actually really like, and others not so much.

In any case, Llama Llama is a popular book series for toddlers that many love.

If you’re a fan of the series as well, Llama Llama Jingle Bells is a great addition to your toddler’s Christmas collection.

The Night Before Christmas

I hope you’re not tired of classics yet, because here’s another one.

The Night Before Christmas is a fantastic book to read together on Christmas Eve. Even if you don’t do the Christmas tradition of Santa, it’s still a fun book to read.

This is also a great book to include in Christmas Eve boxes for toddlers as well.

God Gave Us Christmas

If you’re looking for a good book to teach the what Christmas is truly all about, I’ve got just the book for you.

God Gave Us Christmas is a fantastic book by a Christian author.

Whether you decide to do Santa or not, it’s important for even toddlers to learn how Christmas actually began. And this book can help you teach that in an age appropriate way.

What are your favorite Christmas books?