‘Tis The Season! For Books
It’s the most wonderful time of year ~ ! ♪
Gosh, 2020 has been one especially memorable year… Before we knew it, Christmas is knocking and I’ve found myself writing this! I remember getting very excited for Christmas every year as a young kid - and I still do! There’s something about the cheery atmosphere and all that delicious food and meeting family and friends. Unfortunately this year is a little different on some fronts. Many of us will have quieter Christmas dinners and we’ll have to make do with video calling but that doesn’t mean there’s no reason to celebrate!
We’ve compiled this list with short summaries on books we recommend for Christmas. This list isn’t exclusive to our store, of course! We’re including Christian children’s books and books in English about Christmas, too, so there’s a large selection to choose from. If you’re interested in anything on this list, we’ve tried to include links to where you can find more information about the books and/or buy the book. But check to see if you can buy these from your local bookshop and support local businesses!
And here’s the list! Just click on the titles (where applicable) and they’ll direct you to a little summary. (Some of the items on the list are actually sets but have one or two books about Christmas inside.)
Contents
Chinese Christmas Books
Apolline’s Little World series (Set of 14) - ‘Christmas Present’ and ‘Building A Snowman’
We’ve always enjoyed a bit of Apolline because of the cute illustrations and the simple paragraphs and text in this set. The set comes with lots of other books that are good all year round, too!
I Love You series (Set of 5) - ‘I Love Father Christmas’
Another set featuring a cute little Christmas-themed book about Father Christmas! The set is a really heart-warming and is a nice introduction to reading and the concept of ‘love’ with young children. It also comes with some nice flashcards to help with learning words.
On A Trip series (Volume 1-3) - ‘Out To Play’ and ‘Here Comes The Post’
‘Out To Play’ comes from Volume 1 while ‘Here Comes The Post’ comes from Volume 3. We love the scenery drawn in ‘Out To Play’ that’s just so detailed and full of life. ‘Here Comes The Post’ is not directly related to Christmas but the wintry scenes and the importance of our delivery services during winter and Christmas periods really takes hold of the heart!
Spot The Dog series (Set of 16) - ‘Spot’s First Christmas’
Spot the Dog is a much-loved picture book character created by English author and illustrator, Eric Hill. Although Spot is now 40 years old (first published in 1980!), he’s still enjoying his first Christmas with kids all over the world and in different languages!
I Love Martine series (Set of 60) - ‘Martine’s Christmas Night’
Martine is a popular series originally written in French by Belgian author Gilbert Delahaye and illustrated by Marcel Marlier. It’s an extensive and comprehensive set of books with an intermediate to advanced (bridge book) level that covers a huge range of topics and events, including one book about Christmas!
Little Brother Mouse Books 13-22 (Set of 10) - ‘Little Brother Mouse’s Christmas’
Little Brother Mouse and friends are a bunch of lovable characters with cute little bite-sized stories. One in particular is about Christmas and it has a lovely Christmas tree at the end!
This is a picture-only book meaning it’s a story told without words - words that you’ll have to make up yourself! (That means you can also just buy the English version of the book, and get the same experience.) This is a classic tale that I remember reading (or rather looking at?) as a kid.
Check out some other bloggers!
Betty from Chalk Academy has also compiled a little list of Christmas-themed books for children. You can check it out here.
Emma from Lah Lah Banana also has a post featuring bilingual resources and toys with a Christmas theme! You can see it here.
Christian Christmas Books
Disclaimer: All our shop links for the English titles go to The Good Book but this is NOT sponsored by them. It’s just a nice all-round Christian bookshop that we find handy!
My Little Story Box: The Nativity (Simplified Chinese)
This little play set that includes a beautiful puzzle, board book, cardboard and wooden figures is a sweet addition to a book shelf. It also keeps away very tidily into a box that doubles as a building when the whole play set has been assembled! We love how this combines Christmas, open-ended play and reading!
Bible Mini Pop-Ups: The Christmas Story and The Wise Men’s Story (Simplified/Traditional Chinese)
These mini pop-up books are designed for mini people! They’re easy to hold and fun to read. They have lovely cartoon illustrations and easy to follow bilingual text so it’s perfect for a bilingual environment at Christmas and Epiphany!
The Christmas Journey Storybook (Simplified/Traditional Chinese)
This amazing pop-up books unfolds into a huge map that allows children to play and explore the Christmas journey made by Mary and Joseph (and the Wise Men afterward) with little cardboard figurines included. The text is minimal, so it’s great for very young children or kids who’ve just started learning Chinese.
Advent Activity Pack (Traditional Chinese)
The activity pack consists of a paperback story book that you can colour in, some stickers, and a pop-up Advent calendar. This is sweet and helps get children excited for Christmas while learning Chinese words.
Ready, Set, Find: Christmas Story (Simplified/Traditional Chinese)
This board back story book is nice and interactive. The bilingual text is nice to have and the simple spotting game is always fun to do with young children while helping them learn the words, too.
Candle Tab: Baby Jesus (Simplified Chinese)
The Candle Tab stories are books designed for babies and toddlers. So this Christmas story retelling comes in a chunky and chewable board book form. It’s a nice way to interact with and learn about the birth of Jesus!
There's a Lion in My Nativity! (English)
This is a funny and light-hearted book that’s a great way to introduce the story of Jesus and its profound meanings through a play that doesn’t quite go to plan!
The Christmas Promise (English)
There are various versions of this particular book (hardback, board book, and colouring book) which can be found on The Good Book online shop. We really like the simple, 1-2 line text per page and the large font.
A Very Noisy Christmas (English)
This is the kind of Christmas retelling that asks your kid to make some noise for the newborn King! The illustrations are lovely and the story’s been retold in an engaging and fun way, too!
Bake through the Bible at Christmas (English)
My mouth is watering just thinking about all these baked goodies! If you’re a baker like my sister, or if you like to dabble a little in the baked arts, then you’re going to love this recipe book. It’s got gingerbread, trifle, soft and steamy bread, a chocolate log and so many other yummy things!
This book about Jesus, the star maker, coming to the Earth is really sweet and beautifully and expressively illustrated. The message is quite profound and helps kids learn about the life of Jesus in a way that’s quite simple to grasp!
Check out some other bloggers!
If you’re interested in more Chinese Christian Christmas books, Sunny from Spot of Sunshine has a booklist, too! Click here to see it.
Joanna Ho, a children’s author who wrote the much anticipated Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, also has a lovely little selection of Christmas books (some Christian, some secular) on her Instagram post.
Winter Festival Books
This book is a wonderful compilation of different Chinese festivals and is rich with detail and beautiful drawings and is a great way to teach children about Chinese culture and festivals. There’s a double page spread about the Winter Festival!
China Memories series (Set of 12) - ‘Winter Solstice Festival’
A stunning series of books where each book dives into a Chinese community celebrating each festival and the various traditions they do, garments they wear, food they eat! The drawings are breath-taking. There’s a book about the Winter Festival but there’s a festival for every season of the year!
So! How helpful was this list? It’s quite short and we tried to recommend as much as we could but there’ll be things that we missed. Comment your favourites and let us know your Christmas suggestions! We’d love to hear about what you’re reading this year.
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