We saw this idea a few years ago and were reminded of it's brillance again when we saw it again on Mer Mag. Merrilee has wrapped a book for every day of advent which surely makes bedtime very special this month. Sure, it's already the 5th of December, but don't let that stop you.
Merrilee has been collecting Christmas books all year, but that doesn't mean you can't start at this late date. You probably have a few at home already and can hit the book store, thrift shop or even the library (just return them when they're due!). If you're looking for some great titles, check out Merrilee's list on Mer Mag to get ideas.
(Image: Mer Mag)
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What a brilliant idea...wish I had thought of that! Although I don't know if I could afford 25 books for my son and then it also takes away from what he could open on Christmas.
daniellek-i grab Christmas books at the thrift store year-round to make it possible to do this, although we don't wrap ours. We put all our holiday books in a basket and the boys choose one a night to read at bedtime. Basically the same idea without using all the wrapping paper.
I think this idea is brilliant althugh I think limiting it to Christmas books would give you a bunch of stinkers. And I'd do reusable cloth bags!
JudiAU-we've actually found a lot of really good quality Christmas books over the years, although by "Christmas" I also mean winter/snow/etc. books. We love books like 'Owl Moon', 'White Snow, Bright Snow', 'The Snowy Day' etc. as well as more traditional Christmas tales.
Ah, well as long as you include Owls in the mix you can have fun.
We love Owl Moon.
This is our second year doing this. My daughter (5) is so excited that in the morning when she wakes up, she immediately goes and gets that nights book and puts it on the stairs so we won't foget it later! Then, she's been rereading the first ones that we've opened. Love it! This year I was even organized to have the kids marble paint some paper and used that to wrap. (although, today books #15-17 are getting delivered... so maybe not THAT organized!)
We do this each year, including lots of books about winter and Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins just because it's fun.
If you're looking for a new holiday book, there's a great story called, "Calico the Wonder Horse or The Saga of Stewy Stinker" by Virginia Burton of Mike Mulligan fame. It's a favorite around here, and an unusual choice for Christmas.
We did this last year and have already started for this year. We had most of the books already last year when we did this and only had to add maybe one or two books. I was surprised when I started pulling out our Christmas books how many we already had! It helps us carve out some special time each day with our girls amidst the crazy holiday schedule! We actually have purchased some on clearance at a greatly reduced price after Christmas and saved them for the next year!
We do an activity-a-day Christmas countdown and one of the items is to "pull out our Christmas books and read them". I usually add a new book to the mix and this year I picked Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree which is totally delightful. I was sold based on a review by a young adult who still enjoys reading this one even though she's in college. My two loved the story and I have read it at least a dozen times since the first of the month. I am really amazed how many high quality Christmas books are out there. Although my kids still LOVE the Cheerio Christmas Book.... go figure.
We did this last year and are repeating it again this year. I second the thrift store shopping. I think the most expensive book I bought was 99 cents.
Oh, I already have a small collection of books and it would be easy to expand. And excellent idea that my daughter would love!!
We're doing a christmas puzzle this year. I put four pieces in our calendar at night and the kids are so excited to see what's next.
This is a great idea though! I think I'll start putting out the Christmas books we already own unwrapped next to the calendar in the morning. :)
where is that great wrapping paper from?
I love this idea but individual wrapping them seems like a HUGE waste of paper.
I like the ideas of putting them in a basket or using reusable gift bags... another thought is writing down the names on small slips of paper and putting them into a traditional advent calender and then pulling that book from a 'secret stash' so they are still a surprise.
I did this idea this year for my 3 year old son. I couldn't afford that many books as well so I went to half price books and the clearance section of barnes and noble and found books for 3$ and under I made sure not to go over, and he LOVES this. I will be doing something similar every year.