Because our kids are so young, I wanted to have some of their favorite TV and book characters in our Christmas book countdown. Here's a list of the ten (plus three) books that fit this category. Again, I list them in order from least to most favorite. For our Christ centered list, go here. And our classics list will be posted tomorrow.
Merry Christmas Splat
We've actually never read a Splat book before, and I won't be running to the library for more. It was a fine book. The kids thought it was fun and asked to read it a few times, but overall it was just a filler.
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas
My kids like the original Pete, but they weren't smitten by this one. It's a fun story and I like his "so give it your all" advice, but I don't think we'll get it again in the future.
Aliens Love Panta Claus
This book wouldn't return on my list if it weren't for the fact that we own it, for free. It's really fun and the kids love the silliness of it. The pictures are great, but I just don't love the story. I suppose I should read the original Aliens Love Underpants, then maybe I'd "get it."
Thomas' Christmas Delivery
We bought this at Goodwill a couple years ago, and last year Reid made us read it so much we kind of wanted to throw it out the window. I purposefully saved it till Christmas Eve, Eve so that we wouldn't have much chance to read it more than once. Ben summed it up well when he said "the story isn't bad and I don't mind reading it, it's just so wordy. They could cut out half the language and make it just as good." But alas, kids love Thomas (though Reid's love has waned) so this book is part of our advent for a few more years.
Madeline's Christmas
Ben is a fan of the original Madeline story (I like it as well), and he's read it more than a dozen times as part of our bedtime ritual. So when I saw this one at Goodwill I couldn't pass it up. The story itself is kind of bizarre, filled with magic carpet rides, but true to Madeline form our heroine is entertaining enough to make this book worth a read.
Bear Stays Up for Christmas
I love the artwork in this one, and the story itself is pretty cute. It helps reiterate the spirit of giving. My kids enjoyed it. Though I wouldn't tell anyone to buy it, it is definitely worth a check out at the library.
Curious George's Christmas
Not all parents appreciate George's mischievous behavior, but my kids love him and I find him quite adorable, so George is a friend in this house (my kids may be obsessed with his Halloween special). Though we didn't love the Christmas cartoon special, we do love this little book and our Curious George tree ornament. I found this at Goodwill and will keep it in the rotation as long as we have preschool aged children at home.
It's Christmas David!
Speaking of naughty behavior, boy oh boy is David trouble. But he is also lots of fun. My kids both loved this book and giggled hysterically through all two dozen readings of it. They scolded David and asked about the pictures and overall really enjoyed reading it with Mom and Dad. Oh and Nell (my two-year-old) had it memorized after just a few days. It really was well loved.
Snowmen at Christmas
A friend recommended this so we added it to our library list, and much to our surprise my brother's family gave it to us as part of our family exchange. When we opened it up Christmas Eve Ben said "Oh good, I liked that one." And really, we all liked it. It does briefly mention the Christ story, and one snowman adorns a CTR hat, but for the most part it isn't spiritual. Just magical. The writing/rhyming is fabulous and most amazing of all is that each page has several hidden objects for readers to find (and some are hard to find!). It really is a great one to have in your collection.
Llama Llama Holiday Drama
I just love Llama Llama. I'm a big fan of teaching kids emotional intelligence and this series does that every time. Also, Nell has a huge crush on Llama Llama. So I'm hoping to add this one to our collection soon (just waiting for the right price).
I mentioned God Gave Us Christmas on my Christ centered list, but technically that one would fit here too, as the God Gave Us books are a character series. Also, I've previously mentioned Ree Drummond's Charlie and the Christmas Kittty book -- which is not worth the read. But apparently Charlie the Ranch Dog has more than one book to his name, so he'd fit on this list as well. And here is one more worth mentioning:
Turkey Claus
We picked up Turkey Claus at the library but it didn't make it into our advent (which is silly, since it is much better than several on this list). We actually ended up reading it more frequently than several of the above books. The kids loved the silliness of Turkey and the visions of life at the North Pole. I didn't love it at first glance, but it grew on me the more I read it to my little ones. Definitely worth getting from your local library.
Merry Christmas Splat
We've actually never read a Splat book before, and I won't be running to the library for more. It was a fine book. The kids thought it was fun and asked to read it a few times, but overall it was just a filler.
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas
My kids like the original Pete, but they weren't smitten by this one. It's a fun story and I like his "so give it your all" advice, but I don't think we'll get it again in the future.
Aliens Love Panta Claus
This book wouldn't return on my list if it weren't for the fact that we own it, for free. It's really fun and the kids love the silliness of it. The pictures are great, but I just don't love the story. I suppose I should read the original Aliens Love Underpants, then maybe I'd "get it."
Thomas' Christmas Delivery
We bought this at Goodwill a couple years ago, and last year Reid made us read it so much we kind of wanted to throw it out the window. I purposefully saved it till Christmas Eve, Eve so that we wouldn't have much chance to read it more than once. Ben summed it up well when he said "the story isn't bad and I don't mind reading it, it's just so wordy. They could cut out half the language and make it just as good." But alas, kids love Thomas (though Reid's love has waned) so this book is part of our advent for a few more years.
Madeline's Christmas
Ben is a fan of the original Madeline story (I like it as well), and he's read it more than a dozen times as part of our bedtime ritual. So when I saw this one at Goodwill I couldn't pass it up. The story itself is kind of bizarre, filled with magic carpet rides, but true to Madeline form our heroine is entertaining enough to make this book worth a read.
Bear Stays Up for Christmas
I love the artwork in this one, and the story itself is pretty cute. It helps reiterate the spirit of giving. My kids enjoyed it. Though I wouldn't tell anyone to buy it, it is definitely worth a check out at the library.
Curious George's Christmas
Not all parents appreciate George's mischievous behavior, but my kids love him and I find him quite adorable, so George is a friend in this house (my kids may be obsessed with his Halloween special). Though we didn't love the Christmas cartoon special, we do love this little book and our Curious George tree ornament. I found this at Goodwill and will keep it in the rotation as long as we have preschool aged children at home.
It's Christmas David!
Speaking of naughty behavior, boy oh boy is David trouble. But he is also lots of fun. My kids both loved this book and giggled hysterically through all two dozen readings of it. They scolded David and asked about the pictures and overall really enjoyed reading it with Mom and Dad. Oh and Nell (my two-year-old) had it memorized after just a few days. It really was well loved.
Snowmen at Christmas
A friend recommended this so we added it to our library list, and much to our surprise my brother's family gave it to us as part of our family exchange. When we opened it up Christmas Eve Ben said "Oh good, I liked that one." And really, we all liked it. It does briefly mention the Christ story, and one snowman adorns a CTR hat, but for the most part it isn't spiritual. Just magical. The writing/rhyming is fabulous and most amazing of all is that each page has several hidden objects for readers to find (and some are hard to find!). It really is a great one to have in your collection.
Llama Llama Holiday Drama
I just love Llama Llama. I'm a big fan of teaching kids emotional intelligence and this series does that every time. Also, Nell has a huge crush on Llama Llama. So I'm hoping to add this one to our collection soon (just waiting for the right price).
I mentioned God Gave Us Christmas on my Christ centered list, but technically that one would fit here too, as the God Gave Us books are a character series. Also, I've previously mentioned Ree Drummond's Charlie and the Christmas Kittty book -- which is not worth the read. But apparently Charlie the Ranch Dog has more than one book to his name, so he'd fit on this list as well. And here is one more worth mentioning:
Turkey Claus
We picked up Turkey Claus at the library but it didn't make it into our advent (which is silly, since it is much better than several on this list). We actually ended up reading it more frequently than several of the above books. The kids loved the silliness of Turkey and the visions of life at the North Pole. I didn't love it at first glance, but it grew on me the more I read it to my little ones. Definitely worth getting from your local library.
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