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There are many great Christmas books out there, but it can be hard to find a great one to share with your class. Not anymore! I asked 14 teacher bloggers to share their favorite Christmas book. Below is a compilation of what books they feel are the best.
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Jodi from Clutter Free Classroom says, “My vote is for Moosletoe. What presents as a simple picture book is great for teaching
about word choice!”
“My favorite book to use just before Christmas is My House Has Stars. It shows the homes of children all over the world and how they all have one thing in common. When they look up at the night sky, they see the same stars. I use it to begin a fun exploration of all the winter holidays celebrated by the different cultures represented in our school.” Thank you to Retta from Rainbow City Learning for this great book recommendation!
Teaching in Blue Jeans’ Amy says, “I love Olive the Other Reindeer! I like to use it as a compare/contrast with other Christmas picture books. It is just a really cute book and I love being able to teach my kindergarteners about the play on words. Some of them get it and some don’t, but it’s fun nonetheless!”
“I love to read Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant,” says Kimberly of Elementary Antics. “Here’s a link to a post I wrote last year sharing a little bit about how I used it.”
Jessica Goodrow of Literacy Spark says, “Love Light The Lights! A Story About Celebrating Hanukkah And Christmas. It’s about a family that celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. The family has both a tree and a menorah. It helps kids recognize that families are different and have their own special ways of celebrating, and if they are a family that celebrates more than one holiday/religion, they aren’t the only one! Also good for comparing/contrasting the two holidays if you are able to do that.”
Pages of Grace’s Jennifer Garcia has this to say when asked about her favorite Christmas book: “I love Snowmen at Night! I have my 5th graders do it as a reader’s theater and perform it for our 1st grade buddy class!”
“Nutcracker Noel by Kate McMullen is my very favorite Christmas book. Why? Because it’s about a kid who was in a production of The Nutcracker Ballet, who had the exact same part as my daughter did. I share pictures and stories of my daughter when she was in it. It becomes a great send off for Christmas stories, traditions, and personal connections to the stories,” Sally from Elementary Matters states.
Surfing to Success’ Mercedes believes the classic Polar Express is the best Christmas book. “I can only use it years that everyone celebrates Christmas. I like to give each kid a bell. It is so neat seeing them exclaim, ‘I can hear it!’ My parents were bummed when I was in second grade that my teacher taught about St. Nicholas, which made me figure out about Santa. I don’t feel right being the one to confirm or deny. When I taught second grade kids would always ask if I believe in Santa. I’d tell them that I believe Santa only brings presents to people who believe in him. Safest answer and still fun!”
Brain Domain‘s Ashoo agrees with the above stating, “I love using one of the most beloved children’s books of all time, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, which is now a popular movie too. Younger children will be thrilled if, on the day of the reading, you set up their chairs in two rows like the seats of a train. Give the students train tickets, which you will collect as you invite them to take a seat on The Polar Express. You can even ask them to buckle themselves in. This kind of dramatization invites young readers into the magic of the story in an accessible, tangible way. One of the most striking features of The Polar Express is its vivid sensory description. Children can be encouraged to notice the way Van Allsburg uses all of the senses when describing the boy’s journey.”
“I love Patricia Polacco’s Christmas Story – Welcome Comfort,” says Missy from Wild About Fifth. “It’s a great story about acceptance and friendship. It’s important for fifth graders to constantly hear stories about accepting each other’s differences so I use it to model positive friendship skills. We read lots of Polacco’s books throughout the year, so we also compare it to the others and examine the narrative structure and story elements to improve our own writing.”
The ESL Review says, “The past few years I’ve enjoyed teaching Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas to my elementary school students here in South Korea. It’s an EFL class so a lot of time is spent discussing the meaning of the text and vocabulary words, but the creative writing pages are where the real magic happens. It’s fun to ask the children what they think belong in a catalougue of ‘999 Things to Give Your Cat’. I’m looking forward to a new crop of answers this December. When time allows, role play is another important part of the lesson. You can really tell just how well the children have grasped the lesson when they can act out what they read on the page.”
“I love doing a Jan Brett Author’s focus during December. All of her books are beautifully written and illustrated, which fits perfectly with our writer’s workshop focus. My first graders are really writing now, and it’s the perfect time of year to push them to add details to illustrations and text. We offer warm and cool comments through peer critiques, and our stories get better and better!” was stated by Susan of Friendly Froggies. {Seven of Jan Brett’s amazing stories can be found in one awesome book – Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury!}
SciPi over at Go Figure stated, “My favorite has to be The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! When I taught younger children, I noticed that many of my students had never hear the true Christmas story, and this was a way for me to present it to them. I always had 6-7 copies of the book, and each day a group would get to follow along in the class books as I read the story to them. When we finished the book, we then would watch the movie. On year, I even took my children to see the play (something none of them had every done).
Now as for me (HoJo), I tend to go a bit overboard with Christmas books during the month of December. =)
When teaching 6th grade, we always read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. There is such great vocabulary in the book! Plus then we could watch the movie after and do a compare/contrast activity with them both. (We always watched the Jim Carrey version, but there are others as well.)
Another favorite activity of mine (whether I’ve been teaching Kindergarten or sixth grade) is to read a Christmas story each day in December. You can see how you might gift wrap each book at this pin if you are looking to add a little more Christmas flair and suspense to your books. Below I will share my four favorite books that you might want to consider adding to your Christmas collection.
What Santa Can’t Do is an adorable book about how Santa can remember everyone who is on his Christmas list, but he can’t remember basic things – like what Mrs. Claus wants at the grocery store. Young and old kids alike will be laughing out loud at this read!
If you are a David Shannon fan, you probably already know he has a book entitled It’s Christmas, David! This is a great, quick read. Students will be laughing out loud throughout the book, but then they’ll get quite a scare when it looks like Christmas won’t happen for David due to his naughty antics…
Students like to ask questions. Sometimes LOTS of questions! This Christmas book answers many of those questions by Mrs. Claus herself! Check out Mrs. Claus Explains It All to see the answers to the questions real kids ask. You will want to pre-read this book to make sure the answers are suitable for your students, but it’s definitely worth checking out! {Even my 6th graders enjoyed hearing the answers that keep the Christmas magic alive.}
I saved my favorite book for last! We all know the 12 Days of Christmas song, but now there is this AMAZING pop up book that you simply HAVE to have! It’s called The 12 Days of Christmas Anniversary Edition: A Pop-Up Celebration by Robert Sabuda. Each page has a beautiful pop-up book, but you’ll be amazed by what is on the last page!
There you have it! Some various teacher-blogger’s favorite Christmas books. I hope this list has given you some great holiday books to read this Christmas season.
Do you have a favorite Christmas book? Please shout it out in the comments below! Let’s make this the BEST place to find new ideas for favorite Christmas books to read this holiday season!
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Check out the awesome Christmas ideas below:
Christmas Around the World Reflective Journals (Grades K-5)
14 Favorite Christmas Books (Grades preK-6)
FREE Christmas Song Titles Game (Grades 4+)
FREE Christmas Coal Printable (Grades preK-6)
Christmas Tree Math Puzzles for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, & Division (Grades 1-4)
Gift & Art Ideas for the Classroom (Grades K-6)
Gingerbread Man Math Puzzles for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, & Division (Grades 1-4)
FREE How to Decorate a Christmas Tree Class Book Template (Grades preK-1)
Snowman Math Puzzles for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, & Division (Grades 1-4)
Christmas Research Project (Grades 4-6)
Mitten Winter Math Centers for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, & Division (Grades 1-4)
FREE Easy, Last Minute Student Gift Idea (Grades K-6)
50 Christmas/Winter Break Activities for Kids to Do at Home (Grades preK-K)
Winter Compound Words Literacy Center Puzzle Game (Grades 1-2)
FREE Christmas Vocabulary Words Magic Square Puzzles – Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5
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