
The holiday season is officially here, and we are getting in the spirit at the Rohr house. We’ve slowly been adding some decorations, although we’ll wait to put up our tree till after Thanksgiving. We also pulled out all our Christmas picture books from storage, and put several on hold at the library. One of the best parts of this season is reliving the magic through your children’s eyes, and you can easily do this at home by reading your family’s favorite books. I originally shared this post last year, but I’m updating it with a few more pictures we’ve been reading.












Today, I’m sharing our very favorite holiday picture books. Some we own and some we borrow from the library. A few are new to us this year and some are old favorites that you might know by heart.
- Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman // The Bear Books are really adorable stories about friendship and togetherness. In this story, Bear’s forest friends wake Bear up from his hibernation to celebrate the holiday with him.
- Construction Site on Christmas Night by Sherri Duskey Rinker and illustrated by AG Ford // If you have a truck-loving child, this book will be a hit. My son Leo is obsessed with all things cars and trucks and throughly enjoys this book.
- Dasher by Matt Taveres // Matt Taveres is the author/illustrator of two books on this list. I love how his books tell heartwarming stories that make you smile. This book tells the story of how Dasher escaped the traveling circus, follows the North Star to find Santa, and joins him in delivering presents.
- Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Jill McElmurry // Another favorite for the vehicle-loving child.
- Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht and illustrated by Jarvis // I shared the book Pick a Pumpkin by the same author and illustrator in my Fall Book List, and they have a similar book for the holiday season. The illustrations in this book are beautiful.
- Red and Lulu by Matt Taveres // This cute book tells the story of two birds who are separated when the tree they are living in gets cut down to be the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. I love that this story includes the magic of New York City at Christmas.
- Snow Globe Wishes by Erin Dealey and illustrated by Claire Shorrock // This is a new-to-us book that we checked out from the library recently. In this story, a little girl makes a wish on her snow globe, and the next day, the town is covered in snow. This book reminds us to slow down, turn off the electronics, and enjoy time with our family.
- The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore and illustrated by Hollie Hobbie // You probably already own a version of this story by different illustrators, but I wanted to mention this one illustrated by Hollie Hobbie. As I’ve mentioned, we really enjoy books that have beautiful illustrations, and this version of the classic poem is really well done. We purchased this book during Ellie’s first holiday season 5 years ago and continue to enjoy it year after year.
- The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg // No holiday favorites book list would be complete without this classic. We obviously love this book and also the movie which we make a tradition of watching every year (with hot chocolate, of course).
- The Snowman by Raymond Briggs // This is another classic story about a young boy’s snowman who comes to life. The pair enjoy adventures together. Also check out the movie version of this story.
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats // You’ve probably heard of this book, but I had to share it because we love this touching story about a young boy who wakes up to find the season’s first snow. There is also a movie version of this story that we watch every year.
- How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T. Smith // We checked out this book from the library last year, and this year I ordered a copy for ourselves to read. Just beware this book doesn’t have many pictures so your child needs to have the ability to just listen to the words or they might lose interest. This book tells the story of a mouse named Winston who finds a letter to Santa and makes it his mission to deliver it. It is set up to be read one chapter per day starting on December 1st and ending on December 24th. It also includes activities, crafts and recipe ideas after each chapter. I can’t wait to start this with my kids this year!
- Tallulah’s Nutcracker by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger // My daughter has been asking to do ballet classes recently which we plan on starting after the new year. This is one of a few books in a series that follows Tallulah, a young girl who practices ballet. In this book, Tallulah joins a real ballet company in the performance of The Nutcracker.
- The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen // This is a really sweet story about a little girl who wakes to the sound of jingles and finds a reindeer. The illustrations are really well done with little cut-outs in the pages.
- Tough Cookie: A Christmas Story by Edward Hemingway // This is a playful take on the classic gingerbread man story. A cookie discovers he is not sweet after all, and with the help of a fox, discovers his true purpose.
- The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Chris Turnham: This magical little book tells the story of a boy and his sled searching for the wish tree and meeting animal friends along the way. It’s a lovely story about friendship and generosity.