Christmas Booklist

Every year after Christmastide we put our Christmas themed books away so that when Advent begins it is the first time my children have seen them all year. I check out the ones we don’t own from the library and we place them in a basket with a festive bow. I love how these stories work their magic all Advent long as we prepare our hearts for Christmas morning. Here are our favorites.

Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins, illustrated by Nicholas Sidjakov

The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard

Christina’s Carol by Tomie dePaola

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; illustrated by P.J. Lynch

Christmas Carols by Marjorie Wyckoff, illustrated by Corinne Malvern

The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot, found in James Herriot’s Treasury for Children

Christmas for 10 by Cathryn Falwell*

Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck

Christmas in the Stable by Astrid Lindgren*

A Christmas Like Helen’s by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock*

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P.J. Lynch

The Christmas Story by Gennady Spirin*

The Christmas Story by Jane Werner Watson

The Christmas Story by Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Dolls’ Christmas by Tasha Tudor*

The Donkey’s Dream by Barbara Berger*

Good King Wenceslas by John Mason Neale, illustrated by Christopher Manson*

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola

The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats

The Nativity by Ruth Sanderson*

The Nativity: Six Glorious Pop-Up Scenes by Francesca Crespi*

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell

Stephen’s Feast by Jean Richardson*

The Story of Christmas by Felix Hoffmann*

The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaola

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Gennady Spirin

Unwrapping the Christmas Crèche by Lisa Flinn*

A Wreath of Christmas Legends by Phyllis McGinley, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (Christmas poetry)*

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston, illustrated by Barbara Cooney

* indicates book is out-of-print.

Recommendations for Advent & Christmas feast days:

St. Nicholas Day: December 6

The Bakers Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard

Our Lady of Guadalupe: December 12

The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola*

St. Lucy Day: December 13

Lucia: Saint of Light by Katherine Bolger Hyde

Epiphany: January 6

Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins, illustrated by Nicholas Sidjakov

The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie DePaola

We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin

Picture books about The Nutcracker ballet:

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers

The Nutcracker illustrated by Sheilah Beckett

Lili on Stage by Rachel Isadora*


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Happy Tasha Tudor Day!

Here is the article I promised to link to in my Instagram post. Thank you, Emily, from Life at Blueberry Barn, for sharing your beautiful celebration and recreation of one of the most magical moments from Tasha Tudor’s books.


Happy Tasha Tudor Day! Today would have been Tasha Tudor’s 105th birthday. We love Tasha Tudor around here . . . every time I scour the thrift store bookshelves I hope to find books to add to our collection. I wish I could flip through the pages of her books with you so you could see for yourself how sweet and delightful her illustrations are.

Tasha always used the people, places, and objects around her as inspiration for her illustrations. Many of her drawings are of her own children, scenes from her farmhouse, flowers from her well-kept gardens, or of the pets she owned–none so premier as her beloved corgis. Tasha’s drawings are elaborate and exquisite, and capture best the innocence and joy of childhood and all its adventures.

Tasha illustrated classics such as Mother Goose, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and The Wind in the Willows, but also penned her own stories, many which describe her family’s unique traditions and celebrations, such as those in The Dolls’ Christmas and A Time to Keep.

Here is a list of our favorite Tasha Tudor books. Several of the books below are out-of-print, but they should be accessible through your library. They are also available to purchase on eBay or through Instagram booksellers. If pressed, my very favorite book on this list is Tasha Tudor’s A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. My children and I owe part of our love for poetry to Tasha.

A is for Annabelle by Tasha Tudor

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor

The Dolls’ Christmas by Tasha Tudor

The Lord is My Shepherd: The Twenty-Third Psalm by Tasha Tudor

First Poems of Childhood by Tasha Tudor

Give Us This Day: The Lord’s Prayer by Tasha Tudor

1 is One by Tasha Tudor

Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor

The Tasha Tudor Book of Fairy Tales by Tasha Tudor

A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor


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