The Best Christmas Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers

I love reading to my children all year round. But there is nothing more magical than curling up on the couch on a cold December night with the Christmas tree on, Christmas music playing, and reading one of these wonderful books to my daughters. Here’s some of our family’s favorite Christmas books for toddlers and preschoolers. These are books that we come back to again and again, and that I can see us reading for years to come- no matter how old my daughters get.

These are the books that best capture that magical spirit of Christmas and will help remind my daughters just how it felt to be little at Christmastime.

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Best Christmas Books for Toddlers

• Where is Baby’s Christmas Present
  • We love the Karen Katz books and this one is just as engaging for babies and toddlers as the many other books we have by her.
  • A baby looks through the house for her Christmas present. Your child can help her find the Christmas present by lifting the flaps along the way.
  • And if the amount of packing tape that has been used to repair our flaps are any indication of how well loved this book is in our home- well- it’s a lot.
• Biscuit Gives a Gift
  • You can’t go wrong with a Biscuit book- which is why this list features two. In Biscuit Gives a Gift, he and the little girl spend the day delivering homemade Christmas gifts to their friends, neighbors, and family- being sure that no one was left out- including the little birds.
  • It’s sweet, it’s kind, and it emphasizes the idea that gifts can be thoughtful and meaningful without being expensive.
  • Of all of these books, this one just might be my absolute favorite Christmas book for toddlers.
• Biscuit’s Pet and Play Christmas
  • This Biscuit book features textures! Every page has a different texture for your toddler to explore, including a horse’s mane, Santa’s beard, and shiny Christmas lights.
  • My daughters have loved feeling these textures for YEARS- long after I thought it would still captivate them.
• Where’s Santa Boo?
  • Less of a well-known classic- but for some reason both of my daughters have been obsessed with these books. Boo the Cat is hiding throughout the book and each page reveals a different object. It’s simple, it’s fun, and my girls continually love it.
• Llama Llama Jingle Bells
  • Llama Llama board books for little ones are extremely well loved here- and the seasonal ones are no exception. Llama Llama experiences different parts of Christmas, including decorating, baking, and giving gifts. The rhymes are simple and easy to memorize and the coziness factor is high.

Christmas Preschool Books with Beloved Characters

• Rocket’s Christmas Surprise
  • The Tad Hill books are all sweet, but this might just be my favorite Rocket book. Rocket has written a story for Santa (a nice call back to Rocket Learns to Read) and he wants to wait up to give it to him. Bella and Owl also have small gifts for Santa, so they decide to wait up as well. (And Mr. Barker makes a great cameo.) However, they all eventually get too drowsy, but discover a sweet surprise in the morning.
• Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas
  • The Fletcher books are so good- especially if you have a kid who tends to be a bit of a worrier. In this Fletcher book, Fletcher is worried that Santa won’t be able to find the rabbit family since they moved to a new burrow. He and his friends work to make sure that Santa can indeed find the rabbits’ new burrow.
  • It’s such a heartwarming story and for my incredibly empathetic preschooler really related to Fletcher.
• Christmas Wish for Corduroy
  • If you’ve ever thought “I really love the story of Corduroy, but I wish there was a prequel”- check out Christmas Wish for Corduroy. In this story we find out just how Corduroy got his name, his iconic overalls, and what led him to the day he finally met the little girl who would take him home.
• Corduroy’s Christmas
  • This is as cozy of a book as they come. As a lift-the-flap book, your little one gets to help Corduroy decorate, bake, and wrap for Christmas. He’s living in a little house and all of the details in the house are just adorable. My daughters come to this one again and again. (This is also one that has had the flaps heavily taped back together!)
• Curious George Christmas Countdown
  • With poems on each page, count down to Christmas with George. George learns that waiting for Christmas is half the fun of the season. There’s a great emphasis on making memories and spending time with friends and family, which is something that we really try to emphasize at Christmas.
  • This also correlates to the Curious George Christmas musical special, which has become another tradition of ours as we kick off the Christmas season.

Enchanting Picture Books for Preschoolers

• The Polar Express
  • I remember reading this with my mom growing up and it just absolutely captivating my imagination. The idea of getting to go to the North Pole on a train with hot chocolate- it was absolutely mesmerizing. I even convinced myself that one of the bells on our Christmas tree was a bell from Santa’s sleigh- just like in the book.
  • This is a classic for a reason and one that my oldest daughter is really starting to enjoy.
  • I’m also looking forward to taking them one year on a “Polar Express” train ride as one of our family Christmas memories.
• The Night Before Christmas
  • Generations have been enchanted with this poem, and it’s no wonder why. Even when she was barely three years old, my daughter had me read this so many times that I memorized it start to finish.
  • Reading this on Christmas Eve has become one of our family traditions that I absolutely love.
• Christmas in the Big Woods
  • We love the Little House on the Prairie picture books, and this Christmas one is possibly my favorite. The pictures are so cozy to look through. The cabin is warm and firelit; the snow outside is piling up into tall drifts.
  • The family has a Christmas party with their family and then exchange small gifts. My daughter loves looking at the cabin scenes and imagining that she also lives in a cozy cabin.
  • This book is great to talk about Christmas traditions that are passed down through generations and compare what we do now to what people have done historically.
• The Christmas Book Flood
  • This book is incredibly enchanting. Focusing on the Scandinavian tradition of exchanging books on Christmas Eve, this book is a treasure for any reading obsessed family. The pictures were mesmerizing, with many images being made up of pages of books.
  • This book absolutely made my daughter want to travel to Scandinavia. It has also helped us solidify our tradition of exchanging books and emphasizing the joy of reading on a cold winter’s night.

Closing Thoughts

Reading the same books year in and year out can be such a beautiful Christmas tradition. I hope on this list you find some that can become a part of your own family’s traditions.