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Fun Christmas Countdown: Picture Book Advent Calendar

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Celebrate literacy all through the holidays with this Picture Book Advent Calendar Christmas countdown.

Click to Read Also: Christmas Picture Books and Activities to Go With Them

Make a picture book advent calendar to help kids get ready for Christmas

I have wanted to make a picture book advent calendar to use as a fun Christmas countdown for several years; this year I finally got organized enough to put it together!

We had quite a few Christmas and winter themed Christmas books already, and I bought a few more used on Amazon and through Paperbackswap to make a complete 24-book set. Many of the books we already owned I had bought used or through Scholastic book club sales at school; a few were gifts.

You don’t have to buy any books for this to work, though – simply borrow Christmas-themed books from your library and wrap them up to read!

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Advent Calendar Picture Books

Here are the books we are using this year; you can also find them (as well as other Christmas-themed books that my family likes) in my Amazon store. This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

More Christmas-Themed Picture Books

Looking for more suggestions for this Christmas picture book advent calendar? Here are some books my readers recommend:

Let kids help wrap and decorate gifts at Christmas time

Two-year-old Anna helped me wrap everything in sturdy brown paper (so that it would be able to withstand lots of handling by the kids) that we tied up with baker’s twine from IKEA. We did all of this while the other kids were in school, so we are the only ones who know what books are inside. Anna decided to decorate the packages, and the older kids have added some decorations as well, as you can tell in the photo below:

Picture book Christmas Countdown

Are you doing an advent calendar this year? Do you have Christmas-themed picture books that you recommend that are not on my list?

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MaryAnne at Mama Smiles
MaryAnne Kochenderfer
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

25 thoughts on “Fun Christmas Countdown: Picture Book Advent Calendar”

  1. Karla Cook

    Such a fun idea! We kept a basket of Christmas books under the tree when my kids were little, then put them away with the Christmas decor each year. I bet they would have enjoyed unwrapping them day by day!

  2. Emily | Rainbow Delicious

    I love this idea! I did an advent last year of little toys in boxes but felt like it was kind of lame and this year didn’t do one at all… next year I plan to do this, I know my kids would love it and it will help remind me to slow down and take time to read to them each day. Thanks for sharing this great idea <3

  4. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants

    Love it. I think I should bite the bullet and do it this year. It’s probably the last year my daughter would even be interested in something like this anyway. I can imagine how surprised yours will be!

  5. Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious?

    We haven’t done an advent calendar in a while…I guess it always escapes me. I never thought to do books…and get them from the library! Genius!

  10. Catherine @ Story Snug

    I wanted to wrap books up for our Advent calendar this year but my daughter wants to repeat the book themed Advent calendar that we did last year. Two little men, Christmas and Snowy, brought a book a day and used props to create a scene that was relevant to the book. It was a lot of fun to do :)

  11. Veens

    I am hoping I can do this as well this year! Aarya LOVES Santa Claus, Snow, Snowman and everything Christmas and he is at the right age where he will understand the story of Jesus Christ. Lets see if I can do this too, I do not not have many books, but I am trying to get a few at least!

      1. Veens

        I do not have a library but I do have a few Christmasy books. And I will be borrowing a few from friends. I think I can do a 12 days thingy, with some activities like ornaments making and all added :)

  12. Theresa (Capri + 3)

    That is such a creative idea. Our kids would absolutely love that. I know we have a lot of Christmas and winter books. I will have to look to see if there are enough. Thank you for the comprehensive list. We have read some, but not all.

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