I was in two minds about having a Book Advent last year. Although we had books from the previous year I just didn’t have time to wrap them all individually. However my 7 year old wanted to know why our Christmas elves hadn’t brought the books when they arrived with the Advent calendars, so I quickly got them out so she could enjoy reading them.
What is a Christmas Book Advent?
The idea of a Christmas Book Advent is simple. Alongside your daily chocolate treat you can also consume something a little longer lasting – a book! We love reading and there are some gorgeous seasonal books for children. December is the perfect month for enjoying a story about Winter or Christmas.
How to store a Book Advent
We keep our Advent books in a handmade wooden sleigh which we made a few years ago, it keeps them all safe and in one place (important when you have young children!). This year I didn’t have much time to weed out any stories which the children had grown out of. Fortunately she was happy to see them all again and I only weeded out a few during the month.
My 8 year old decided he was happy reading The Christmasaurus, a book we received last year but hadn’t got round to reading. My 7 year old was delighted to have the sleigh of books in her room and we managed to read one every night.
What books featured in our Book Advent?
The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson
Hortense and the Shadow by Natalia and Lauren O’Hara
Walking in a Winter Wonderland, illustrated by Tim Hopgood
Winnie and Wilbur Meet Santa by Valerie Thomas
Aliens Love Panta Claus by Claire Freeman and Ben Cort
A Dot in The Snow by Corrinne Averiss
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
The Christmas Bear by Ian Whybrow and Axel Scheffler
Bless You, Santa by Julie Sykes
The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg
Father Christmas needs a wee by Nicholas Allan
The Complete Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
Mrs Christmas by Penny Ives
Elmer in the Snow by David McKee
Pooh’s Christmas Adventure
Santa Claus has a busy night
Mr Christmas by Roger Hargreaves
Pooh’s Christmas Letters
Santa’s Sleigh is on it’s way to Wiltshire
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The Gingerbread Man by Estelle Corke
The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton
Stick Man by Julia Donaldon and Axel Scheffler
The Night before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
A Treasury of Christmas Stories: festive tales and songs
Previous Book Advent reading lists can be found here:
Book Advent 2017 (perfect for ages 5-7)
Book Advent 2016 (perfect for ages 4-6)
Book Advent 2015 (perfect for pre-schoolers)
Book Advent 2014 (perfect for pre-schoolers)
Book Advent 2013 (perfect for a baby and a toddler)
Book Advent 2012 (perfect for a toddler)
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Book Advent books for an 8 year old - the-gingerbread-house.co.uk
December 27, 2019 at 7:59 am[…] Book Advent 2018 (perfect for an 8 year old) […]