An Advent Children's Library

The Books In My Homemade Advent Calendar For My Children

This year I’m trying something new. It’s something that I saw somewhere on Instagram last year. I am taking 25 books, some from the books we already own, and some brand new (or thrifted but new to my children), and making an Advent calendar for our family. This evening my husband and I will wrap each of them and number them. (I wrote this the week of Thanksgiving) Each day, my children will unwrap one and it will go on their shelves.

To prepare, I’m taking some books off the shelves and putting them in storage until at least February 2nd, which is Candlemas and traditionally marks the end of the Christmas season for Catholics and many other Christians. I’ll be simplifying their play space in general to mark the solemn season of Advent. About half of their toys will go away, and apart from a play Advent wreath, the decor in the play space will be pretty minimal. On Christmas day it will be abundant again, and they’ll have a few new toys and books to bring it to life.

Anyway, I like this Advent calendar approach because as my oldest is becoming increasingly interested in longer picture books and even chapter books, I’ve found our book collection a little lacking. She is no longer interested in board books, or books less than 10-20 pages. To be honest, I’m pretty over it too! Between Thriftbooks and the TAN big sale that happened earlier in November, I think I was able to add some pretty interesting books to our collection. These are a mix of books about or set in Winter, books about Saints, and books about Christmas. They are not listed in order, but I will keep the ones about Christmas for closer to Christmas. The twelve days of christmas book will be for Christmas day, and the night before Christmas book will be for December 23rd or 24th. The books about the solstice will be given around the 19th-21st. The list, in no particular order, is as follows:

1. Flower Fairies of the Winter by Cecily Mary Barker

   Our house is a big fan of Cecily Mary Barker and I’m grateful that they are small yet mighty. I love keeping them within their seasons. We only read Flower Fairies of Autumn after the Autumn Equinox, Flower Fairies of Winter after the Winter Solstice, and so on and so forth.

   

2. Little Women Retold by Mandy Archer and illustrated by Ela Smietanka

   Little Women is my favorite novel of all time, so I love reliving it through this charming illustrated retelling that I bought at the Orchard House in Concord last year. Little Women is the perfect Christmas story.

   

3. The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by Jesse Reisch

   This book is very informational… maybe even too informational for my children (they are 2.5 and 1 years old). But I still like it and hope they will enjoy it too.

   

4. Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas by Julia Rawlinson and Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

   We are already big fans of Fletcher and the Falling Leaves so I am really excited for this one! Fletcher is a sweet and tender little fox who kind of worries a lot, but mother nature finds a way of setting him at ease.

   

5. Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven

   A fun book about the Winter Solstice that also includes an interactive recipe. My inlaws will be in town during the solstice this year and they love to bake. I am looking forward to trying this recipe and reading this book as a big family.

   

6. The Handsome Little Cygnet by Matthew Mehan and illustrated by John Folley

   This book is new to us - there is something about swans in winter that is just magical.

   

7. Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck and Felicia Bond

   A short and sweet book for the littles. This will be our third year loving on this book!

   

8. The Nutcracker from the story by ETA Hoffman and illustrated by Don Daily

   This retelling is so charming with the wonderful old school illustrations. Our edition is also quite big which is wonderful for just pondering the images for a long time.

   

9. Long Ago, On A Silent Night by Julie Berry and illustrated by Annie Won

   I bought this book on a whim at a book fair last year so this will be our second year enjoying it. The illustrations are modern yet so beautiful. It is a sweet story of hope, joy, and mirroring ones life to the nativity story.

   

10. Moo, Baa, Fa La La La La by Sandra Boynton

    Some would most likely consider Boynton to be twaddle, but I can’t resist the belly laughs she can illicit. I try to keep at least one Boynton book in rotation for every season. They’re great at breaking the tension and restoring levity on hard days.

    

11. The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore and Illustrated by Christian Birmingham

    A classic that is a must-have for every family. It’s just such a wonderful poem and the illustrations are so charming and nostalgic. I am so excited for this one to be opened probably on the 23rd or Christmas Eve.

    

12. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

    I have to admit, I hated this book at first. But if you just surrender and really get into it, it’s a big hit.

    

13. You’re My Little Christmas Cookie by Natalie Marshall

    My girls LOVE this series. It all started when my friend Sophie gifted You’re My Little Pumpkin pie when my eldest was a baby. Now we have almost every one in the series. This was a new addition to our collection this year and my oldest has been requesting it for sometime. I can’t wait to see her reaction when she opens it!

    

14. My Name is Philomena: A Saint’s Story by Fr. Peregrine Fletcher, O. Praem.

    I bought this one in the big TAN book sale this year. I am excited to learn more about this young saint!

    

15. One Holy Marriage: The Story of Saints Louis and Zelie Martin by Katie Warner and Illustrated by Leah Pumfrey

    This is also a new addition but I read it as soon as it arrived. It’s gorgeous in every way. I think of Sts. Louis and Zelie as the patrons of our marriage and I think I will have the girls open it on our wedding anniversary this year.

    

16. Faustina: A Saint’s Story for Children by Kaitlyn C. Mason and Illustrated by Braelyn Snow

    This one is also new and I read it before wrapping it. The text is very small and the prose is a little mature. The illustrations are lovely, but I don’t know if my girls will be big fans quite yet.

    

17. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco and illustrated by Charles Santore

    A classic that belongs at Christmas - what more can I say!

    

18. I Went to Mass: What Did I See? by Katie Warner and illustrated by Meg Whalen

    I am excited to add this one to our Mass bag! I’m trying to keep our Mass bag full of books and toys that are strictly religious to inspire pondering the things not of this world even when children are not paying attention to the Mass.

    

19. My True Love Gave to Me: A Catechism for the Twelve Days of Christmas by Katie Warner and Illustrated by Elizabeth Zelasko

    This book was what inspired this endeavor. This illustrator is very dear to me - I first encountered her work when I was at The Augustine Institute. This is an absolutely lovely book and if you are a parent of any of my God children do not buy this book because I already got it for you…

    

20. I’m Going to Give You a Polar Bear Hug

    This book is so sweet! A friend gifted it to us earlier this year. I took it out of rotation just before Thanksgiving so that it will be a surprise again when they open it this Advent.

    

21. Christmas Magic Coloring Book from the Target dollar section!

    Just a little activity for us to do together. I also like that this comes with stickers.

    

22. Celebrating Advent with the Jesse Tree by Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv,

    I had every intention of doing a Jesse Tree this year and perhaps it is not too late… but I still dont have the little ornaments.

    

23. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha: The Lily of the Mohawks by Father Losavik, S.V.D.

    This is an older book and she is now a saint (our family copy is an older edition than the one pictured) but I’m excited to introduce this book because my husband and I are big fans of her.

    

24. Saint Patrick by Father Losavik, S.V.D.

    Someone gave this to me along with some of the older books I’ve listed and I thought “Why not?”

    

25. Lucia Morning in Sweden by Ewa Rydåker

    Okay I am big excited for this one! It comes with recipes and activities. I hope to make a big deal of St. Lucia Day this year. I have a lot of scandinavian heritage that I want to learn about and incorporate into our family rhythms for years to come, and this feels like a great place to start. Thought I have to admit… the actual story of St. Lucia is a little gruesome.

Only 11 of these books are absolutely new. Next year, I hope even less will be new. I know this is not the ~perfect Advent reading list~, but that wasn’t my goal. I wanted to do what I could with what I had to make something sweet and special for my family. If I continue this tradition I think I will only add 1-5 new books each year suited to my oldest children. If our budget is tight then some years I may add no new books! If you do a book and toy rotation like me, you could totally just wrap 25 books you already have that your kids havent seen in a few months. They don’t need to even be about Christmas or Winter, that just makes it extra fun! Part of the fun is just unwrapping something every day. Don’t let the desire to be perfect keep you from doing special things imperfectly. Also… don’t be afraid to start late! Especially small children have no idea that you were “supposed” to start on the first day of Advent. I had everything ready and still didn’t start on the first day!

P.S. I gently encourage you to purchase books from anywhere but amazon :)

Photo by Katie Azi on Unsplash