Holiday Books for Kids: Christmas, Hanukkah, Multi-Faith
These holiday books for kids are a wonderful way for children to experience the wonder of Christmas, Hanukkah, and other special days.
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Holiday Books for Kids: Christmas, Hanukkah, Multi-Faith
Experience the wonder of the season with these holiday books for kids
Hanukkah
This adorable book for younger readers celebrates the joy of Hanukkah, as a child recounts the top ten things she loves about the holiday, including making a menorah and going to the synagogue. A wonderful introduction to beloved Hanukkah traditions, helping instill children with pride in their identity and excitement for what makes them special. And the best thing about Hanukkah – getting to do it again next year!
Buy 10 Things I Love About Hanukkah on Amazon or Bookshop
This exuberant book features diverse children dancing to a holiday beat as they get the wiggles out and get ready for Hanukkah to begin! It is a fun book to read for little ones who have trouble sitting still as they wait for Hanukkah. The rhyming text bounces along as it encourages kids to get up and dance, march, and twirl! A fun book to add to any Hanukkah collection.
Buy Hanukkah Hippity-Hop on Amazon or Bookshop
The story of the White House menorah, created only in 2022, is a story of perseverance that resonates with the story of the Jewish people in the US and around the world. Before this time, the White House lit menorahs, but they were always borrowed, temporary. It was only recently that a permanent menorah was created, crafted from a beam that should have been destroyed. This book is the remarkable story of that beam, which was removed during a major renovation of the White House under President Truman. The author and illustrator do a masterful job at drawing the parallels between the tale of this beam of wood and the Jewish people themselves, who perseverance despite all of the tragedy and persecution they have faced through the centuries. A beautiful story that deserves to be read by all children.
Buy Beam of Light: The Story of the First White House Menorah on Amazon or Bookshop
Uri is worried. It’s the first night of Hanukkah, but his father still isn’t home. As he waits and worries for his father, he sees the King of Darkness approaching with his army. Though his mother tries to reassure him, Uri knows he must fight the darkness and save his father and family. Thankfully, just as the battle is at its height, Uri’s father arrives, having stopped by the bakery for a Hanukkah treat on his way home. This book recognizes how children’s imaginations can run wild with worries, while also showing their willingness to go to battle to save their family from darkness, a fight that echoes that long ago one, when light triumphed over dark with the Hanukkah miracle.
Buy Uri and the King of Darkness: A Hanukkah Story on Amazon or Bookshop
Christmas & Three Kings Day
While Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, is not well-known here, it is widely celebrated in other parts of the world, including most of Latin America. This lovely book tells of a young girl and the special Three Kings Day tradition she shares with her abuelita. Each year, Abuela arrives from Puerto Rico, along with a box containing wooden santos (the three wisemen). They set them up in their nativity display while Abuela tells the story of their journey to Bethlehem, and shares memories of celebrating with her own family when she was a child. A tender story about how traditions can connect us to family faraway, including those that have gone before us. It is also a wonderful way to introduce children to the Puerto Rican traditions for Three Kings Day and even includes a recipe for coquito (Puerto Rican eggnog)! Based on the author’s own memories of celebrating with her Puerto Rican abuelita.
Buy Hooray, It’s Three Kings Day!: A Picture Book for Epiphany on Amazon or Bookshop
Little ones will delight in this book, which is also a sturdy puzzle! Note, this is not a book with a puzzle inside. The puzzle itself is the book! As children assemble the puzzle (over 50 inches long!), they will reveal more of the train. Each car has text that encourages children to count the items shown in the train’s holiday scenes, such cookies and Christmas stockings. Although this puzzle book is targeted at ages 1-3, older kids will love it, too! My 9 year old was drawn to it instantly and got to work on the puzzle straightaway! A fun, interactive book that engages young readers on many levels.
Buy PuzzleTrain Christmas on Amazon
This sweet board book features woodland creatures taking part in a special hunt for ornaments to go on Polar Bear’s Christmas tree. This lift the flap book (featuring several flaps in each spread) lets little readers take part in the hunt, too! Children will adore this interactive book, as they search through the homes of animal friends for special surprises.
Buy The Great Big Christmas Tree Hunt on Amazon or Bookshop
The text of this fun, interactive board book is set to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Readers celebrate beloved holiday traditions, such as singing carols and baking cookies. Each spread features a chunky slider for little fingers to push and pull. A great book for the youngest readers to enjoy. Includes a QR code you can scan to hear the song!
Buy If It’s Christmas and You Know It . . . on Amazon or Bookshop
Christmas just isn’t the same without snow! Lucy and her brother Noah have been waiting for snow, but it’s Christmas Eve and not a single flake. Then Mama gives them an early present – a snow globe with a house that looks just like theirs. That night Lucy and Noah are delighted to discover that it is snowing in their house! A lovely story about the magic of Christmas and the power of children’s imaginations.
Buy The Christmas Snow Globe on Amazon or Bookshop
This book captures a child’s joy at picking out a Christmas tree and the clash between her optimism and her father’s practical reminder that it can’t be too big because of all the stairs he will have to carry it up, and how small their apartment is, etc. Improbably, they find a tree that is just right for both of them, and just right for all of their ornaments from the US and India. A beautiful reminder that the joy of Christmas shines through even when there are challenges to overcome. A beautiful story featuring a intercultural and interfaith family celebrating their own special family culture, blending the best of both worlds. The authors both come from immigrant families, and this story is based on one from one author’s childhood.
Buy Nisha’s Just-Right Christmas Tree on Amazon or Bookshop
This sweet story is a great reminder for kids that the magic of Christmas doesn’t just last one day. Little Cubby is so excited for Christmas, especially when a little tree in the forest “chooses” Cubby to take it home. With Little Tree at home and decorated, it seems like Christmas is perfect – until it is over. Can Cubby’s father help him understand that happiness continues, even after Christmas? I love how the book uses the images of a tree through the seasons to talk about the passage of time and benefits of patience.
Buy The Littlest Christmas Tree on Amazon or Bookshop
This adorable book is a celebration of the Arctic and its creatures. A little lemming wants to celebrate Christmas, but she lives too far north for trees to grow! Can she and her friends find a Christmas tree before it’s too late for Santa to leave presents under it? The loveable animals in this book are all given Inuit names by the author, who is Inuit himself and lives in the Arctic. A cute book to share with young animal lovers who are also excited about getting ready for Christmas.
Buy Lemming’s First Christmas on Amazon or Bookshop
What if the legend of Santa Claus was really based on pirates?? This imaginative picture book tells a tall tale about two pirate brothers – one naughty, one nice – who sail the seven seas until the naughty one abandons his brother to keep the loot for himself. While that brother continues the pirate life, the other wanders north to discover a different sort of adventure, with elves and reindeer! Will the brothers ever reunite? If so, can forgiveness help them join forces to deliver presents to children around the world? A fun story pirate lovers will definitely enjoy!
Buy Ho Ho Ho! A Pirate’s Christmas For Me on Amazon or Bookshop
This graphic novel contains four all new stories featuring these best friends. Each story has a holiday or winter theme, like when Penguin and Panda try to earn money to buy the “perfect” Christmas tree. Kids will enjoy the relatable and often funny adventures, while their grownups will appreciate the gentle lessons they introduce, such as problem solving and overcoming fears. A great book for reluctant readers or anyone who enjoys stories about friends, told with warmth and gentle humor.
Buy The Adventures of Penguin and Panda: Winterfest on Amazon or Bookshop
Have you ever considered what the sheep saw that special night so long ago? This creative chapter book imagines the Christmas story from the perspective of the sheep, abandoned in the field by their shepherds. The sheep only receive bits and pieces of the tidings that has everyone so excited, so their understanding is rather, well, confused. This is a hilarious read, with main characters (the sheep) that are wonderfully flawed and always funny. A laugh out loud story the whole family will enjoy.
Buy One Wise Sheep: An Untraditional Christmas Story on Amazon or Bookshop
Holiday Books for Kids: Multi-Faith
This sweet board book, with its visual echoes of The Snowy Day, helps the youngest readers delight in the sights and sounds of the various holidays that are celebrated this time of year. It uses familiar emblems of the diverse holidays (such as menorahs) to help little ones practice counting, even as they appreciate the unique blend of cultures and faiths one can find in the city. A joyous book that includes lesser known holidays, such as Mawlid al-Nabi.
Buy A Winter Walk in the City on Amazon or Bookshop
This picture book, filled with dreamy illustrations, follows the imaginative journey of a young Jewish boy who wonders about the miracle of the light from his family’s menorah. He knows the story of the miracle of Hanukkah, but there seems to be more to it. He (and his cat) follow the light as it travels throughout the world, visiting other families celebrating the light of goodness and community. We see glimpses of other celebrations (explained more fully in the back matter), showing the commonality and humanity of people of many faiths. This book is a lovely meditation on various holidays from around the world that sparkle with light and warmth. A gentle introduction to the special days of other religions, emphasizing what they all have in common.
Buy The Light from My Menorah: Celebrating Holidays around the World on Amazon or Bookshop
This gorgeous book highlights seven holidays from different religious and spiritual traditions: Diwali, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Lunar New Year, and Bodhi Day. It helps children understand that these holidays, which on the surface seem quite different, actually have a great deal in common. For example, they all celebrate light, traditions, family, community, and love. The overall narrative and the brief explanations of each holiday are easy for young readers to understand. They are accompanied by beautiful images of diverse families. I love that they include body diversity as well as mixed race families. This lovely book is written by an award-winning mother daughter duo, who celebrate holidays from different religions with their family and friends.
Buy We Celebrate the Light on Amazon or Bookshop
What are your favorite holiday books for kids?
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