Book Advent Calendar: How to Make One and 24 Book Ideas by Age
A book advent calendar is simple: you wrap a book for each night of the countdown, and every evening your child unwraps one and you read it together. It turns the countdown into a bedtime ritual instead of a sugar rush, and it can cost far less than you think. Here is how to put one together, how to keep the cost down, and plenty of book ideas for every age.
What you need
- 24 books for a 1-24 December countdown, or 25 if you include Christmas Day. Advent 2026 starts on Sunday 29 November if you want to follow the church calendar; see Advent 2026 dates.
- Wrapping: brown paper, old maps, newspaper or children's drawings all work.
- Numbers: stickers, a marker pen or paper tags with 1 to 24.
- A basket or box to keep them in, under the tree or by the bed.
You do not have to buy 24 new books
This is the most important tip. Most families mix and match:
- Books you already own: gather up the Christmas and winter books from the shelves and wrap them again. Children love rediscovering old favourites, and it costs nothing.
- Library books: borrow a stack of Christmas picture books in late November. Wrap them with removable tape or put them in paper bags so the library copies are not damaged, and check the return dates.
- Second-hand: charity shops, thrift stores and library sales are full of Christmas books in November.
- Swap with friends: two or three families can swap their Christmas books for the season.
- A few new ones: buy three or four new books for special days, such as the first night, the weekend before Christmas and Christmas Eve.
A good mix is about two-thirds owned or borrowed and one-third new or second-hand.
Book ideas by age
| Age | Christmas and winter books families love |
|---|---|
| 0-3 | That's Not My Reindeer (Fiona Watt), Dear Santa (Rod Campbell), Llama Llama Holiday Drama (Anna Dewdney), The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats) |
| 4-7 | The Jolly Christmas Postman (Janet and Allan Ahlberg), Stick Man (Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Dr. Seuss), The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg), Olive, the Other Reindeer (Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold), Bear Stays Up for Christmas (Karma Wilson) |
| 8-12 | The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson), A Boy Called Christmas (Matt Haig), The Christmasaurus (Tom Fletcher), The Christmas Pig (J.K. Rowling), Letters from Father Christmas (J.R.R. Tolkien), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) |
| Teens and adults | A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens), Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, which opens at Christmas), Let It Snow (John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle), Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan), Skipping Christmas (John Grisham), The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry, a short story) |
Not every book has to be about Christmas. Snow, winter animals, bedtime and kindness stories all fit, and so do non-fiction books on space, the night sky or animals in winter.
How to plan the order
- Short books on school nights, longer ones at the weekend.
- A favourite on day 1 to start the habit with something your child is excited about.
- A special book for Christmas Eve, such as The Night Before Christmas or The Polar Express, and keep it for that night every year.
- Chapter books for older children: instead of 24 books, read one Christmas chapter book across December, wrapping a small treat or bookmark for each night with the chapter number on it.
- Mix in an activity: after a book about baking, bake biscuits; after a snowman book, make paper snowflakes. Our activity advent calendar list has 100 ideas.
Wrapping and labelling ideas
- Number the parcels and stack them in a basket in order, so the right one is easy to grab at bedtime.
- Write a clue on each tag ("This one has a reindeer who is different") for older children to guess.
- Use paper bags with a peg instead of tape for library books.
- Wrap everything at the end of November in one evening, so you never wrap at 9pm on a school night.
Variations
- Book and hot chocolate: pair each book with a sachet or a candle for a cosy reading night.
- For adults or couples: a short-story collection, a crime novel set at Christmas, or 24 poems printed and rolled up with ribbon.
- Book-giving on Christmas Eve: Iceland's Jólabókaflóð tradition gives one new book on 24 December to read in bed that night. It is a lovely finale to a book calendar, and it appears in our countdown traditions.
- Family reading jar: write 24 book titles you own on slips of paper, and pick one each night.
Quick FAQ
How much does a book advent calendar cost? As little as nothing if you re-wrap books you own and borrow from the library. Adding four or five new paperbacks keeps most calendars under $40 / £30.
Do I need 24 different books? No. Repeating favourites is fine for small children, and older children can read one chapter book across the month.
When should I start collecting books? Early to mid November, when library and charity-shop Christmas books are easiest to find.
For filler ideas beyond books, see our 75 non-chocolate fillers for kids.