Any festivity becomes more fulfilled when celebrated with family, especially when the occasion is that of Christmas! Cleaning together, cooking together, eating together, and when we talk about my household, we also read together! Reading in peace is indeed calming but reading the same thing with many people, especially with your family, is just a feeling I can’t express in words.
At first, my family members found it quite irritating when I used to force them into reading Christmas books with me but now, it has become a ritual of ours and they all enjoy it. Sometimes, we have one person narrate it out to all of us, and sometimes, we get multiple copies of the same and each member gets a copy to read. Let’s see what we’re going to do this year!
It has been scientifically proven that doing activities like reading together brings a family together and strengthens the bond among the members. It imbibes values in the young ones and makes the older ones familiar with the imagination and thought-process of the younger generation by the way they interpret things.
There are tons of Christmas books in the market that become much more fun when enjoyed with family. Let me tell you about a few of them.
13 Greatest Christmas Books To Read With Family
These are some of the books you’ve got to read with your family.
1. Home For Christmas
Too Many Tamales is a fictional novel written by Gary Soto in 1992.
This book revolves around a girl named Maria who, while helping in the kitchen, lost her mother’s expensive diamond ring in a batch of tamales, so she and her cousins, who had come over for Christmas, decided to eat away all of the tamales and find the ring.
2. Too Many Tamales
Too Many Tamales is a fictional novel written by Gary Soto in 1992.
This book revolves around a girl named Maria who, while helping in the kitchen, lost her mother’s expensive diamond ring in a batch of tamales, so she and her cousins, who had come over for Christmas, decided to eat away all of the tamales and find the ring.
3. The Snow Child
Written by Eowyn Ivey, The Snow Child is a historical fiction novel published in 2011.
This novel is about an old couple, Jack and Mabel, who live in Alaska as homesteaders. They feel empty because of childlessness in their lives, but things change when an anonymous girl from the woods comes and stands before them.
4. A Christmas Memory
A Christmas Memory is a classical holiday fictional novel written in 1956 by Truman Capote.
This book is about the narrator himself but of the time when he was a 7-year-old kid. It revolves around his friendship with his distant and much older cousin, Nanny Faulk. This book is all about familial love and that friendship has no age bar.
5. Old Christmas
Written in 1876, Old Christmas is a fictional novel written by Washington Irving.
This novel is about old and classical ways of celebrating Christmas and how people of old generations used to have fun during Christmas time. The storyline is that the author is invited over to a friend’s house for Christmas.
6. The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is a fantasy novel written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1844.
This book is on the strength of true friendship, demonstrated by a girl named Gerda ad she begins a search for her playmate and best friend, Kay. It also depicts the struggles between the good and the bad.
7. The Bird Of Bethlehem
Written in 2012, The Bird Of Bethlehem is a holiday fiction written by Tomie dePaola.
This novel is about birds of a place called Bethlehem and is written from a bird’s point of view only. Word spreads among the birds of Bethhelem that an angel has been seen in the night sky and that many people have descended upon Bethhelem and so, the birds are now off to find the wondrous thing.
8. Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama
Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama is a Christmas fiction written in 2012 by Selina Alko.
There is another occasion celebrated on the same day as Christmas every year. It’s Hanukkah but most people don’t even know about it, let alone celebrate it. This book is a blend of both Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations so as to highlight the importance of both festivities equally.
9. A Child’s Christmas In Wales
A Child’s Christmas In Wales is a poetic literature book written by Dylan Thomas in 1952.
Through this book, the writer is recounting and recollecting the past memories of Christmas and how it was celebrated in Wales when he was just a boy and how that all made him feel.
10. The First Night
Written by Barbara G. Hennessy, The First Night is a holiday book published in 1993.
This book recounts the time when Jesus was born and depicts a few hours of his life after his birth. The shepherds, angles, and kings had not arrived yet and Jesus was looked at as just any other normal newborn.
11. The Year Of The Perfect Christmas Tree
The Year Of The Perfect Christmas Tree is a 1988 written holiday storybook by Gloria Houston.
This story is about a girl named Ruthie and her family. With her father off to war, Ruthie and her mother have to fulfill the obligation of bringing in a perfect Christmas tree in town for Christmas that year. Beautifully illustrated, this book is about bravery and familial love.
12. Apple Tree Christmas
Apple Tree Christmas is a holiday fiction written by Trinka Hakes Noble in 1984.
This book is about family, memories, and our attachment to even the minor things. It’s about the family of a young farm girl who had an apple tree in their backyard, which fell due to a storm just before Christmas. The family is sad and recalls how vital that tree was to each of them in different ways.
13. Silver Packages
Written in 1987, Silver Packages is a holiday fiction by Cynthia Rylant.
This book follows the story of Frankie, a young boy living in Appalachia. He sits beside the tracks from where the Christmas train will pass, carrying gifts for children living in towns. He waits every year, hoping for a particular gift to toss out of the train and fall into his lap.
Conclusion:
This Christmas, don’t enjoy the joy of reading alone. You should share it with your family and your loved ones to enhance its charm.
