In our home, we try to reinforce that Jesus is the Reason for the Season.
I especially enjoy sharing Christmas books with my children that tell the story of the birth of Jesus, but they can be surprisingly difficult to find; I've had to become very intentional in my search. Have you experienced this?
On a recent trip to our local library I was shocked to find that nearly every Christmas story available shared everything but Jesus. One story (on display, front and center) was about a Christmas witch. Many others were about Santa, elves, reindeer, and the like. Oh, how we are so easily distracted from what's really important --- cultivating a love for Jesus and celebrating His entrance into this world, this precious babe, God wrapped in flesh!
If you are searching for Christmas books that share the message of Jesus, here are five your children will enjoy. You can click on each one for more information:
Remember, though, that the best story of all is the one shared straight from your Bible while holding your little ones close.
Can you add to this list? What stories do your children enjoy during the Christmas season? Let's see how many we can come up with.
written by Jennie Bishop. It is a tale about the importance of guarding your heart from evil, and my oldest son was absolutely captivated by it. It is a Christian allegory of sorts, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
. It's a wonderful story of a boy who finds that various friendly animals come out of his closet to spend the night with him, each animal making the night more silly. We adore the ending of this book, when the boy wakes up in the morning and blames all those silly animals for messing up his hair something awful.
. It is the biography of Leif Erickson, who was an adventurous young Viking explorer, converted to Christianity, and first discovered North America. The story was interesting, and the illustrations beautiful. Very well done.
, which is the story of Christopher Columbus. I love what the Amazon Editorial Review has to say about this book, "The d'Aulaires traveled to Spain, Portugal, and the Caribbean Islands to research original documents on the life of Columbus. Their text reflects many little- known facts not generally included in the typical biographies of Columbus. Readers will learn that it was the saga of Leif Erickson that was one of the inspirations for Columbus's voyage to the East." Who knew that Leif the Lucky was the inspiration for Columbus making his famed journey?
. It chronicles Lincoln's life from his childhood through his presidency, briefly touching on the Civil War as well. What I liked best about this book was the little tidbits shared and emphasis on his childhood that other authors may have overlooked. Many others have loved this book, too; it was awarded the 1940 Caldecott Medal.
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