With the holidays fast approaching, we wanted to put together a big list of some of our favorite nature-themed holiday books for kids. We hope this list will help you find the perfect books for celebrating the season with your children. Add a few of these to your Christmas wishlist, shopping list, gift-giving list, or library list.
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Holiday book countdown
One of my kids’ (and my) favorite holiday traditions is our monthly countdown to Christmas with holiday books. Our house is filled with books – they’re one of those things I think belong in every room of the house. For the most part, all our books stay out and are available year-round. However, there are special “holiday” books that only come out once a year.
Every December 1, I pull out the bins full of our holiday books from the attic. Each night in December, the kids get to each pick out a book from the bin and we read them together before bedtime. You can wrap them individually (we used to do this, but it takes a lot of time and is a bit of a waste of paper with three kids) or put them in a bin, box, or bag. The kids love this tradition so much and start talking about their favorite books in October!
After nine years, we’ve built up quite a collection of holiday books. We have enough now that each kid gets their own bin of 24 books – all the books are related to winter, snow, or the December holidays.
Building a holiday book collection
If you’re new to the concept, it might sound expensive to collect all these books. But, don’t worry, there are definitely ways to make this project inexpensive (or even free!). You don’t have to start with 24 books. Even just a handful of books will work just fine. You probably already have some holiday books at home that you can use to get started. Instead of doing a book every day, choose a book each week or one book every 3-4 days. Or start later in the month and only do the last week leading up to the holidays.
Local libraries usually have HUGE holiday kid’s book sections. You could easily check out some holiday books for a few weeks to do this project. Ask your local librarian to put together a fun mixed assortment of holiday and winter books that are age-appropriate for your kids. They usually have really great suggestions and you might be surprised to find some new favorites. This is also a great way to supplement the books you already have or add a few new books to the rotation each year to mix things up!
If you’re looking to purchase the books, I love hitting up thrift stores and second-hand bookstores for kids’ holiday books. Thriftbooks.com and Half Price Books are a few of my favorite places to find quality pre-loved books. I purchase them throughout the year and add them to the collection whenever I pick one up. A lot of the books on this list are for older (not recent) books, which means they’re more likely to be available at second-hand bookshops.
Check out garage sales, local BST pages or even Facebook pages for books swaps or “no buy” groups. Many families with older kids probably have lots of holiday books that their kids have outgrown that they’d be willing to gift down to a new family. If you know of families that have kids much older than yours, ask them if they have old books they’d like to pass on. Or organize your own book swap party!
Or, give this list to relatives, friends, and grandparents to help stock your kids’ bookshelves full of fun outdoor nature-themed holiday books for next year (and beyond). In my opinion, books make the best presents!
Holiday books for everyone
We have a lot of “traditional” holiday books (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Polar Express, etc.), but I’m not including those on this list. While those are wonderful and have a special place in our heart, I’m focusing today on nature books. I love finding books that incorporate nature, animals, wildlife into stories and encourage kids to get outside during the cold winter months. Those are the books that I’ve included here. Most of these we either own, have read, or were recommended by friends and followers.
While our family celebrates Christmas, that’s certainly not the only holiday this time of year and we appreciate reading books about how others celebrate the season, as well. I’ve added a few books to our collection about other holidays and celebrations so that my kids are aware that not everyone celebrates the same thing and we can learn about other holidays. I’ve listed a few of the nature-themed ones here.
Finally, I threw in a few general “winter” books about snow, hibernation, the winter solstice, and general winter observations. The first day of winter comes right around the holidays and the change in seasons is always a reason to celebrate. Hopefully, there’s something on this list for everyone!
Nature-themed holiday books for kids
Here are over 40 nature-themed holiday books for kids. From animal characters to beautiful winterscapes, each of these books incorporates aspects of nature and the outdoors. We hope you’ll add a few of these to your holiday book collection and that they inspire your child to love and appreciate nature and the world around them.
The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen
Little Christmas Tree by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
Hanukkah Bear by Eric A. Kimmel
The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood
The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola
The Great Spruce by John Duvall
A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe
Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht
A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas by Pat Mora
Little Red Sleigh by Erin Guendelsberger
The Tree That’s Meant to Be by Yuval Zommer
The Story of Hanukkah by David A. Adler
Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever by Matt Tavares
Little Robin’s Christmas by Jan Fearnley
The Christmas Garden by Caroline Tuohey
Christmas with the Mousekins by Maggie Smith
The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert
Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story by Angela Shelf Medearis
A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea
Yoon and the Christmas Mitten by Helen Recorvits
The Lost Gift: A Christmas Story by Kallie George
This Is Christmas by Tom Booth
Simon and the Bear: A Hanukkah Tale by Eric A. Kimmel
Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore
Walking in a Winter Wonderland by Richard B. Smith
The Stars Will Still Shine by Cynthia Rylant
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
Over the River & Through the Wood: A Holiday Adventure by Linda Ashman
The Deep and Snowy Wood by Elwyn Tate
The Chanukkah Guest by Eric A. Kimmel
La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story by Antonio Sacre
Christmas Farm by Mary Lyn Ray
The Message of the Birds by Kate Westerlund
Goodnight Stories from the Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Saniyasnain Khan
Mice Skating by Annie Silvestro
Home for Christmas by Jan Brett
My Wonderful Christmas Tree by Dahlov Ipcar
All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings by Gayle Boss
Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy by Carl R. Sams
Lucia Morning in Sweden by Ewa Rydaker
The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits: A Christmas Story for Advent by Ulf Stark
Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect by Richard H. Schneider by Richard H. Schneider
Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon
Fox’s Garden by Princesse Camcam
The Snow Tree by Caroline Repchuk
The Mukluk Ball by Katharine Johnson
Winter nature books for kids
Here are a few of our favorite winter-themed nature books for kids. These books are not holiday-related (per se) – they are more about the celebration of the winter season and solstice. I love incorporating a few of these into our holiday reading to educate the kids on what’s going on in the world outside around them this time of year.
Winter Song: A Day In The Life Of A Kid by Anetta Kotowicz
Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner
The Solstice Badger by Robin McFadden
The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper
Winter’s Coming: A Story of Seasonal Change by Jan Thornhill
The Snow Dancer by Addie Boswell
Sleep Tight Farm: A Farm Prepares for Winter by Eugenie Doyle
Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story by Sean Taylor
The Story of the Snow Children by Sibylle von Olfers
Little Owl’s Snow by Divya Srinivasan
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer
