24 BOOKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. With my little family, I’m always looking for ways to create special traditions during the holidays.

My daughter, Jaliea, is a book lover, so I was excited to introduce her to the idea of a book advent calendar. Christmas ’22, we purchased one from our local bookstore. While we enjoyed opening a new book each day, we were a bit disappointed that only about 5 of them were Christmas-themed. That was probably my fault—in my excitement, I didn’t realize the titles were listed on the back of the packaging!

Last year, I took a different approach. I still wanted us to read 24 books before Christmas, but instead we went on a hunt for our own books. This gave us the freedom to choose books that truly resonated with us. We included Christ-centered stories, books by Black authors, those featuring Black characters, and a few culturally diverse ones as well.

By handpicking our books, we’re not just counting down to Christmas, we’re also taking time to reflect upon and celebrate our values, culture and in the process hopefully learn a thing or do as well!

Let me be clear, I don’t have 24 Christmas books lying around the house, and I definitely wasn’t planning to buy all 24. So, how did I accumulate them, you ask?

First, I searched for all the Christmas books we’ve purchased over the years. No harm in re-reading them.

Next, I visited the libraries in my neighbourhood to borrow as many books as I could (btw many of them were already checked out by the time I started my search, but I managed to get on the waitlist for a few)

Third, THRIFT SIS THRIFT!!! I was able to thrift books from Once Upon A Child, a kids’ thrift store here in Canada, and paid just over $7 for eight books that were in great condition. CAN’T BEAT THAT WITH A STICK!!!!! The only reason I didn’t get more is that I started my search late but I snagged the last few available.

Fourth, I borrowed/exchanged books with family & friends.

Lastly, I purchased a few books I wanted to add to our collection.

Here’s how I did it….

Once I had all 24 books, I wrapped them individually and numbered them 1 through 24. I made sure the library books were the first ones we read so I could return them by their due dates. The books that belonged to us were next. Of-course, The Night Before Christmas was the grand finale, with the number 24, and we read it on Christmas Eve.

Each night starting on December 1st, Jaliea picked a book and we read it together as a family.

If this sounds like a tradition you’d like to start with your family, go for it! You don’t have to stick to 24 books; you can choose 12, 10, or whatever number feels manageable for your household. 

 

Here are the books we read

 

The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving

The Story of Christmas 

Santa’s Moose

Reindeer Helper

The Elves and the Shoemaker

Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas

Santa and the Goodnight Train

I Got the Christmas Spirit

Santa’s Gotta Go

The Christmas Sweater

It’s Easy Being Santa Claus

Christmas Elves Being Themselves

Silent Night

Countdown to Christmas

​​The Spirit of Christmas

The Grinch: Welcome to Whoville

The Gingerbread Man

Santa In The City

A Piece of Black Cake

Jesus’ Christmas Party

Merry Christmas Storybook Collection

​​Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Zoomer’s Out-of-This-World Christmas

The Night Before Christmas

 

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post and the books suggested. I’d love to hear in the comments if this is a tradition you’ve done in the past, or will be doing. Also, let me know if you have any Christmas book(s) you’ve read and recommend I try this year.