As we approach the holiday season, and calendars start to fill, and we all start to get caught up in the season, I always like to take a moment with the girls to talk about why we celebrate this time of year. We have a few traditions we do as a family each year to help the girls (and David and myself) the reason for the season. One of them is adopting a family through a charitable organization, the girls get very excited to give when they see it in action, and understand the impact. Another tradition is starting the season off by unpacking our treasured collection of Christmas stories, and reading a few intentional Christmas books that focus on Jesus for kids. Knowing and celebrating Jesus’ story inspires our joy for the whole season!
I am excited to partner with Zonderkidz today to share a few of our favorite Christmas books that explain the story of Jesus and the reason for all the lights, the gifts, and the joy in fun and engaging ways for the girls.
7 Christmas Books that Focus on Jesus for Kids
Twas the Season of Advent
Jesus Storybook Bible Gift Edition
I’m Going to Give You A Polar Bear Hug!
The Beginner’s Bible Little Lamb’s Christmas
The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving
A Christmas Gift for Santa
I Wonder: Exploring God’s Grand Story, an Illustrated Bible
Keep reading for a breakdown of why we love each of the above titles, and why they are some of our Christmas books that focus on Jesus for kids!
Twas the Season of Advent
Twas the Season of Advent is a beautiful and heartwarming celebration of Advent. Each day of Advent is celebrated with stories from the Old and New Testaments, highlighting the promise of Christ’s birth. It features a daily poetry verse (in the style of Twas the Night Before Christmas), scripture, a devotional, and a prayer that ties it all together.
The girls get excited about “their day” to hold the book when we read it together! This one is so cherished in our family, and would make an amazing gift this holiday season! Click here to add this title to your holiday book collection.
Jesus Storybook Bible Gift Edition
Let me just start by saying the Jesus Storybook Bible Gift Edition is STUNNING!
It is a clothbound gift edition, written by New York Times bestselling author Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago.
The Jesus Storybook Bible shows children that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation, through clear and easy-to-read font, and with gorgeous illustrations. Despite having read this several times, the girls constantly reach for this, even just to flip through and look at the pictures! Click here to shop the Jesus Storybook Bible Gift Edition!
I’m Going to Give You A Polar Bear Hug!
If you’re a fan of I’m Going to Give You a Bear Hug! then you’ll love I’m Going to Give You A Polar Bear Hug! We have fun with this one!! I love reading it, and the girls love to giggle their way through it with me!!
This padded board book encourages parents and grandparents and their children and grandchildren to giggle and play as they cozy up for their own celebration of the winter season. It’s perfect for Christmas gifting, with its cover adorned with glitter for some sparkle and shine! Click here to shop I’m Going To Give You a Polar Bear Hug!
The Beginner’s Bible Little Lamb’s Christmas
The Beginner’s Bible Little Lamb’s Christmas brings the story of Jesus’s birth to life from a new and fun but faithful retelling as readers follow little Lamb from the hillside to the manger where he celebrates the arrival of God’s only son.
This cute one is aimed more at babies, but I deserve an Oscar for my performance as Little Lamb in our rendition of Little Lamb’s Christmas, so the girls keep letting me 😉 You can shop Little Lamb’s Christmas here.
The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving
One of my personal favorites from the bunch is The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving!! (I think it’s the childhood memories and nostalgic Christmas vibes that does it for me!!)
We learn that Christmas is more than receiving gifts when we read about Brother and Sister Bear at the Christmas Eve pageant in this one. Of course the presents are SO exciting, but the reminder for the reason we celebrate and instilling a sense of gratitude in the girls has always been huge for us as parents. You can actually check out this blog post from a few years ago, where I chatted more about The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving (See?! I told you it was a favorite 😉).
This one is a must, in my opinion! Click here to add The Joy of Giving to your cart!
A Christmas Gift for Santa
When Santa Claus returns home after delivering Christmas presents to all the boys and girls, he wonders if he too will receive a gift in A Christmas Gift for Santa.
This is SUCH a cute board book, and would be an amazing St Nicholas gift idea, to kick the season off! Ok, this one is a contender for favorite, too! I love the underlying theme of gratitude and love. Plus, it rhymes, so it’s a fun one for me to read! The girls quickly found out there’s a kitten and a mouse to find on each page!! You can shop this title here.
I Wonder: Exploring God’s Grand Story
The latest release was saved for last – this one is new this year! I Wonder: Exploring God’s Grand Story, an Illustrated Bible, is written by critically acclaimed author Glenys Nellist. It is an inspirational Bible containing 15 stories from the Old Testament and 15 stories from the New Testament.
My favorite part about I Wonder: Exploring God’s Grand Story is how it encourages my girls to ponder the truths God has placed in their hearts by asking thought-provoking, open-ended questions after each story. Guys, the questions! There are SO MANY questions in this book. If your kids are anything like my kids, then they LOVE asking questions 😉 — and I love listening to their answers! I think this book is absolutely brilliant. I can already tell this will be well-loved for many Christmases to come! Shop it here.
As a parent, I find that being intentional and reinforcing these stories, these lessons, really helps to keep my girls focused on the reason for the Christmas season. The above books are all well-loved by our family, and would make great additions to your family Christmas library, and great Christmas gifts!
Be sure to visit the Zonderkidz Christmas Gift Guide to learn more about these books and other great gifts – and thank you to Zonderkidz for sponsoring this post.
xo -j
