These are truly wonderful books—I love all of them! Many are out-of-print, but are only listed if they are readily available on the secondary book market. Copies in good condition can often be found at reasonable prices.

Out-of-print books may be found in libraries or the used book market. Both Amazon and BookFinder.com are helpful sources.

Nativity Stories
Other Christmas Stories
Christmas Carols

• = some of our special favorites

• 

  • Santa's Favorite Story

  Aoki, Hisako and Ivan Gantschev
  Picture Book Studio
  Simon & Schuster, 1982, 2007
  Natick, Massachusetts
  New York, New York
  

  A tired Santa explains to the animals that even if he can't deliver presents, Christmas will come because "Christmas hasn't got anything to do with me." Then he tells the true Christmas story; nice illustrations.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  Christmas

  Bruna, Dick
  Doubleday (undated)
  Methuen
  Big Tent Entertainment, 1964, 2010
  New York, New York
  London, UK
  

  This book is great for Dick Bruna fans and anyone with its clear, warm illustrations. In an earlier edition the text was a poem by Eve Merriam. The later text is okay, but the older simple rhyme is better. The newer text was originally titled "The Christmas Book."

• 

  Prepare O Bethlehem: The Feast of the Nativity

  Chocheli, Niko
  St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2000
  Crestwood, New York
  

  All ages

  Texts from the Orthodox Church's hymns of the prefeast and feast of the Nativity; beautifully illustrated

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers

  Clements, Andrew
  Clarion Books, 1996
  New York, New York
  

  All ages

  Evocative story of Christmas night and the coming of truth to the earth, told by a wise angel

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Silent Christmas

  Goffin, Josse
  Boyds Mills Press, 1991
  Honesdale, Pennsylvania
  

  Beautiful, simple wordless nativity story; gentle illustrations encourage a child to tell the story

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  The Cure for the Christmas Crazies

  Hartmann, April
  WestBow Press, division of Thomas Nelson, 2015
  Bloomington, Indiana
  

  Boy elf Norbert gets Santa to help get his family escape from holiday craziness to focus on what is really important

  Purchase from April Hartmann Shop

• 

  Can It Be True?

  Hill, Susan, illustrated by Angela Barrett
  Viking Kestrel, 1988
  New York, New York
  

  All ages

  Picture book for older children with poem inspired by William Blake's "The Oxen." Brings peace to all the warring creatures, who come see, "It is true! It is true! And knelt down."

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • That Baby in the Manger

  Neuberger, Anne E.
  Paraclete Press, 2017
  Brewster, Massachusetts
  

  What did baby Jesus really look like? Like the blond statues we see? Children wonder if he looked like them. This is a good conversation starter about diversity and all God's people.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • The Christmas Star

  Pfister, Marcus
  North-South Books, 1993
  New York, New York
  Also available in board book and Advent calendar/book editions
  

  All ages

  Unusual story focuses on the Star—the star leads shepherds, kings and animals to the Holy Child; lovely illustrations and shining silver stars on each page

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  Christmas: The King James Version

  Pienkowski, Jan, illustrator
  Alfred A. Knopf, 1984
  

  Amazing silhouette paper-cut illustrations with traditional King James text

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Nativity

  Rylant, Cynthia
  Beach Lane Books / Simon & Schuster, 2017
  

  All ages

  Fabulous nativity book with simple, evocative illustrations, King James text. Unusual in moving to grown-up Jesus and the Beatitudes. Highly recommended.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • For All the World

  Simcox, Helen Earle
  Augsburg Fortress, 1994
  Minneapolis, Minnesota
  

  Picture book shows that Jesus came for everyone and what it might have been like if he'd been born in different places

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Who is Coming to Our House?

  Slate, Joseph
  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1988, 2001
  New York, New York
  

  Ages one to four

  The animals rush around getting ready; a nice early nativity story, providing opportunity to talk about the animals and the Holy Family

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  A Christmas Story

  Wildsmith, Brian
  Alfred A. Knopf
  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989, 1998
  

  Preschool and up

  Sweet story with sumptuous illustrations; told through the story of a little girl with a donkey

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • B Is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet

  Wilmer, Isabel
  Dutton Children's Books, 1990
  

  Delightful, rhyming alphabet book with mixed media illustrations; each letter relates to the Nativity story

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

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• 

  Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights

  Barth, Edna
  Seabury Press
  Houghton Mifflin, 1971, 1981
  New York, New York
  

  Traces the story and development of many Christmas symbols: Christmas star, Christmas tree, ornaments, plants, candles and lights, Yule log, Santa Claus, gifts, manger scenes, the three kings, angels, shepherds and creatures, feasting, bells and cards.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • The Sugar-Plum Christmas Book

  Chapman, Jean
  Hodder and Stoughton, 1977, 1982
  

  Elementary age and up

  A nicely illustrated anthology of story, song, background information and craft ideas, too.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • The Family Christmas Tree Book

  de Paola, Tomie
  Holiday House, 1980
  New York, New York
  

  Everything you ever wanted to know about Christmas trees told with facts and imagination as two children and their parents get a tree and put it up. Information about symbols drawn from Christian tradition and more.

  Purchase from Kindle

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Merry Christmas, Strega Nona

  dePaola, Tomie
  Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986
  

  Four to eight years

  In this beloved book Strega Nona is getting ready for Christmas, lighting the Advent wreath is part of her preparations. However, many mishaps happen—how will it all end?

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  The Night of Las Posadas

  dePaola, Tomie
  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1999
  New York, New York
  

  Elementary age

  A beautiful and sensitive telling of Las Posadas tradition, with a bit of mystery in, too

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  The Legend of the Poinsettia

  dePaola, Tomie
  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1994
  New York, New York
  

  Poinsettias are everywhere and in most churches at Christmas; here is the lovely legend from Mexico that tells of their origin and relationship to Christmas

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  Baby's First Christmas

  dePaola, Tomie
  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1988, new edition 2008
  New York, New York
  New edition: My First Christmas
  

  Ages two to three

  Simple introduction to the season's symbols with clear, vivid illustrations

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  Nine Days to Christmas: A Story of Mexico

  Ets, Marie Hall and Aurora Labastida
  The Viking Press, 1959
  New York, New York
  

  Ages four and up

  Caldecott Medal winner tells the story of little Ceci and her first Posada party

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  Joy to the World: Christmas Stories from Around the Globe

  Pirotta, Saviour, illustrated by Sheila Moxley
  HarperCollins, 1998
  New York, New York
  

  Beautifully illustrated less familiar Christmas stories drawn from early Christian folklore in Syria, Malta, Mexico, Ghana and Russia

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

  Robinson, Barbara
  HarperCollins, 1972, 2005
  

  Ages eight to twelve

  Classic Christmas book; a fun read and can be read a chapter a night

• 

  • A Charlie Brown Christmas

  Schulz, Charles M.
  New American Library & many others, 1965
  Many editions available
  

  All ages

  Classic Christmas special with Charlie Brown looking for the true meaning of Christmas; you may want to read as well as watch it

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

  Sojciechowski, Susan, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
  Candlewick Press, 1995
  Cambridge, Massachusetts
  

  Ages elementary to adult

  Poignant story shows how even grudging giving can transform a heart

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  46 Days of Christmas: A Cycle of Old World Songs, Legends and Customs

  Spicer, Dorothy Gladys
  Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1960
  New York, New York
  

  A collection of songs, poems and customs from usual European countries and beyond: Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Syria.

• 

  How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

  Suess, Dr.
  Random House, 1957
  New York, New York
  

  Elementary age

  Classic tale of what Christmas is really about; especially good for kids who aren't very churchy

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas

  Walsh, Mary Caswell, illustrated by Helen Caswell
  Loyola Press, 1998
  Chicago, Illinois
  

  Elementary age

  Picture book story of the first crèche; nice illustrations

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

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• 

  Make a Joyful Noise: A Pop-Up Book of Christmas Carols

  Crespi, Francesca
  Little Simon, Simon & Schuster, 1997
  New edition: "Ding Dong! Merrily on High: A Pop-Up Book of Christmas Carols"
  

  All ages

  Especially beautiful pop-up book with an additional moving part on three of the scenes.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  The Huron Carol

  de Brébeuf, Father Jean; Frances Tyrrell, illustrator
  Dutton Children's Books, 1926 (text) 1990 (illustrations)
  New York, New York
  Now in Kindle
  

  The Huron Carol was written by Jesuit missionary Fr de Brebeuf in the early 1600s for the Huron people. It was later translated into French and into English in 1926. Beautiful carol from Canada.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Tomie dePaola's Book of Christmas Carols

  de Paola, Tomie, illustrator
  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1987
  New York, New York
  

  All ages

  32 carols exquisitely illustrated

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • The Friendly Beasts: an old English Christmas Carol

  dePaola, Tomie, illustrator
  G. P. Putnam's Sons
  Puffin, 1981, 1998
  New York, New York
  

  Perfect illustrations from Tomie dePaola illuminate this lovely carol—each animal brings its own gift to the Christ Child; music included

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  We Wish You a Merry Christmas: Songs of the Season for Young People

  Fox, Dan
  Metropolitan Museum of Art
  Arcade Publishing, Little, Brown and Company, 1989
  New York, New York
  

  All ages

  25 easy to play Christmas carols, nicely illustrated

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • The Carolers

  Guback, Georgia
  Greenwillow, William Morrow & Company, 1992
  New York, New York
  

  The is my very favorite book of carols—it is hard to find, but the cut-paper collage illustrations are a complete delight. The music goes along the bottom of the page under the illustrations.

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

• 

  • Christmas Carols

  Willcocks, David
  Metropolitan Museum of Art
  Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983
  New York, New York
  

  All ages

  41 popular Christmas carols illustrated with art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

  Purchase from Metropolitan Museum of Art Store

  Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca

Basic Books about St. Nicholas
Picture Books for Younger Children (and all ages)
Picture Books for Older Children
Books for Older Children
Saints Books for Adults
Saints Books for Children
Activity & Resource Books
Christmas Books with St. Nicholas
Related Books
Books in Other Languages
Children's Books in Other Languages

Digital Media

Church Year General Resource Books
Advent, Christmas & Epiphany Resource Books
Lent, Easter & Pentecost Resource Books
Children's Books

Church Year & Holiday Cycle Books
Christmas Books
Spring & Easter Books
Story Bibles for Children
Children's Books about God and Faith
Books of Prayers