Children's Christmas Classics is one of my favorite genres of all because it combines two loves: Christmas and Children's Literature.

There have been hundreds of lists created throughout history with hundreds of people's opinions of which are the best of the Classic Children's Literature for Christmas. For today's What to Read Wednesday, I will add mine, with books both old and contemporary. I hope you find something new to enjoy, but if not new, I know you will enjoy them anyway because they are “classics”.

The featured post from last week is Soft & Grianless Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies from Strength & Sunshine

Children's Christmas Classics

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – (chapter book) a whole family's story told Christmas by Christmas through the eyes of the eldest daughter.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (chapter book). If you can find a copy of the DVD musical Scrooge (with Albert Finney), it is worth watching, just skip the 3rd ghost if you have small children or sensitive ones. That's the part that scared me as a child, but I LOVED the music and the rest of the story!

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Laurel Long – wonderful and delightful artwork!

The Night Before Christmas by Charles Santore – fabulously beautiful illustrations for the rhyming story we all love.

The Night Before Christmas by Mary Englebreit – I love the illustrations in this one too!

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg – a modern classic, but full of all the qualities that timelessly endear it to every age.

The Nutcracker by Rita Balducci – the fairy tale story of the Christmas ballet.

The Elves and the Shoemaker by Jim LaMarche – Lovely story about kindness to a stranger.

Peter Spier's Christmas by Peter Spier – this wordless book tells a fabulous story of a family Christmas. You'll feel all the emotion even without the words!

The Quilt Maker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, not Christmas necessarily, but teaching that the true gift is in the giving.

The Christmas Story by Jane Werner Watson – I grew up with this Little Golden Book and it is still one of my favorite tellings of the Christmas Story.

This post is part of our Teaching Christmas Around the World Series for 5 Days of Autumn Learning Activities. See the other posts by clicking the link below:

Now for the Link-Up Party!

This list has our topics for 2015, but you don't have to stick to that, anything reading and family related is welcome. Our hosts will still share a themed selection each week, but our link up will be for anything family friendly – always. If you'd like to join us as a co-host in the new year, please contact Katie.