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I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
The weeks before Christmas is a time to slow down and tell the story over and over again. Crafts are fun, but stories and music should be your emphasis during this season. Your life will be filled with family, baking, gift preparing, and other aspects of the good life.
We wanted to give you a preview of our upcoming new curriculum, GO GLOBAL. It’s a literature-heavy, movement-rich approach to geography and world cultures for 5-8 year olds and their younger siblings! In GO GLOBAL we provide an extensive list of picture books that tell of the Christmas story in a way to enable you to emphasize world cultures. This includes both the geography of the nativity story and how this story is celebrated across the world. All the books have been previewed and are good, both morally and aesthetically. We have tried to include enough information in the description for you to be able to choose books that will work best for your family. Many are about the nativity, some with just the biblical text, while others have more fanciful inclusions, such as how the animals in the crèche were feeling. Some of the books tell true stories about how people celebrate Christmas in various part of the world. Some mythical, pretend, and realistic fiction are included. There are only a few books listed that do not clearly touch upon the Christian story of Christmas, and this is indicated in the description.
The GO GLOBAL curriculum lists 50 books – enough to provide Christmas reading for many years! Each of this year’s three blog posts lists seven to eleven books from our master list. Some years Heather read a new Christmas book each day for the 24 days of December – but that is almost too many books! You can read a dozen or so – which will give your children time to ask for a book again… and again. Many of these books are available in libraries but may be difficult to find if you wait until December, so start looking and requesting in November. In the curriculum we include questions and activities such as finding the places on the globe to add a new dimension to the Story. The books listed in this blog series are just a sampling of the books we recommend for Christmas. For the complete list, you’ll need to check out the GO GLOBAL curriculum, coming early Spring 2019.
A good picture book is a delight to all ages. Though I have listed an age range for each book, adults, teens, tweens, children, and preschoolers will enjoy all of these books!
Books on the Nativity
We want to infuse our Christmas readings with stories of the historic Nativity. Grounding your Christmas reading in the real story of Bethlehem will give your children a firm foundation. While the imaginary, legendary, and fictional stories can be wonderful, children need to clearly know and understand the true, unadorned story. Many wonderfully illustrated books are listed for your perusal.
The Christmas Story, Gennady Spirin. All ages. Gorgeously illustrated with rich symbolism and imagery paired with words straight from the King James.
The Story of Christmas, Pamela Dalton. All ages. Exquisite scissor-cut illustrations in Pennsylvania-German folk-art tradition accent the King James nativity account.
Father and Son: A Nativity Story, Geraldine McCaughrean. Ages 4–9. Nativity story from Joseph’s viewpoint – from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth. A powerful perspective honoring Joseph.
The Nativity, Ruth Sanderson. Ages 5– Biblical text with vivid, detailed illustrations.
The Christmas Story, Metropolitan Museum of Art. All ages. The Christmas story retold through paintings from their collection, and excerpts from the King James Bible.
A Child is Born: The Christmas Story, Elizabeth Winthrop. All ages. Faithful adaption of the Biblical nativity account with beautiful, haunting illustrations.
The Christmas Story, James Bernardin. Ages 3– Short texts from the King James Bible and lifelike art work (no halos; blurry silhouetted wingless angels).
The Nativity – with fanciful additions
All for the Newborn Baby, Phyllis Root. Ages 5– An exquisitely illustrated lullaby for Jesus. Animals that factor into Christmas legends and miracles from Italy, France, Belgium, England, Puerto Rico, Germany, and Spain are pictured. The author’s note on the last page explains some of legends and where they are from.
The First Christmas: An Angel Came to Nazareth, Anthony Knott; Illustrated by Maggie Kneen. Ages 3– This creative take on the nativity story centers around giving four animals their choice of rider.
Who Built the Stable? A Nativity Poem, Ashley Bryan. Ages 4– A lovely poem imagining an African shepherd boy building a stable for his animals and welcoming the holy family. The whole book is with bright African colors, costumes, and faces.
Even more Christmas books that we love!
Books that Highlight the Gift Givers (Wise Men, Saint Nicholas, the drummer boy)
Books Centering on Christmas in Different Cultures and Around the World.
[…] we mentioned in the last Christmas Books post, December is the most wonderful time of the year to read about THE STORY. And let’s be honest – […]