25 Beautiful Christmas Picture Books to Read Aloud in 2024

Reading Christmas picture books together is one of the best ways to spend this season with your children. Find recommendations of our top favorite Christmas books to read!

Reading Christmas picture books together is one of our top favorite Christmas traditions. To make it extra-special, I usually wrap all of our Christmas books near the end of November, and then each morning in December I let the kids unwrap one or two of them. This way we get a slow trickle of “new” books throughout the whole month, and it all feels just a bit more exciting. It’s especially fun as the kids get older and start to remember the books that we own, and I can hear them guessing which one will be next and exclaiming, “Oh, I remember that one!”

Often times throughout the holiday season of November and December, we homeschoolers get the urge to change things up and create our own little “Christmas school” at home – which is wonderful! If you landed here because you’re looking for more ideas and inspiration for Christmas school at home, check out this blog post full of ideas and tips for a Christmas homeschool routine. However, no matter what sort of holiday unit study, routine, or non-structured days you may choose to do, a good book list is a central part of every Christmas routine.

Let me take just a moment here to dispel the myth that “picture books are only for toddlers.” Have you looked at these books?? They are filled with beautiful artwork, literal “art galleries” in our laps, as Sarah Mackenzie likes to say. And art is for everyone! A good story is for everyone! I enjoy every one of these books just as much as my children do, and I will keep reading picture books aloud to my big kids probably until they leave the house for good. Please don’t stop reading picture books just because your children are entering elementary school. Reading aloud is for everyone, and if you need more convincing, take a look at my blog post on reasons to read aloud.

If you, too, are looking for some beautiful and meaningful Christmas picture books to read together, look no further! The following is our curated list of favorites that we have read over and over – some of them are going on 10 years old, and we still love them. I hope that some of these books will be a blessing to you and your family this Christmas season.

There you have it – plenty of inspiration to fill your holiday season with cozy Christmas picture books! Pick out a stack of these from your local library, add in a few blankets, sprinkle on some cookies or hot cocoa, and you have the perfect recipe for a December afternoon. Plus, your kids will be learning so much while you read! How’s that for a homeschool secret weapon?? Happy reading!

p.s. Don’t forget to download this list, print it off, and stick it in your purse so that you’re all prepared the next time you’re at the library!