Somewhere between the hustle and bustle of present shopping, after-school activities and never-ending to-do lists, your Christmas spirit can get swept away in a whirlwind of busyness. While it can be hard to slow down and find time to spend with your child at such a hectic time of year, there’s one festive tradition that will help you both relax and bond, all while helping to build the anticipation to 25 December.
We are, of course, talking about a good story. Whether you want to get into the Christmas spirit early by counting down the days with a different festive book each night of the month, or you prefer to save an extra-special yuletide tale for Christmas Eve, there are some incredible titles to choose from.
Snuggling up for a bedtime story with your child is perhaps one of the best ways to encourage them to lose themselves in the magic of the season without sitting in front of a screen or without costing you a fortune. But remember, silly voices are non-negotiable, so you best get practising!
When choosing a Christmas book, it’s important to consider the age and reading level of your child. While babies will love board books with clear images and anything that plays music, toddlers will go wild for pop up or lift-the-flap tales. For older children who can read independently, we’d recommend a story they can really get stuck into – perhaps something fantastically funny or a classic that they’ll want to revisit year after year.
Of course, there are countless festive-filled books to choose from, so to save you valuable present-shopping time, we’ve handpicked some of the very best reads that deliver an extra dose of Christmas magic.
We read and turned the pages of countless Christmassy tales to find our pick of the best festive stories both you and your children will enjoy. The ones that made our final list are those that our little testers reached for again and again (and that we also didn’t mind reading for the umpteenth time). We looked for books that gave us that warm and fuzzy feeling, had beautiful illustrations, unforgettable characters and, most importantly, left us feeling excited for Christmas.
