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Books That Make Great Holiday Read-Alouds

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We are right in the midst of the holiday season, which for a lot of us means spending more time at home with family. This is a great excuse to play games, watch movies, eat treats, and enjoy the company of those you love. Another favorite activity of mine is to read a holiday story aloud as a family. You can have one reader, multiple readers, or even present it like a reader's theater with smaller kids sharing certain lines or acting out the action of the stories. Here is a round-up of some holiday books that make great family read-alouds!

By Barbara Robinson
New York: Harper, 1988. Fiction.

This is a long-standing favorite Christmas story in my family. The six unruly Herdman kids are general community menaces -- stealing, lying, smoking cigars! -- who one year infiltrate the town's Christmas pageant and remind the religious town of the true spirit of the Birth of Christ. If your family celebrates religious Christmas, this is a great addition to the Nativity story. And, coming in at just 80 pages, this book is easily read aloud.


By Dr. Seuss
New York: Random House, 1957. Picture book.

Thanks to several movie adaptations (also it is written by Dr. Seuss) this is a Christmas story your family is probably familiar with already. But this short, rhyming picture book begs to be read-aloud and is a perfect chance for a familiar reader's theater. Most of the story is told by a single narrator, with some dialogue from characters that could be fun to assign out (make sure your Grinch is prepared to do the voices!)


By Emily Jenkins
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2018. Picture book.

Though Hanukkah is over for this year, this story about a family celebrating a holiday together is well worth reading (and reading aloud!) for the entire holiday season. This stand-alone picture book revisits the classic All-of-a-Kind Family characters made famous by Sydney Taylor's chapter book series. When 4-year-old Gertie throws a tantrum over not being able to help her older sisters make latkes, her father warmly comforts her by offering a very special job instead -- to light the menorah for the first night of Hanukkah.

By Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrated by Brian Floca
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009. Fiction.

This short and sweet chapter book from the Newbery winning author of Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of a brother and sister spending Christmas at their grandparents' farm. When younger brother Liam notices a cow standing alone in the field, he convinces his older sister Lily to pool their money to buy "White Cow" a friend. This is a sweet and heartwarming story that makes for a delightfully cozy read.

By Isaac Bashevis Singer
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
New York: Harcourt Brace, 1966.

Though this book may not immediately seem like a pick for a holiday read-aloud, it is full of short Jewish folktales that are perfect for reading as a family for a cozy night at home. This Newbery Honor book is illustrated by the incomparable Maurice Sendak and has life lessons in spades, that are lightened-up by well placed jokes.




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