I’ve been looking at different book related Advent Calendars in preparation for Advent. My daughter loved Christmas and Snowy’s Advent Calendar last year and although I was hoping to do something a bit different she is expecting them to come back again this year!
Christmas and Snowy (who were named by my daughter) brought our Advent crown and introduced themselves on December 1st last year. Each day during December they brought a book and set up a scene related to the book that they had chosen. The books were mostly from our own book collection and Christmas and Snowy also found the Christmas books that are hidden away every year. As well as bringing some new books they also borrowed books from the local library.
The first book that Christmas and Snowy brought us last year was an Advent story book, Rica und ihre Freunde feiern Weihnachten. Every evening we read a section of the story and my daughter stuck a sticker on her bedroom window. By the time Christmas arrived she had the whole crib scene stuck on her window. The stickers are reusable so we’ve read the same story for three years running, this year Christmas and Snowy will be bringing a new Advent story book. There are lots of Advent story / sticker books in German but I haven’t found an English version. Please do let me know if you know of one, it is so much fun to read a story and create your own picture.
Rica und ihre Freunde feiern Weihnachten
by - [Kaufmann Ernst Vlg GmbH]
£12.93
· 
EUR 14,95
· 
EUR 18,83
· 
EUR 20,59
· 
$21.47
While I was looking for an English Advent sticker storybook and calendar I was very tempted to buy The Story of Christmas Advent Calendar which contains 24 miniature books that tell the Christmas story. Each book has a gold ribbon and can be hung on your Christmas tree (if anybody has this I would love to hear your thoughts on it).
by Mary Packard [Workman Publishing Company]
£12.99
· EUR 14,49
· EUR 16,06
· EUR 14,74
· $13.82
I love the idea of a book tree Advent Calendar. Wrap twenty four books up in green paper and stack them up to look like a Christmas tree. Again the books can be a mix of old, new or borrowed from the library. Carmen from Rhino Reads made this beautiful tree last year.
Another lovely idea is colouring during Advent. The ‘Advent calendar to colour’ from Usborne gives a child the opportunity to colour every day. It is printed on thick quality paper and makes a great keepsake.
Advent Calendar to Colour (Colouring Books)
by Stella Baggott [Usborne Books]
£13.62
· EUR 1,94
· EUR 2,48
· EUR 3,94
· $29.08
Anorak Magazine also has a lovely Advent Calendar to colour. It can be sent anywhere in the world!
There are book inspired Advent Calendars for children to enjoy which include well-loved children’s characters. We are particularly intrigued by the pop up Eric Carle Advent Calendar.
The World of Eric Carle(TM) Eric Carle's Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent Calendar
by Chronicle Books [Chronicle Books]
£7.94
· EUR 10,99
· EUR 11,04
· EUR 10,19
· $7.84
Very little people will enjoy opening the doors to find the stickers in Maisy’s Advent Calendar.
Maisy advent calendar (with stickers)
by Not Available (NA) [Flame Tree Publishing]
£4.99
· EUR 5,49
· EUR 5,41
· EUR 6,21
· $4.02
The Paddington movie is out for Christmas and you can buy a Paddington Bear Advent Calendar (which also includes stickers).
Paddington Bear advent calendar (with stickers)
by Flame Tree Studios [Flame Tree Publishing]
£2.18
· EUR 4,24
· EUR 5,61
· EUR 5,28
· $4.19
Author / illustrator Leigh Hodgkinson has designed a beautiful Sticker Nativity Advent Calendar which you can order on her website.
I would be interested to hear any ideas that you have for book inspired Advent calendars. Please add your links to the comments.
I love this post! Sharing …
Thank you Rebecca 🙂
It’s been a while since I looked for one because my children are grown, but their favorite was always the one with doors that open to a piece of chocolate hidden inside. Here in the US these simple one piece cardboard calendars were available widely in card stores and discount stores.
I have a child who doesn’t like chocolate so chocolates don’t get eaten! Christmas and Snowy’s Advent calendar was a great way to get my daughter out of bed on a dark, wintery morning. She always wanted to see which book they had brought and what they were doing 🙂
Really lovely idea, a great way for little ones to learn to read, very clever yet simple which appeals to me! popping by from #pintorials
Thank you 🙂
Great post! My kids are grown too and chocolate was popular with then though often the taste and pictures were disappointing. Not like the glittery old fashioned calendars I hung up on a kitchen window as a child. Each window glowed with a backlit picture as you opened it and I would virtually live inside the calendar until Christmas. Wonder how many others cheat – as I did when I was younger to steal a peek at the big no 24 window. Later you realize it is all about the magic of expectation and waiting…
I agree, many calendars have very tasteless chocolates! As a child we just had doors to open although my aunt made me a sweetie calendar that my mum sewed Quality Street onto every year. Your Advent calendar sounds magical 🙂
Great idea about books for the advent calendar! I think it’s a wonderful tradition to create. Christmas and Snowy are so cute too 🙂
It seems that it is becoming a tradition in our house but I already have another idea for next year using Christmas and Snowy 🙂
I used to love find new Advent calendars every year when my Kiddo was young. It was always so much fun watching her open each day and made Christmas anticipation bearable. Thanks for sharing these with us. Any of the would have appealed to me, but I think I might have favored the Eric Carle’s Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent Calendar this year.
The Eric Carle’s Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent calendar looks gorgeous, it has great reviews too.
The Usborne Books are gorgeous. I am always looking out for their latest release and they never disappoint. I recently saw a post where the family pre-wrapped 20 books (representing 20 days before Christmas) and then opened one each day and read it. I really liked that idea as well. I like your Christmas tree book arrangement too 🙂 Thanks for sharing the post on #KidLitBlogHop this week Catherine!
-Reshama
I love the idea of unwrapping a book each day but my daughter really liked Christmas and Snowy. I’m doing it again as she still believes that they are the ones who bring the books 🙂
I love the idea of an advent story book with stickers to create a scene in the lead up to Christmas!
I don’t know of an English version – there’s a gap in the market there… 😉
#Pintorials
I think there is a gap in the market, I’m going to try and write one 🙂
There are so many great advent ideas on this post, I don’t know where to start! I would love to find an English version of that Christmas story sticker book. I was already planning on wrapping Christmas books to do as an Advent activity, but I hadn’t thought to stack them like a tree…love that! Thanks for sharing all these wonderful ideas at the KidLit Blog Hop!
I love the tree idea too 🙂
I did the book advent last year, went down really well with my kids. Love the look of the story of christmas!! thanks for linking with #readwithme x
I think the book Advent is an awesome idea, I can’t imagine a child not enjoying it 🙂
I’ve started adding books to our Xmas collection ready to try and do something similar. I love the idea of setting up a scene relating to each book to.
#Readwithme
It takes a bit of thought and effort but it’s great fun to see my daughter’s face every morning. I don’t just include Christmas books as I like creating a range of scenes.
I love Christmas and Snowy! What an adorable idea. #readwithme
I’m looking forward to Christmas and Snowy coming back this year 🙂
Thanks so much for linking this post up to #festivefriday .
This is such a wonderful idea. My son is only one, but this is exactly the kind of festive activity we will be creating for him, when he’s older.
I think books really can make christmas
You’re welcome 🙂 Reading new and old Christmas books during December can help make the Advent period that little bit more special (and I find it hard to give a Christmas book on Christmas Day, it’s almost too late to read some Christmas stories!).
Some great choices here – though I am surprised that there aren’t a few more of these ideas for those kiddies that love to read and open those advent doors. Thanks so much for linking up to the parenting pin it party this week. Cheers, Helen
Hi Helen, I’m still looking for others to add to the post, there are lots of great homemade Advent Calendar ideas on Pinterest.
I would quite like the Paddigton Bear one for myself! Some lovely ideas, I am hoping to wrap up our Christmas books this year for my children and I love how they are displayed on here. Books are always the best Christmas gift 🙂 #tinseltuesdays
I like spreading the book giving out over a whole month (not that there is a new book every day!), just a surprise 🙂 I also saw a post where books and CDs were stacked in the shape of a snowman, it looked just as effective as the tree though.
Lovely ideas there. I like the idea of stickers on the window with the book each day.
I will share on my Facebook page.
The sticker book idea is lovely. Thank you for sharing the post 🙂
They are lovely ideas, I think I might make my own version.
I have just as much fun making ours as our daughter does when she discovers which books Snowy and Christmas have chosen.
Really interesting post with some great ideas, never thought of a book themed advent calendar but I love it! I love the book Christmas tree that’s brilliant! Xx #tinseltuesday
I wanted to do the book Christmas tree this year but my daughter is expecting Christmas and Snowy again 🙂
Love doing book advent calendars – but when they get so many books for birthdays, Christmas, Christmas eve and then every time we go to a charity shop or the Book People have a sale it gets a bit overwhelming lol!
I know what you mean! I like the idea of receiving Christmas books before Christmas Day, many of them include Christmas preparations so it seems a bit late to start reading them on the 25th. The Advent Calendar is a way of ‘drip feeding’ them into our reading so we’re not overwhelmed by getting the Christmas books out all at once!
Popping back, Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
You’re welcome 🙂
this is a fab collection of books for Christmas. Our elf always brings a few Christmas books with him, and these ones listed are new to me… will have a good look for next years new aditions. 🙂 #tnseltuesday
Maybe your elf could also borrow some from the library too 🙂
I love this idea. Such a great way to celebrate the lead up to christmas. We are looking to start Christmas traditions, I might have to do this one as I love it so much xx #tinseltuesdays
I have a lot of fun doing this 🙂 I’m a bit more organised this year and have already chosen the books so I can go and buy some extra ‘props’!
This is such an amazing idea. It is so lovely and will last a lot longer than chocolate.
I am definitely going to sort some Christmassy books out for Advent.
Thanks for linking up to #TinselTuesdays 🙂
You’re welcome. Have fun choosing your books 🙂