Does anyone have a special story they like to read to their kids as a holiday tradition for Christmas, Hannukah, Kawanza?

We have always read The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg and this great little Scholastic book called Moosletoe ( judging by the price they are asking for this first edition, we’re not the only ones who think it is great). We also always enjoyed Arthur’s Christmas.

We have started reading The Polar Express too. Moostletoe looks like a cute story. Thanks for sharing @SuperMouse I’ll have to look for it.

On Christmas Eve, we usually read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and the Nativity story.

Tolkien’s Farther Christmas Letters.

My mom always read us the Tell Tale Heart…

Finnegans Wake

@AshLeigh Tell Tale Heart as a Christmas story? There is some out of the box thinking.

@SuperMouse, all five of us kids liked it! Haha. We asked her to read it to us most holidays. XD

My mother always reads The Night Before Christmas to me and my sisters on Christmas Eve. It’s a nice tradition. Hey, and now I read your details and it seems that you have the same tradition! ;)

We always read the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve before we went to Church at midnight.

Oh, there were tons of Christmas books around the house when I was growing up, and some favorites I still read each December. One favorite that hasn’t been mentioned is Pedro, The Angel of Olvera Street, a charming tale of a Mexican boy who leads the posada on Olvera Street at Christmastime.

Another fun one I enjoy is Peter Spier’s Christmas!, which has no text, but a very fun visual presentation of Christmas from start to finish.

These are in addition to the usual classics such as Twas the Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and Raymond Briggs’ books, Father Christmas and The Snowman.

@AngryWhiteMale I love so many of these – Peter Spier is a favourite of mine.

I would also add Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales to the list.

Thanks everyone! There are some stories here that I haven’t heard of. I’ll have to check them out. They all sound wonderful!

@glacial, oh yes. A Child’s Christmas in Wales is also a book my family has. Great tale.

While I didn’t read it as a child, I enjoyed reading Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory. A very bittersweet tale of the holidays. Even now, on a really nippy day, I’ll think to myself, “Oh, my! It’s fruitcake weather!”

There’s also Christmas tales/scenes within classic literature/books as well. For example, Lincoln Steffens’ bittersweet narrative of Christmas in 1870’s San Francisco, recounted in his autobiography. Or Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus” in her book, Little House on the Prairie.