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I'm a wife to my "Mr. Right". A momma of five. A maker of slow food and simple living. A collector of memories, a keeper of books, and a champion for books that make memories. An addict who likes my half-and-half with a splash of coffee. A fractured pot transformed by the One Who makes broken things beautiful. I heart homeschooling, brake for libraries, and am glad you're here with me on the journey! Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Or, follow along with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google +, Youtube, or Pinterest.

Countdown to Christmas with Books

Countdown to Christmas with Books

One of our longest-running traditions to create anticipation for the season is with wrapped Christmas-themed library books. Every December, since Sweetie Pea was one year old, I have checked out 24 Christmas books from our local library, wrapped them in festive paper, stashed them in a pretty basket, and placed them under the tree to be opened and enjoyed together throughout the month.(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

That first year, she was able to open one book every day from December 1st until Christmas Eve. After we read the book together, I placed it in the back of the stack. She was able to physically see how many more days were left until Christmas. Plus, the majority of the books were adaptations of the Luke 2 passage, so even at the tender age of one, she was able to learn the true reason for the season.

As more children have been added to our home, they each have gotten a turn to unwrap their share of Christmas books. Although I enjoy the fun of sharing a story together, I do not enjoy attempting to keep track of whose turn it is to open the book for the day. I learned early on to assign a different kind of wrapping paper to each child. I arrange the books in the basket so that the different papers get rotated evenly. I, typically, save the remnants of last year's papers and use them to wrap our much-loved stories. The children always remember which paper belongs to each one of them, so I don't have to.

I know that my kids will eventually get too old to want to snuggle on the couch and read picture books together, but I'm hoping that the recollection of our treasured times reading The Legend of the Candy Cane and B is for Bethlehem will remain one of their favorite Christmas memories.

Booklists for the Countdown

16 comments:

  1. I love this! I am doing my first Advent Countdown with our 3 year old and I am doing books :)

    www.gratefulwithtwo.com

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    1. I'm sure it will be a much-loved family favorite. I know our Advent countdown is.

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  2. I think you and I must be a lot alike! We are doing this thid year as well with books I've been buying at thrift stores over the past year. We also have a thankful tree!! I don't think your children will ever outgrow reading Christmas books! I am the youngest in my family and by the time I was the last one left at home my mom and I would read the little red buckets together every year under the tree. It would take us a few days to read and is one of my very best memories. I still like to read it each year. We are also doing an advent that has a daily activity. One of my favorites is our Christmas eve dinner where we dress up, eat on the floor on a woven mat and eat foods Christ would have eaten. Thanks for sharing your ideas!!

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    1. Love the Christmas dinner idea! Might have to try that one.

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  3. I love this idea. I just pulled all my Christmas books off the shelves and plan to wrap them this afternoon. I know my girls are going to really enjoy this countdown to Christmas.

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  4. GREAT Idea. I am going to pin this and use it this year. I've been trying to think about different gifts to use for our Christmas countdown. Thank you!

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  5. I love this idea, we better get headed to the library!

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  6. You are fortunate that you are able to check out this many Christmas books at once. Our library has a limit of three on the number of seasonal books you can take at one time.

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    1. Ours used to have that same policy. At that time, my daughter was an infant so it didn't really matter. I started this tradition the year after that ban lifted. I do have a few friends in other areas that have started a similar tradition but have begun to collect Christmas themed books at yard sales and library used book sales.

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  7. Recommended Christmas booklist?

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  8. Do you have a recommended booklist?

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  9. Do you have a recommended booklist?

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    1. Beth, Here is a list of my favorite nativity-themed books. https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2017/11/nativity-books.html
      And here is one of my favorite living literature Christmas books.
      https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2014/12/12-christmas-books-for-living.html

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