Our little Elf toy has always loved a good story, but now that he’s the star of his very own Elf for Christmas book (Elf’s First Adventure – available to order here) he’s becoming quite the bookworm!

And what better way to combine a love of reading with a love of Christmas than to do a book advent calendar?

If you’ve never heard of a book advent calendar, the idea is that you wrap up a new book for your child to open and read together every day of December, leading up to Christmas. So just like a normal advent calendar, but with less chocolate, more snuggling and far more imagination!

It’s a lovely way to get little ones as excited about reading as they are about Christmas, and at Elf for Christmas we’re all for that!

You can choose any 24 books at all for your book advent calendar, but usually you would choose ones with a Christmas, wintery or snowy theme.

If you think it sounds like having to buy 24 brand new books might end up bankrupting you before Christmas, fear not. You can save money by wrapping up books that are already on your book shelves, keep an eye out for wintery-themed books in charity shops, or even borrow a few from your local library. (Just remember to return them when you’ve unwrapped and read them – nobody needs a library fine just before Christmas!)

So here are Elf for Christmas’s top 24 Christmas books for a book advent calendar. We’ve aimed for Christmas books suitable for children aged 3-7, although children of all ages will surely enjoy these modern-day Christmas classics.

 

1. Guess How Much I Love You In The Winter – by Sam McBratney
2. The Gruffalo’s Child – by Julia Donaldson
3. Snow Bears – by Martin Waddell
4. Stick Man – by Julia Donaldson
5. The Snowman – by Raymond Briggs
6. The Polar Express – by Chris Van Allsberg
7. Mr Men: 12 Days of Christmas – by Roger Hargreaves
8. The Jolly Christmas Postman – by Janet & Allan Ahlberg
9. Mog’s Christmas – by Judith Kerr
10. Dear Santa – by Rod Campbell
11. The Fox and the Star – by Coralie Bickford-Smith
12. The Snowman and the Snowdog – by Raymond Briggs
13. Rudey’s Windy Christmas – by Helen Baugh & Ben Mantle
14. The Snow Queen – by Hans Christian Andersen
15. The Little Fir Tree – by Margaret Wise Brown
16. Drummer Boy – by Loren Long
17. Merry Christmas Splat – by Rob Scotton
18. Alfie’s Christmas – by Shirley Hughes
19. Snowflakes – by Cerrie Burnell
20. Snow – by Walter de la Mare
21. One Snowy Night – by Nick Butterworth
22. Lucy & Tom at Christmas – by Shirley Hughes
23. The Night Before The Night Before Christmas – by Richard Scarry
24. Elf’s First Adventure – by Sarah Greenwell

Here is a sneak peak at Elf's First Adventure if you fancy a look...

 

Will you be doing a book advent calendar this year? We’d love to hear what’s on your little one’s reading list – let us know in the comments below!