Christmas Book Basket for Kids ~ The Organized Homeschooler

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Every month I assemble a book basket for my kids. The basket typically contains a variety of books about seasonal topics. My kids are free to read them any time they want. My December ~ Christmas book basket is a little different. Every December I select and wrap 25 Christmas books for kids.

Christmas Books for Kids written on red background next to a Christmas book basket

Actually, I do this at the end of November so it is ready to go on December 1st. I number the wrapped books 1-25. Hannah and Ben take turns unwrapping the day’s holiday story and we read it together all snuggled on the couch. Download and print these cute free countdown to Christmas tags.

I try to match up book themes with activities from our advent activity calendar. So on Gingerbread Day, we unwrap and read The Gingerbread Man.

We have had many of these books for years, but I try to add a new book or two each year. If my kids don’t seem very interested in a book we are reading, I give it away so a new family can read it too. There is no use forcing them to read a book they don’t like when the activity is supposed to be fun. I add new books to our collection through the year.

We also enjoy reading Christmas chapter books as a family.

What if we travel in December? Won’t that make it hard to keep up with a daily book?

Not with a little advance planning!

There are 3 options for keeping up with the Christmas book basket while traveling:

Bring books with you. This option works best if you are not limited on luggage space. If you are flying, either pack the books in your checked bags or leave them unwrapped. I have heard that TSA does not like wrapped items going through security. A gift bag might be a good way to wrap the books once you reach your destination.
Load up your kindle with digital books. This is a great way to read Christmas books when you are short on luggage space. A kindle lets you bring a ton of books without any extra weight. Everyone in my family has a kindle and it makes traveling so much more enjoyable.
Have Christmas books waiting at your destination. This option is great if you are visiting family or friends. Grandma can swing by her local library and check out a few Christmas stories to read while you are in town.

Don’t feel like you need to go out and buy 25 Christmas books! Libraries are a great resource for holiday stories. They tend to be very popular so you might want to reserve a few online ahead of time. I also recommend putting those books towards the beginning of the Christmas book basket so you can read them and return without worrying about late fees.

Christmas Book Basket for Kids

Build a Christmas book basket with some of the best Christmas books for kids. Reading a 'new' book together every night is one of our classic family holiday traditions that we started when the kids were toddlers. — Pin for later!

These are the books that are in our Christmas book basket.

Froggy’s Best Christmas by Jonathan London

The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll

Stable in Bethlehem: A Christmas Counting Book by Joy N. Hulme

Mickey’s Christmas Carol A Little Golden Book

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

The Christmas Promise by Susan Bartoletti

The Twelve Days of Christmas in Washington by John Abbott Nez (These books are available for quite a few states! Find the one for your home state to personalize your Christmas book basket.)