21 Best Christmas Books for 2-6 Year Olds
These Christmas books for kids are the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit for your little ones! As a preschool teacher, mom, and grandma, I’ve read tons of holiday books and rounded up the best ones. Here’s our list of the best Christmas books for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners in order of age of the reader.
Holiday books like these also make great gifts for young children! We like to get my grandkids one new book each to open on Christmas morning.
Where’s Santa Claus by Ingela Arrhenius
We got this cute Christmas book for our one year old granddaughter last year, but she still loves it this year at two years old. This large board book is a great book for toddlers who still aren’t the gentlest with books and for working on fine motor skills. Because the flaps are felt instead, it has stood up against a lot of reading.
Never Touch a Polar Bear by Rosie Greening and Stuart Lynch
This is one of the best toddler Christmas books for young toddlers. Younger children love interactive books with sensory parts for little hands like this one. And this is a super fun one to pull out at Christmas time and winter.
Snow, Snow, Snow by Sandra Boynton
Here’s a cute board book that young children love during the holiday season. If your kids love Christmas songs like my grandkids, this book is the perfect toddler Christmas book for them!
Up On the Housetop by Benjamin Handby
This simple board book is fun written version of the Christmas song. My grandkids love to sing as we look through the book.
12 Bugs of Christmas: A Pop-Up Christmas Counting Book by David Carter
This fun flap book is a Christmas favorite at our house! Count up the 12 days of Christmas with these silly pop-up bugs. Young children especially love the visuals of this book and moving the flaps themselves.
Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate
If you’re looking for a religious Christmas book, this one is my favorite for younger children. This book is a great way to hear the nativity story, but from the animals point of view.
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Shertle
Read all about the Little Blue Truck’s Christmas day if your kids are a fan of The Little Blue Truck series. This is a great Christmas picture book for toddlers all the way through kindergarteners with a very fun surprise at the end!
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
You’ve probably heard the story, but there’s a reason this is a Christmas classic! We love our board book version of the classic poem for young readers, but there’s many bigger picture books with beautiful illustrations for older children, too. This is a favorite to read on Christmas Eve night.
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
We have almost every Eric Carle book out there in my classroom, so naturally we read his Christmas book every year. Preschoolers tend to love this book because of the vibrant illustrations in the classic Eric Carle style.
Oh, What a Christmas by Michael Garland
One of the best books we’ve found this year is Oh, What a Christmas thanks to our local librarian. This sweet story is about the farm animals who have to take the place of the reindeer when Santa Claus needs help. My grandson who loves animals was especially fond of this one.
Construction Site on Christmas Night by Sherri Dusky Rinker and Ag Ford
Here’s another series that we love to read in my preschool classroom. All of the construction site books are great for this age, including this cute Christmas one. Trucks are also one of my grandson’s favorite things, so this book is on repeat this year.
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Last Christmas someone gifted us this fun book about Christmas trees. My grandson loves all the animals that show up in the book, and the way everyone ends up with a Christmas tree.
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
The bear books are fun for preschoolers and kindergartners, especially as read aloud books. This is another series that we read a lot in the classroom with characters that kids come to know and love.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
We’re big fans of Dr. Seuss in this house, so naturally we like the Christmas story of the Grinch. When my grandkids were toddlers, we had to paraphrase the book because of how many words there are. But as they got older, they enjoy the silly rhyming of this Christmas poem.
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Here’s one of the most classic Christmas books for kids that’s really stood the test of time! Follow the Polar Express all the way to the north pole in this book for children of all ages. For younger kids, you may have to paraphrase because there are a lot of words.
The First Christmas by Cottage Door Press
If you’re looking for a religious picture book all about baby Jesus, this is the one we keep at our house. The story is easy for little kids to understand and the illustrations are fun for kids. This one will also well for older kids.
The First Christmas Tree by Helen Haidle
Here’s another great religious Christmas book that preschoolers, but especially kindergartners love to read. This Christmas book combines the tradition of the Christmas tree with the baby Jesus in the manger.
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin and James Dean
Pete the Cat is a staple character in preschool now, so we read all his books. Follow along as Pete the Cat saves Christmas for his friends. This Christmas books also comes with some cool stickers which young children love!
The Crayons’ Christmas by Drew Daywalt
The crayons are always up to something in these books, and now they are at Christmas time, too. If your kids like the other books in this series, we recommend the Christmas one to go along with them.
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
This little mouse is another popular character in preschool and kindergarten that we love to read about. Little kids love seeing the mouse make and put up all the Christmas decorations.
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
This is one of our all time favorite holiday books! The Jolly Postman has to deliver all the Christmas letters to fairy tale characters in town. But the best part is that you get to put out and play with all the letters!
Try These New and Classic Christmas Time Favorites
Whether it’s your first time getting Christmas books for kids or you’re also a teacher looking for more, we hope this list is extra helpful. Enjoy the holiday season reading with your kids and have a merry Christmas!
Fun Christmas Crafts to Go with the Books
If you’re looking for books to go along with fun Christmas activities, we have a whole list of activities here. Together, you can make an easy lesson plan for toddlers, preschoolers, or kindergartners.
