Not everyone is a bookworm, but some light reading at a young age for your child can build a lifetime interest in books. In that spirit, we present 15 popular holiday books for children ages 9-12. Fun reading is one popular thing among kids, and Christmas books are an all-time favorite.
Christmas time offers the perfect break for kids from their daily routine to indulge in some fun reading. Snugging up in the super-cozy comforter and enjoying the winters reading some classic Christmas stories. To help you make the right pick for your kid, we have come up with 15 classic books that your kid will love when the Christmas fever is on.
15 Popular Holiday Books for Children: The List
#1 How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
What else can be a better present for a kid than the book he’d love to read. No doubt, Theodor Seuss Geisel, commonly known as Dr. Suess, is one of the most famous authors among kids and adults.
Not only are his books inspiring, but they are also a great collection of knowledge and language altogether.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of the most selling books can be one of the best Christmas gifts for kids. Christmas will not be complete without the grinch, who is willing to find out the true meaning of Christmas.
The book is a collection of rhymes and is on the theme of commercialization of Christmas. An easy-to-understand and exciting book with a happy ending, it can be a perfect pastime during the vacations of your kids.
#2 Polar Express 30th Anniversary Edition
Polar Express is a dream story every kid wants to live on Christmas day. One of the best sellers, the classic Christmas story, and an even better gift for kids.
The dreamland, the plot, the story itself is enough to build the interest of kids in the book to peacefully spend their vacation digging it.
The story is about a young boy who was awake on a snowy Christmas night. He was invited to onboard a magical train, which will take him to the North Pole. Polar express passes atop the world, where Santa asks the boy to make a Christmas wish.
This book is for those kids who believe in the reindeers and the holy spirit of Christmas.
#3 The Jolly Postman
The author of The Jolly Postman is a pair of husband and wife, famous for authoring many books with many pictures in it, which seems to always interest kids. The Jolly Postman is a classic collection of letters that every kid must read at least once in his life.
In the book, a postman delivers letters to every character from many of the classic tales, including Goldilocks and Mother Goose. Each of the letters brings a new story for the fictional character.
It is a complete collection of different stories and can be a perfect Christmas gift for kids who love fictional stories and characters.
#4 The Night Before Christmas
Santore, the author of The Night Before Christmas, is known as one of the best authors and has written many classic stories, including Snow White.
The Night Before Christmas is a collection of poems, which every family should own. As its name suggests, it contains a story about the night before Christmas eve, where Santa Claus wears a funky pant and rides his reindeers to leave a gift for African kids as per their tradition.
The poem book has a unique design with a beautiful collage, oil paints, and a great imagination.
#5 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
A story about the world’s best kids, it can take any adult back in their childhood. This book provides a different point of view of Christmas.
It is about six ill-tempered and ill-behaved Herdman kids who went to a Sunday class in the church, looking for free snacks. But due to circumstances, they ended up being cast for the Christmas show.
Everyone thought that the show would be a disaster, but the children put the best out of them, making the show a massive success.
Thus, in the end, everyone in the story found it the best Christmas pageant ever. It can be an inspiring story for kids to do good things in life no matter what the situation arises.
#6 The Sweet Smell of Christmas
If your kid is totally into reading, then The Sweet Smell of Christmas can be an ideal Christmas present to keep him engaged in the world of a little bear. Join Little Bear as he prepares for the holidays, all the while giving readers a chance to smell six wonderful scents including apple pie, christmas tree, hot chocolate, and more!
It is a family activity book where your kid will go through six different scents and ultimately end at a delicious yet perfect meal.
This classic family story attracts the kids with its simplicity and adventure.
#7 Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
If you are interested in digging deeper into a perfect Christmas, then read Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree.
Mr. Willowby wants the perfect Christmas tree, but the perfect Christmas tree is too large to fit in their house. So, he decided to cut down the top of the tree to fit it into their place.
The story revolves around how the tree moved from one home to another in the entire forest, spreading joy.
The story teaches the fun aspect of Christmas and the value of sharing, and thus, it is one of the best Christmas books for kids.
#8 Letters from Father Christmas
Well, if your kid wants to know more about Santa, its reindeer, and the North Pole, then the classic book Letters from Father Christmas can be an ideal Christmas book for them.
For fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and lovers of Christmas holidays, Letters from Father Christmas is a gorgeous, full-color, festive gift featuring a wealth of letters and illustrations that Tolkien created for his children,
It includes a beautifully designed, colorful letter from the North Pole, where Father Christmas shares his routine with kids every December. This book is not just for kids and will interest adults as well.
#9 One Snowy Night (Percy The Park Keeper)
The author of this classic tale is one of the bestselling authors, Nick Butterworth. It is a traditional Christmas tale, full of values of sharing and caring.
Percy, the Park keeper, always feeds his animal friends in the park. But once on Christmas eve, he found out that his animal friends need more food than they usually require. What will Percy, the park keeper, do in such a situation?
Apart from this, Percy has a small hut. He can’t invite every animal to his cabin. Thus, it is going to be squishy when he invites all his friends from the park.
#10 Clifford’s Christmas
Hanukkah has another level of craze among kids. Clifford’s Christmas is a classic story based on Hanukkah. Clifford and his love, Emily Elizabeth, celebrate their first Hanukkah together, listening to information and eating latkes.
They then went out to visit the giant Menorah but find a light broken there. And since it’s evening, they are not able to find any handyman. Will they be able to save Hanukkah? Or they have to celebrate this Hanukkah without that one light?
You will find it out after reading this classic and exciting tale.
#11 A Christmas Carol
Authored by Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol is a story narrated by Carol, who tells the story of an old miser. This version is the 200th Anniversary Illustrated version which sketches that bring the story to life.
It is about Ebenezer Scrooge and how she got transformed by the visit of supernatural powers, including his former business partner, Jacob’s Ghost, and the Ghost of Christmas’ present, past, and yet to come.
The book is a comprehensive collection of humor, sympathy, and a classic Christmas story and tale.
#12 Santa Mouse
Santa Mouse is a cute poem authored by Michael Brown. It is a story about a mouse who doesn’t have a name. But he does have a unique cheese. On Christmas eve, he invited all his friends to share the cheese with them and asked them to suggest a beautiful name for the mouse. Will he be able to get a perfect name?
With a series of discussions, you will find that all the friends and the mouse agreed on the name Santa Mouse in the end.
This story is full of humor and emotions that kids are going to love to a great extent.
#13 Alfie’s Christmas
If you also want to celebrate this Christmas with Father Christmas, this book is all you need.
The story revolves around two kids, Alfie and Annie Rose, how they make cards and presents on Christmas, singling carols and enjoying.
In the end, Alfie wrote a long letter to Father Christmas, including everything he needs at Christmas. What is Father Christmas going to bring for him this Christmas?
It is a dream Christmas story of every kid on the day of Christmas, the classic Christmas tale.
#14 A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story
Penguins don’t have wings. But what if a penguin asked Father Christmas to get wings as its Christmas present?
A Wish for Wings That Work is a tale of an Opus names Penguin, who wants to fly higher and higher in the sky. He tried many machines that can help him fly but failed every time. Thus, he climbed the highest cliff to wish Santa Clause for a pair of wings.
Will Santa gift him wings with which he can fly higher and higher?
You will have to read the story to find it out. But I bet you will feel joyous and laugh a lot after reading this incredible story.
#15 S Is for Santa: A Christmas Alphabet
S is for Santa is a collection of 26 different stories based on the variable theme, each starting with the other letter of the English alphabet.
The book includes everything that kids do on a Christmas day and eve, right from singing carols to decorating the tree, making presents to receiving gifts, flying reindeer, and most importantly, Santa.
The tales in this book are classic Christmas tale that can take any kid in their wonderland. Apart from this, they can read a new story every day.
15 Popular Holiday Books for Children – Wrapping Up
What else is better than having a vacation full of adventure without going out in the freezing winters. It is possible if you dig into a book so deep that you went into your dreamland and live that story.
Books can be your best friends and all-time companion. Reading books not just entertains you but enhances many of your skills as well. And that’s precisely what it will do for your kids.
Thus, what else can be a better present for your kid on Christmas other than a book. Instead of wasting their time during Christmas vacation, they can spend it learning something new each day.