Christmas books for toddlers

Henry loves story time. We have it without fail before bath time every night, as well as odd stories throughout the day. He goes through favourites that we have to read EVERY day, and then others that we dip in and out of every now and then. For Christmas we've been reading the same set of books and I'll be really sad next week when we have to put them away, he's absolutely loved them this year and we've had a good set that have been perfect for his age; not too long, lovely illustrations and fun stories.

The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson

This isn't Christmassy really, more wintery and it's been a favourite for well over a year now. He knows every word and just adores this book, as well as the TV adaptation that goes with it. 

Stick Man - Julia Donaldson

Again, not overly Christmassy so we'll get away with reading it in January but Santa does appear at the end. Another of Henry's absolute favourites. We can't wait to watch this on Christmas afternoon this year.

The Snowman - Raymond Briggs

I love that this has no words, it's perfect for all ages really. Henry looks so carefully at every picture and we tell the story between us. The teacher in me knows how important this is as a pre-reading skill and the mummy in me loves telling stories with my little boy.

Father Christmas - Raymond Briggs

Another book with no words and an absolute favourite. We saw this on stage in London last weekend and Henry loves the DVD too. 

Mog's Christmas Calamity - Judith Kerr

The book that goes with the Sainsbury's Christmas advert and sold in aid of children's literacy projects in the UK. A really lovely short story with gorgeous illustrations. Henry spends his time saying "silly Mog" while we read it! 

Nativity Flap Book - Usbourne

Henry got this as a present from one of his baby groups and it's so perfect as an introduction to the Christmas story for little ones. He loves lifting the flaps and looking at the gorgeous illustrations too. A definite winner.

Maisy's Christmas Tree - Lucy Cousins

We got this from a story party we went to at Seven Stories a few weeks ago and it's really short and simple for little ones. He'll probably be too old for this next year but it's perfect now.

Mr Men's Night before Christmas

Another gift from a baby group Santa and he really loves this. It's a nice simple story with cute pictures and longer than some of the other picture books which is nice.

Lucy and Tom's Christmas - Shirley Hughes

As you can see from the picture this is an old book, it was mine as a child and I feel so emotional when we read it together. I remember how much I loved it when I see the gorgeous illustrations and Henry just loves the story too. It's such a lovely book, I'm not sure if it's still in print but if not then it should be. One of my favourite books ever.

The Night Before Christmas

Another one of my old books, it even has a little 'Rebecca Davis' name sticker in the front cover. I absolute love this poem, I remember learning it for our year 2 play at primary school (I was a child, nestled snug in their bed!) and I do it with my own class every year now. Henry loves it too and some of the illustrations are really magical. Henry particularly loves seeing Santa coming down the chimney, he's particularly obsessed with that at the moment; just yesterday he asked me if his friends who were visiting would be coming down the chimney or in the front door!!

And that's it, our little daily pile of books. Like I said, I'm going to be so sad putting them away for another year next week, let's hope Santa brings us a few new ones to read in the meantime.