Christmas Book Advent Calendar--A Collection of Favorite Christmas Stories

I love advent calendars. I love Christmas books. I love traditions. This project is all three!

Twenty-four Christmas books, one to read each night from December 1st through the 25th. What I love so much about this idea, is that you can customize it depending on the age of your children. And it's not as hard as you think to come up with 25 great Christmas stories.

If you are just starting your book collection, or want to try out some new-to-you stories, the library is a great option. At our local library, books may be checked out for three weeks, making it possible to use library books in this project.

Here is our list of favorite Christmas stories:

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus' Birth by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr Seuss

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomi dePaola

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers

Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard H. Schneider

Legend of the Christmas Stocking by Rick Osborne

The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans

The Little Drummer Boy

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

Bethlehem by Fiona French

I posted here about some new books added to the collection after this post was written.


You could  line the wrapped books on the mantle like this:

Photo Credit

or set them in a basket by the fireplace like this:

Photo Credit

No matter how you present the books, they will be a Christmas tradition for years to come.


(I love the convenience of shopping online and I think you will too. The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)