How To Make The Ultimate Christmas Book Advent For 24 Days Of Christmas Magic
Countdown to Christmas with this easy step-by-step guide on how to make a Christmas book advent for kids!
One of my family’s favorite Christmas traditions is a Christmas book advent. We love unwrapping a new Christmas book to read each night at bedtime and using it as a countdown to Christmas. It’s a cozy way to help make the holiday season feel truly magical by connecting and spending quality time together, creating lasting memories, and bringing a little bit of Christmas spirit into the home.
Ready to add some bookish magic to your holiday season? In this guide, I’ll show you how to set up your very own Christmas book advent, including what books to include and making the most of this festive tradition to make the countdown to Christmas extra special – one book at a time!
This post gives you a step-by-step guide to creating a memorable Christmas tradition with a Christmas book advent for kids.
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What is a book advent calendar?
A Christmas book advent is the perfect way to make the most of the countdown to Christmas by unwrapping a new Christmas story each day – bringing the joy of books and the magic of Christmas together.
Instead of the typical Christmas advent filled with chocolates, a Christmas book advent involves 24 books of Christmas that help foster a love of reading and create excitement for the holiday season at the same time.
This fun holiday tradition involves your kids opening one book for each day in December, starting from December 1st and ending on December 24th on Christmas Eve. Each book is wrapped and placed underneath the tree, waiting to be opened and read on a specific day in December.
With 24 books to read in December, you create a memorable holiday tradition that brings your family together and transforms the countdown to Christmas into a daily celebration.
24 Books Of Christmas
The 24 books for Christmas can feature a variety of family favorite Christmas books, Christmas classics, and winter-themed picture books packed with holiday magic.
Each year, we enjoy revisiting our cherished Christmas books, bringing them out for our Christmas book advent, and then tucking them away once the holidays are over. Because we only read these books during December, it feels like experiencing them for the first time all over again each holiday season.
To keep the reading fresh and exciting, I’ll add a few new books each year and mix up the collection so we always enjoy a combination of old favorites and new stories. By doing this, the holiday magic of our Christmas book advent never fades.
Check out our latest recommendations on the best Christmas books for kids to include in your Christmas book advent calendars!
✨READ NEXT → 25+ Best Christmas Books For Kids That We Love!
DIY Christmas Book Countdown
The Christmas book advent can also be thought of as a Christmas book countdown that gives your kids something to look forward to each day in December. One of the best things the Christmas book countdown tradition offers is quality family time as you read aloud together (or get your kids to read to you!).
This Christmas book countdown is an easy-to-start, low-stress tradition that brings the holiday spirit and excitement into your home while nurturing your child’s imagination through a love for reading. Even better, it’s a simple do-it-yourself activity, and you don’t need many supplies to create this holiday tradition. All you need are books and a way to wrap each book!
What You’ll Need
- 24 books for Christmas
- Festive wrapping paper
- Tape
- Scissors
Optional supplies:
- Hole punch
- Ribbon or string
Printable Christmas Countdown Calendar
The Christmas book advent calendar and the advent labels are optional, but these free printables can help plan your Christmas countdown so you can have a visual reminder of the days left.
To use the Christmas Countdown Calendar, match the numbered advent label to the one on the calendar. For example, if you look at the calendar, on December 1st, you will read book #24.
After reading book #24, cross it off the calendar and use it as a Christmas countdown!
Click here to download the free Christmas Book Advent Calendar with printable advent labels!
How To Make A Christmas Book Advent Calendar
As a mom, you know how important it is to make the holiday season memorable and magical, especially with busy schedules and endless to-do lists. Create special moments with your family with a Christmas book advent in five easy steps!
1. Gather your 24 books of Christmas.
Start by deciding on 24 books of Christmas in various holiday stories, ranging from good-hearted tales, Christmas classics, and fun winter stories. The books can be anything related to the holidays, Christmas, and winter.
The most important thing when selecting your books is to choose ones that will excite your kids and keep them looking forward to the next day’s new book.
I will reuse my Christmas books yearly to save money and reread pre-loved holiday stories. We don’t get tired of them because we only get to read them a few days in December. I’ll also try adding new Christmas books for a little more excitement because who doesn’t love fresh new books?!
Here are the top 3 books I added this year:
MOM TIP: After the holiday season, carefully pack away your Christmas books so that when you bring them out the following year, it feels like unwrapping a little bit of magic all over again. They will feel new and exciting each time you bring them out because your kids only read these books once a year, and they never lose their charm. It’s like revisiting old favorites with fresh eyes!
2. Wrap each book in holiday wrapping paper.
Wrap each book individually once you have chosen your 24 books for Christmas. You can use your favorite holiday wrapping paper or gift bags.
I’ve even seen people use Christmas fabric bags like these ones for quick and easy wrapping. They come in various sizes, are holiday-themed, and can be reused yearly. Make sure that when you buy the fabric bags, your books fit in them.
I wrap each book individually with wrapping paper. Wrapping each book is a little time-consuming, so set aside 1-2 hours. To wrap 24 books it took me a little over an hour to wrap everything. This time included cutting out the labels and taping them onto the books.
If you decide to wrap your books, use the festive and fun wrapping paper! This year, I went with these adorable pink bows and a Christmas tree in pink wrapping paper. I went with two designs to track even and odd days when unwrapping the books.
For example, I’ll use the pink bow wrapping paper for all the even days in December and the Christmas tree wrapping paper for all the odd-numbered days.
MOM HACK: Save time with smaller-sized wrapping paper or pre-cut sheets! These wrapping papers are the perfect size for wrapping books! The Christmas tree paper is about 17 inches in height and 33 feet long, and the pink bow wrapping paper comes in 12 pre-cut sheets. You can use one sheet per book or cut it in half for smaller books. Even if you don’t go with these designs, try to buy 17″ height wrapping paper for quick and easier wrapping. I swear this saved me so much time and hassle!
Looking for more gender-neutral designs? Here are some great festive options:
3. Number each book from 1 to 24.
Plan out which books you will read throughout the month on what day. Put a number on each book so you know which book to open on a specific day. You are counting the days until Christmas, so start with book #24 and count down from there the following day. When you open book #24 on December 1st, your kids will associate it with 24 more days until Christmas.
You can write directly on the wrapping paper or attach a numbered tag. Or you can print out our Christmas book advent labels for your books.
How to use the advent labels:
- Print out the advent labels on standard-size paper (8.5″ x 11″).
- Cut out each circle and tape it to the front of your wrapped book. Your first and last books have numbers in red.
- Start with #24 for December 1st – this would be the first book you would read in December.
- #1 label will be for December 24th – this would be the last book you would read in December on Christmas Eve.
- Another option would be printing the labels and punching a hole at the top of each circle. Thread a ribbon through the hole and tie it to your book.
- Use the calendar provided with the PDF to keep track of what book to read on what day. Each day on the Christmas advent calendar corresponds to the printed label.
4. Have a designated spot to place all the books.
Keep all of your books together in one spot. We like to keep ours in a basket underneath the mini Christmas tree so that when bedtime rolls around, my child knows to go to her Christmas tree to pick out the book for the night.
You can also keep the Christmas books on a bookshelf, table, or basket in their room. Add some fun, festive touches to your books, like ribbons or twinkling lights.
5. Read one book leading up to Christmas.
Now, the fun part! Have a routine of when to open the books, whether it becomes a part of your morning or bedtime routine with your kids. Starting December 1st, open a wrapped book each day or night until Christmas Eve.
We like to end the day by reading a bedtime story, so unwrapping a book at night from the Christmas book advent pile gives us something to look forward to. It’s a fun way to end each day.
MOM TIP: I’ll always leave the book “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Moore as the last book we read for Christmas Eve. It’s very fitting for the last night before Christmas and wraps up the Christmas book advent in a nostalgic way, getting us ready for Christmas Day.
Christmas Books Tradition
The Christmas book advent tradition allows your family to pause, connect, and enjoy the season together. So, use this opportunity to spend quality time together and bond with your child over a shared love of reading and storytelling. Some of these books have great life lessons embedded in holiday-themed storytelling, so ask them questions about the story, talk about their favorite parts, and make some memories that will last a lifetime.
By starting a Christmas book advent, you are creating more than just a fun holiday activity – you are building a tradition that brings your family closer together – one book at a time! It’s truly a meaningful way to share the season’s joy, creating lasting Christmas memories and allowing us to slow down to savor the magic of Christmas with our families.
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