Children’s Christmas Books

The third in my series of recommendations for children’s entertainment at Christmas focuses on books. One of my pleasures as a parent was sharing books with my children that became firm favourites. The great thing about Christmas was that I could return to books that I loved and that the children loved as well. There were so many to choose from. Every year the reading ‘season’ around Christmas time became longer and longer! I now read my own Christmas books from October, but the children had their Christmas favourites from the latter part of November. Here are three books that I would recommend to any family plus a bonus recommendation from last year I can’t leave out.

Paddington’s Magical Christmas

This is Michael Bond at his best, writing with warmth, charm and humour. It is a proper Christmas treat in every way, and a book that I returned to every Christmas for years. It starts when Mrs. Bird is overheard singing about a partridge in a pear tree, confusing Paddington who cannot see a pear tree anywhere and certainly not one with a partridge. When he hears her, then Mrs Brown and Judy singing about her true love sending her even more items he goes to his friend Mr Gruber who tells him that they have been singing a Christmas song. He then decides to give a present to Paddington that is an absolute delight. It is a fast-paced read that’s great for sharing with your children and, as they get older great for them to read on their own.

My Christmas Treasury

I just loved this book from the first time I saw it in a charity shop and picked it up just because of the cover. It has Christmas songs, the Nativity Story, the Little Match Girl and other traditional stories. It also includes ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas which I read every Christmas Eve without fail. However, at the end of the book there are two stories that became real festive favourites for all of us. Mrs Muddle’s Present Puzzle and The Full House are marvellous original stories that made the children (and me) laugh every time. You will find delights on every page and your children will learn about different aspects of Christmas, religious and secular alike. It is great fun to dip in to and great fun to read every year.

Another Night Before Christmas

This is the other story that became a Christmas Eve staple in our house. Written by the former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy it is a very clever updating of the story with references to television and cash points amongst other things. It deals with elements of belief, consumer culture and eventually magic. The illustrations by Marc Boutavant are full of lovely details that the children loved exploring on their own after I read it to them. It amazes me that it hasn’t become more widely known and been more widely loved by parents and children. You really need to give it a read if you have children of any age, because I can guarantee they will love it.

Merry Christmas Sleepover Club

I recommended this last year, but I have no hesitation in including this as a bonus book in this list. The Sleepover Club is a series of books about five girls from Cuddington near Leicester who form the club of the title and whose adventures eventually filled over 50 books and served as the inspiration for two series on Australian Television. This book, the only Christmas themed book, is a treat for older and younger children alike. It is based around the school panto that the girls get involved in and has a couple of subplots that revolve around a parent of one of the girls dating again, and the mystery of who is stealing food from donations to the homeless. It is tightly written, entertaining, very funny and even a little sad in places as the five girls get into their usual scrapes. The set piece finale is heart-warming and satisfying as is the resolution of the subplots. It is a perfect book for the middle of December when you don’t really want to read another story about the big day itself. As an introduction to Rosie, Frankie, Kenny, Lyndz and Fliss it is pretty much perfect and the Christmas theme made it my personal favourite.

So there you go. Four books that really make the seasonal bedtime stories magical and are perfect for sharing year after year.