Christmas and Hanukkah Books

We’ve complied a list of Simply Charlotte Mason readers’s suggestions and our own favorites. These books are great to read during the holiday season.

Picture Books

  • All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah by Emily Jenkins (ages 3+)
    The five sisters, from All-of-a-Kind Family chapter books by Sydney Taylor, prepare for the first night of Hanukkah.
  • The Christmas Story by Jane Werner Watson (ages 3+)
    Beautiful paintings by Eloise Wilkin and inspiring text retell the story of Jesus’s birth.
  • The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado (ages 3+)
    The story of Joshua, a lamb with a crippled leg, who learns that God has a special plan for his life.
  • Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story by Fran Manushkin (ages 3+)
    When a sudden blizzard covers all their apples and potatoes, the Menashe family celebrates as best they can.
  • The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg (ages 3+)
    When Lucy is brave enough to offer help to a curious newcomer, he tells her the story of the candy cane and its origin.
  • The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (ages 3+)
    A boy builds a snowman, which comes to life and takes him flying through the night sky on a magical journey.
  • The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter (ages 3+)
    How a poor tailor completes his commission for the mayor’s wedding on Christmas Day.
  • Jan Brett’s Christmas books
    • The Nutcracker
    • The Night Before Christmas
    • Christmas Trolls
    • The Wild Christmas Reindeer
    • Home for Christmas
  • Tasha Tudor’s Christmas books
  • Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hakes Noble (ages 4+)
    An ice storm destroys Katrina’s favorite tree, but it still manages to make a special contribution to the family’s Christmas.
  • The Gift of the Magi  by O. Henry (ages 4+)
    Treasured short story of a young couple’s love and the sacrificial gifts they give each other at Christmas.
  • Silent Night: The Song and Its Story by Margaret Hodges (ages 4+)
    The background story of this beloved Christmas carol.
  • One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham (ages 4+)
    A unique retelling of the Christmas story, from Creation to the Resurrection.
  • The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston (ages 4+)
    Mama and Ruthie celebrate as best they can with Papa called away to be a soldier across the sea.
  • Christina’s Carol by Tomie de Paola (ages 5+)
    The lyrics of “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rossetti combined with Tomie de Paola artwork.
  • Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck (ages 5+)
    Picture book version telling what Rob finally decides will make a special gift for his father.
  • Christmas Farm by Mary Lyn Ray (ages 5+)
    Wilma and her young neighbor, Parker, nurture a Christmas tree farm.
  • Christmas from Heaven: The True Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber by Tom Brokaw (ages 5+)
    How a young pilot, Gail Halvorsen, brought hope and joy to the children of Soviet-blockaded Berlin.
  • The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski (ages 5+)
    How a widow and her young son bring joy back to grieving Jonathon Toomey.
  • A Cup of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg (ages 5+)
    The story of a young man’s reluctant visit to an elderly aunt at Christmas time and the unexpected joy it brings.
  • Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story by Cynthia Rylant (ages 5+)
    Year after year Frankie hopes that one particular gift will come on the Christmas Train.
  • The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumor Godden (ages 5+)
    Ivy, an orphan wishes for a real home; Holly, a doll, wishes for a child; and Mr. and Mrs. Jones wish for a son or daughter to share their holiday.
  • A Certain Small Shepherd by Rebecca Caudill (ages 6+)
    A mute Appalachian boy is dismayed when a blizzard prevents the Christmas pageant in which he is to play a shepherd.
  • Uncle Vova’s Tree by Patricia Polacco (ages 6+)
    How the author celebrated Epiphany in traditional Russian Orthodox style with her great uncle and aunt.
  • The Candle in the Window by Grace Johnson (ages 7+)
    A disillusioned German cobbler allows visitors to place a candle in his shop window that they say will light the way for the Christ Child’s visit.
  • Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon (ages 7+)
    The story of the 1914 Christmas Truce during World War I for younger students.
  • London Snow: A Christmas Story by Paul Theroux (ages 9+)
    A heartwarming mystery and adventure during the greatest blizzard London has ever known.

Chapter Books

  • The Best of Christmas in My Heart compiled by Joe Wheeler
    An anthology of eighteen favorite holiday stories
  • The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
    How the rowdy Herdman siblings take over the annual Christmas pageant.
  • Christmas Around the World series by Alta Halverson Seymour
    • The Christmas Donkey
    • A Grandma for Christmas
    • The Christmas Compass
    • The Christmas Stove
    • The Christmas Camera
    • The Christmas Star
  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
    The classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser, who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner and transformed by encounters with the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
  • The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff
    Two orphaned sisters escape the workhouse and have their lives changed by an encounter with a generous young girl.
  • Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide 
    10-year old Jotham crosses Israel searching for his family and encounters the wise men, shepherds, innkeepers, and the Savior in Bethlehem. Three other titles by the same author make up the Storybooks for Advent collection.
  • The Letter on the Tree by Natalie Savage Carlson
    A boy attaches a letter to a Christmas tree in Canada and it is answered by another boy.
  • Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien
    A collection of letters that Tolkien wrote to his children over a period of about 20 years, pretending to be Father Christmas.
  • The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Amelia C. Houghton
    The story of Nicholas the Wandering Orphan who becomes a jolly old man who loves children. (Note the author; not the one by L. Frank Baum.)
  • Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas Treasury by Louisa May Alcott
    A collection of Alcott’s Christmas short stories and novellas.
  • The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann
    The classic story (and ballet) of a little girl who receives a nutcracker for Christmas and dreams about its adventures in a fantasy world.
  • The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke
    A fictional account of a wise man who did not arrive with the others and his strange way of finding the One he sought.
  • A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy
    A modern Christmas miracle about a small boy living in dingy, squalid old Shantytown and how a gift reignites hope and transforms the community.
  • Truce by Jim Murphy
    The story of the 1914 Christmas Truce during World War I.

For Parents to Enjoy