Who else remembers those little advent calendars you had as a kid? You would pop open the flap to reveal a little chocolate every night, as you counted the days left until Christmas Day. As an adult, they have lost their appeal, so any time I hear of a fun way to make a DIY 12 days of Christmas advent tradition, I get excited! A few years ago, friends of ours told us how they started a “12 beers of Christmas” tradition, wrapping up new microbrews to try each day. Trader Joe’s even made a wine & cheese advent pairing that sold out pretty quickly last year. Obviously, those ideas are geared more towards the “grown ups,” as we stress and over-prepare for the holiday. I wanted a fun advent calendar for kids that we could enjoy…. enter the 12 days of Christmas books for kids!

12 Days of Christmas Books For Kids

Choose A Theme & Length

First, you’ll want to choose your theme! You could do all Christmas books, or a mixture of non-holiday titles as well. In addition to picture books and stories, I like to include some activity books to keep things exciting and fun! Then decide if you want to do all 24 days of December leading to Christmas or just the 12 days of Christmas.

Select Your Books

Some people choose to wrap up some books they already own, especially special holiday season favorites. I like to do 12 new books, because its just another excuse to bring more fun books into our house and encourage a love of reading! The more books on our bookshelves, the better! Since I’m a book lady, I get so many free books, I never have to worry about looking elsewhere! If I do want to round out my collection with some books other than Usborne & Kane Miller, I typically hit up Amazon, TJ Maxx or Homegoods to look!

Wrap Them Up

Individually wrap your books, so you have something fun to unwrap each day leading to Christmas! I always buy extra holiday wrapping paper on sale after Christmas to save money! I keep it simple with a wrapped book and simple tag labeled with the order for opening. There are some really creative ideas out there on how to create some show-stopping displays. While I dream of being a Pinterest perfect mom, and the many pictures of book piles in the shape of a tree with Christmas lights is cute, I’ll be putting mine in a pile, nothing fancy. If you need a little inspiration, check out my Pinterest board where I’ve collected a few ideas for inspiration!

Celebrate!

The 12 days of Christmas books for kids is something my kids really enjoy, especially getting to unwrap a new gift each day! An advent calendar for kids is something special that your kids will cherish the memories of as they grow older. I love that it helps to encourage their love of reading, and give us something special as a family to do together! My kids are especially fond of the beautiful padded picture book, Christmas Stories for Little Children. Not your traditional Christmas stories but something a little different to add to your new holiday tradition!

Need Some Help with your 12 Days of Christmas for Kids Countdown?

I can help with that! You can sign up for a specialty Christmas Book Box and have all 12 books selected, wrapped & labeled (there’s an unwrapped version too), and shipped for free to your house.

Sometimes the selecting of books, wrapping, labeling, and preparing can take a lot of energy. Or maybe you are looking for a creative gift to send to a grandchild, niece or nephew or friend. 12 books, all gift-wrapped and shipped for you = big time saver! You can order your Christmas Book Box HERE until November 15th! Contact me with any questions you have, and I hope you can enjoy a new holiday tradition with your family this year!

P.S. Heading out on the road this holiday season? Check out the Best Books for Kids When Traveling to keep your kids busy in the car, plane or train!

Usborne Publishing Ltd. (UK) has no connection with these pages and does not sponsor or support their product. In addition, I earn a small commission with the sale of Usborne Books, Amazon products and other affiliate programs through links in this blog. Thank you for supporting my blog and shopping small!