Our Family's Advent Countdown Book List

When wading through the multitude of fun options for celebrating Advent intentionally, I came across the idea of wrapping 25 books to open, once per day from December 1st until Christmas!

It did required planning up front.

In late November, I sat down, surfed Pinterest, and read a few blogs to gather titles, then I reserved about 30 books from my local library, since we don’t currently own any Christmas books. My goal was to choose books centered on the nativity, saints, and the gospel message as a whole, with a few classic Christmas titles peppered in! I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were more than enough options! I got a few extra books in case any were due back before we had a chance to open and read them.

There have been a few great traditions we tried and they just weren’t a great fit for us, but this has been a gold mine! My kids eagerly anticipate opening a new book each day, as do my hubby and I, and reading aloud daily brings us together in my favorite way! I plan to search my local thrift stores and free-groups this coming year to collect the books we loved most so that I don’t have to borrow them next year! I am already jazzed to do this again next time. If you do this as well, let me know! What are some of your favorite titles?

If this idea inspires you, and you'd like to compile your own countdown, here is a list of the books we included, for some ideas! (Advent, 2023)

Nativity-Centric Titles:

“The Nativity Mary Remembers” by Laurie Knowlton

“The Story of the Three Wise Kings” by Tomis dePaola

“The Donkey’s Song” by Jacki Kellum

“The Christmas Baby” by Marion Dawn Bauer

“Song of the Stars” by Sally Lloyd-Jones

“The Three Wise Men” by Loek Koopmas

“A Christmas Goodnight” by Nola Buck

“The Crippled Lamb” by Max Lucado

“Holy Night and a Little Star” by Mitali Perkins

“Pippin the Christmas Pig” by Jean Little

“The Christmas Cat” by Maryann Macdonald

“Mortimer’s Christmas Manger” by Karma Wilson

Christmas-Themed Titles:

“Miss Mary’s Christmas Mittens” by Trinka Hakes Noble

“The Little Drummer Boy” by Bernadette Watts

“One Christmas Mystery” by M. Christina Butler

“Little Tractor and the Christmas Tree” by Natalie Quintart

“Bear Stays Up For Christmas” by Karma Wilson

“The Spirit of Christmas” by Nancy Tillman

“If You Take a Mouse to the Movies” by Laura Numeroff

“The Legend of the Candy Cane” by Lori Walburg

“A Christmas Party” by Bailey & Szekeres

Board Books:

“The Story of Christmas” by Patricia A. Pingry

“The Spirit of Christmas” by Nancy Tillman

“Find Spot at Christmas” by Eric Hill

“Who is Coming to Our House?” By Joseph Slate

“The ABC’s of Christmas” by Jill Howarth

“The Story of Christmas” by Pia Imperial

“Joy to the World” by Sara Gianassi

We had a few extra titles peppered in here and there, as we discovered them. One of which was an African rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas with vibrant, interesting visuals! It brought me back to my time spent in Africa as a student & missionary.

There are so many other wonderful books to choose from! More are written each year! I look forward to revisiting this list year after year to see which books we include again, and which new ones join the countdown!