Monday, December 15, 2014

Favorite Christmas Books for Kids and Toddlers


Christian loves books. He loves sitting and flipping the pages and "reading" them all! Visiting the library is a pretty regular part of our schedule. 

**Mom Tip** 
Place your books on reserve/hold using the online catalog system. Then you just walk in, grab your books off ONE shelf and check them out. Makes trips to the library with a toddler much less intimidating. Also, strapping said toddler into a stroller for the visit isn't a bad idea either :) 

Anyway, every season I go online and "order" our library books. I put holds on items for the specific season -- Halloween, fall, Christmas, winter, summer or even just a specific theme like colors or body parts. 

You usually can't place holds on board books at our library, so we usually do a quick once over in that section and grab a few extras. 

Books and reading are not only important for growing vocabularies, but little ones learn through these stories as well! 

While books about Santa and baking cookies and wrapping presents are pretty easy to come across, I wanted to be sure to find a handful of good, solid, Bible based Christmas stories for Christian during this season. 

Here are our favorites! Check them out at your local library, or click the link to find them on amazon. 

While this is not a board book, Christian has down quite well with it at 18 months old! It tells the story of baby Jesus being born in the stable and how all of the animals were there to greet him. Each animal greets him with their "sound" -- Mooing cows, cooing doves, baaing sheep, and the bray of the donkey! Fun way to practice animal sounds too. 

The story of baby Jesus' birth is related to the story of your own child's birth in this story! I love the connection it makes to the child, helping to bring them more and more into the Christmas story as they learn that this is their story too! The animated and bright, cheery pictures in this book are sure to be a hit with your little one as well! 

In this build upon story, each part of the nativity is touched upon -- from the "quiet stable, dusty and brown" to "the shepherds tending their sheep" and "the wise men, travelers three". I love the sing song nature of this book and its a favorite from my childhood. 

This is your basic Bible story version of Jesus' birth right from the angel Gabriel telling Mary she would be the mother of Jesus, to Mary and Joseph making the trip to Bethlehem, and finally Jesus being born in the stable and placed in a manger and kings and shepherds coming to meet him. 

This has become my all.time.favorite. Christmas story! We also love our God Gave Us You book, so were super excited to get this book as a gift last Christmas. The little polar bear asks her mama "who 'vented Christmas? Was it Santa?" The mama polar bear goes on to explain that God invented Christmas and God is even more important than Santa. The bears then go to find God and discover the real meaning of Christmas. 

If God Gave Us Christmas is my all time favorite Christmas story, then this is my all.time.favorite.board.book. Christmas story! This book walks kids through all the aspects of Christmas, reminding them that the season is not about the presents, the cookies, Santa, or Christmas Cards or carols. The season is all about the birth of Jesus. It also is written in a very catchy tune that preschoolers will pick up on quickly! 

This is just a fun Christmas holiday book that I threw in for fun! Christian really likes this one but it doesn't talk about Jesus at all. It's all about a moose getting ready for Christmas and just when he thinks he has everything ready, he realizes he forgot the tree and has to improvise! 

Do you have any favorite Christmas stories to read with your little ones?
 How do you help them understand the real meaning of Christmas? 

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