Christmas book advent tradition

photo via Instagram on my iPhone. My username is kirstenw.
I still love Hipstamatic, but the social aspect of Instagram is such fun, and it is a very user-friendly app.

I've seen this tradition popping up on several blogs I read, and we have started it this year, as well. Each day in December, we read a Christmas book together. Last January I purchased enough clearance fabric to sew 24 reuseable gift bags to use year after year for wrapping the books. Well, the fabric has not been made into anything yet, so that part of the plan will have to wait until next December. Then I planned to wrap all 24 with wrapping paper, but that only lasted the first couple weeks - now I'm just grabbing one off the stack each day.

I had a few books in my collection, and I picked up a few more with after-Christmas sales last year. I also ordered a few online recently to complete the collection. There are a few board books in the mix for Kenley, but mostly it is for Lachlan right now. We're all enjoying the festive stories.

Here's the list, in no particular order:
1. Who's Coming to our House? : Sweet, and good for baby.
2. The Little Drummer Boy : the song lyrics, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
3. Room for a Little One : from the point of view of the animals in the stable
4. Christmas in the Manger : another nice board book for baby about the Christmas story
5. The Christmas Magic : Santa prepares for Christmas, in a more quiet, reflective way than most stories
6. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree: a fun story about a tree that gets shared by a series of grateful creatures
7. Home for Christmas : Jan Brett's newest holiday tale, about a troll who loses his tail.
8. Gingerbread Baby: a fun retelling of the Gingerbread Boy story
9. Gingerbread Friends : the sequel to Gingerbread Baby (can you tell I love Jan Brett? The Three Snow Bears is another favorite, and the Mitten, and the Hat...)
10. It's Christmas David! : a mischevious boy waits impatiently for Christmas. Yeah, we're relating to this one this year ;)
11. The Little Fir Tree : a heartwarming, timeless story
12. Bear Stays Up For Christmas : If you aren't familiar with Bear and friends stories, check them out. Just nice stories about friendship and caring for each other.
13. Merry Christmas, a Storybook Collection : our favorite is "Merry Christmas, Stinky Face!"
14. Snowmen at Christmas : Another series that I love. Whimsical and fun to imagine.
15. The Sweet Smell of Christmas : one of Bill's childhood favorites, he suggested I order it. Scratch and Sniff!
16. The Polar Express : Classic.
17. Bear's First Christmas : another delightfully illustrated book about a bear who wakes from hibernation to celebrate Christmas
18. Olive, the other reindeer : Seriously fun and entertaining! a new favorite
19. The Grinch : Lachlan likes this one, but doesn't want to keep it in his room because "the cover is scary"
20. The Nutcracker : Another classic, more beautiful illustrations
21. Shall I Knit You a Hat? : another fun story about handmade gift-giving
22. O Little Town of Bethlehem : we received this last year, a board book with music and lights!
23. The Christmas Star : Another board book, a nice, simple retelling of Christ's birth.
24. The Night Before Christmas (we have that copy, but there are so many fun choices!) : Seems appropriate for the 24th!

We've also receive a few new books this week that will probably make it into the rotation next year:
That's Not My Reindeer - Kenley loves this one, but insists it is a "puppy"
The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear - gotta love Brother and Sister
A Charlie Brown Christmas - with music!

If you're looking for more ideas to build your collection, check out Dana's post and all the comments! Plus she has good ideas for saving money on the books. I think I could double or triple our collection with all those listed! There are so many great children's books out there.