Our Top 10 Christmas Books for Children

With Christmas officially around the corner, we start our Christmas countdown with a few of our favourite festive books for children. From classics by Charles Dickens to more recent tales from Matt Haig, we have plenty of suggestions to help get you and your children into the Christmas spirit. Is your favourite on the list? Let us know what you think we’ve missed!

10. The Dark is Rising

Susan Cooper
Suitable for children aged 10 plus

This book evokes a real sense of wintry wilderness. A magical story that takes the reader into an enchanting snowy land where we meet eleven-year-old Will Stanton, a young boy who has been receiving mysterious warnings and on Midwinter Day discovers that he secretly belongs in a different world. It is beautifully written by Susan Cooper and is full of suspense and intrigue and Christmas Spirit.

£7.99 Paperback from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-dark-is-rising/susan-cooper/9781849412704

9. The Jolly Christmas Postman

Janet & Allen Ahlberg
Suitable for children 3 – 5 years

It’s Christmas Eve and the Jolly Postman is rushing around delivering last minute Christmas letters and gifts to all your favourite fairytale characters. Each beautifully illustrated page, contains an envelope with a little Christmas message inside. What child can resist the opening these and reading the funny messages on each page. Written in 1991, the gorgeous illustrations by Janet evoke memories of a bygone time and make us feel all warm and cosy inside. Bonus fun fact for you, did you know that Allen Ahlberg is a former postman?

£9.99 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-jolly-christmas-postman/allan-ahlberg/janet-ahlberg/9780141340111

8. Mog’s Christmas

Judith Kerr
Suitable for children 2 – 5 years

Poor Mog is feeling a bit discombobulated with all the extraordinary Christmas activities including different noises and new smells and, rather strangely, a tree that is being brought into the house. Mog makes a hasty retreat out onto the roof until she unexpectantly returns with a bump. The charming story of Mog the Forgetful Cat continues with a festive flavour. Children will love Judith Kerr’s beautiful, colourful illustrations and parents will reminisce about their own childhoods when they were first introduced to the lovable Mog.

£6.99 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/product/mogs-christmas/judith-kerr/geraldine-mcewan/9780007193660

7. A Boy Called Christmas

Matt Haig (@matthaig1), Chris Mould (@chrismouldink)
Suitable for children aged 6 plus

I read this book as an adult and I loved this book and plan to read this with my two children this year. It is funny, modern and tells a heart-warming tale of how a young boy called Nikolas travels across Finland looking for his father who has been instructed to complete a special mission. Nikolas meets pixies, trolls and elves along the way and has many adventures before understanding that he has his own special mission to complete. Matt Haig deals with themes of love, goodwill, determination and sadness eloquently. Chris Mould’s ink illustrations are a delight too. This book has been turned into a feature film which will be released in 2020.

£4.99 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-boy-called-christmas/matt-haig/chris-mould/9781782118268

6. A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens
Suitable for children aged 9 years plus

A fantastic Christmas fable that teaches that it never pays to be mean-spirited and miserly and that kindness and generosity should always be the way forward. Charles Dicken’s tale has had a lasting and significant influence on how we view Christmas as the season of goodwill, charity and celebration. Although some children may find the language used, quite old fashioned, the morals of the story will leave you all feeling really Christmassy inside.

£2.50 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-christmas-carol/charles-dickens/dr-keith-carabine/9781840227567

5. Father Christmas

Raymond Briggs
Suitable for children aged 5 years plus

Every wondered what Father Christmas gets up to for the other 364 days of the year? This book explores how Father Christmas lives a very simple life with his cat and dog and decides to take a well-earned holiday. Can he find a suitable location? Will he remain incognito? This is a very funny story about a much more ‘human’ version of Father Christmas rather at odds with the jolly old elf image that is often portrayed. Raymond Briggs’ illustrations are what my mind conjures up now when I think of Father Christmas, so evocative they are.

£7.99 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/father-christmas/raymond-briggs/9780723277972

4. Alfie’s Christmas

Shirley Hughes
Suitable for children 3 years plus

Reading any Shirley Hughes picture book is the equivalent sipping a cup of hot chocolate in front of fire and Alfie’s Christmas is no exception. This book has the magical ability to send you back in time to recollect your own childhood, where the excitement of choosing and putting up a tree, Christmas shopping and unwrapping presents are almost palpable. The intricate details in the illustrations are amazing and who can fail to love the relatable Alfie, even when he must be taken for a walk on Christmas day to calm down after he has got a bit over-excited.

£6.99 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/alfies-christmas/shirley-hughes/9781782300649

3. The Christmasaurus

Tom Fletcher (@TomFletcher), Shane Devries
Suitable for children aged 7 plus

Really what is there not to love, this book explores the adventures of a little boy called William Trundle who visits the Santa Claus’ magical home at the North Pole and meets a dinosaur who desperately wishes he was a reindeer. It’s silly, very funny and has wonderful prose and rhyme. This is the start of a series of books by Tom Fletcher, previously vocalist and guitarist of the band McFly.

£4.99 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-christmasaurus/tom-fletcher/9780141373348

2. Stick Man

Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler
Suitable for children aged 3 plus

The wonderful duo of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have created an instant children’s classic about an enigmatic Stick Man who gets separated from his family and goes on a long adventure to be reunited with them once again. He meets various characters along the way and provides readers with inspiration on how to use sticks when they play.

£5.49 from Waterstones
https://www.waterstones.com/book/stick-man/julia-donaldson/axel-scheffler/9781407170718

1. ‘Twas the night before Christmas

Clement Clark Moore
Suitable for everyone

This classic poem has been the staple of many a Christmas Eve family read together. Written in 1823, it was originally called A Visit from St Nicholas, but has been popularised as ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ or just simply ‘The Night before Christmas’ and has been illustrated by many talented illustrators over the years. It has shaped many an opinion about what Saint Nick looks like – think “he had a round face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly”. What child will fail to be excited at the prospect of a visit from the big man. Essential Christmas Eve reading for all.