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Hey, guys thanks so much for checking out these 13 Best Holiday Books for Preschool and Kindergarten.
Today is my absolute favorite time of the year today I get to share with you my top 13 books about holidays for preschoolers so let's get started.
Winter holidays are back in the nation’s classrooms, and that means that families are getting together once more for special events.
Besides the obvious joys of spending time with your family, there are also huge benefits to making the most of this holiday season.
13 Best Holiday Books for Preschool and Kindergarten in 2023
A great way to make the most of your winter holidays and get the most out of your family and friends is to make sure you get the very best winter holidays books for preschool and kindergarten.
We will be reading books and watching movies, but we will also be using some of these best holiday books for preschoolers to read and teach our children during the winter holidays.
This is a great time to read the best winter holiday books for preschoolers, read that your children know and love.
1. Blizzard
the first book I want to share is this book right here it is a current favorite and it is called Blizzard it is written and illustrated by John Rocco and he actually is the author and illustrator of the very popular book "Blackout" as well.
let me tell you a few things you can do with this book first and foremost this story is written about a real story when Jon Rocco was 10 years old and it's about the blizzard of 1978 where they got 40 inches of snow in two days now up here in Massachusetts we are used to our fair share of blizzards.
and the way John Rocco writes this story in the illustrations he uses a kind of takes anybody and just puts you right in the main character's shoes it is just beautifully written and students really enjoy that it was based on a true story the book starts on a Monday and actually throughout this story john Rocco puts Sunday, Monday, Tuesday he will put the day of the week somewhere in the illustration so you can really get a sense of the sequence of events that happens throughout the story so this is a great thing for students to kind of realize what changes each day and it's a great author's craft lesson to use.
you can see the way John Rocco told his story and how things change over time now spoiler alert at the end of the story the little boy who is featured is John Rocco and is the only one light enough to actually go over the snow he has to put tennis racquets on his feet and he takes a sled and he goes to the corner market because it's been five days and their family is running out of food and so are a lot of the neighbors and the plows haven't come so he actually has to go on a little trek and get food for his family and his neighbors and something.
but then also before the little boy goes on his track he makes a little list and I think one of the things he writes down is like a candy bar has a little star next to it and I'm guessing that's for himself but he writes a list of what his family needs from the store.
2. Sneezy the Snowman
Another fun one that I feel like you see all over the kindergarten first-grade world is Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright and there's a reason for that this is just fun it's a rhyming book it's easy to read and the kids just love it basically it's about a snowman right here who gets sneezy because he's always so cold and so when he's cold he needs something to warm him up.
so he'll drink some hot cocoa and then what do you think happens when the snowman drinks hot cocoa he melts and the kids have to build him up again and he keeps you know getting colder and colder and so he keeps trying to find ways to warm himself up and melting so it's a cute little book the kids love it.
3. The Legend of the Poinsettia
all right for my next book, I'm going to share one that I like to use if you're teaching a Christmases or holidays around the world unit so you'll have to really think about your own school and district and what you are or are not you know allowed to teach
but if you do any sort of unit on comparing different holidays or Christmases around the world then the legend of the Poinsettia by Tommy de Pala is a beautiful book to read.
this is actually a retelling of a Mexican folk tale that was passed down from generation to generation and basically, throughout the story it describes the origination of using poinsettias around Christmas time so like I said it's a beautiful book.
4. Light the Lights!
Light the Lights!: A Story About Celebrating Hanukkah & Christmas by Margaret Moorman
all right the next book I want to share with you is called Light the Lights and this one is by Margaret Mormon it is not a particularly deep book but instead, it is a light and heartwarming story about a little girl who celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas.
It doesn't go into detail it's not secular at all it doesn't go into detail about any kind of the origins of each of the holidays so again not a very deep dive but it does touch upon quite a few of the traditions that both people celebrating Hanukkah and people celebrating Christmas might go through.
5. Snowzilla
This lovely book Snowzilla it's all about how this little girl decides to build this mammoth of a snowman he is huge and it actually really angers the townspeople they want to move him to a new location this is a really cute story and the kids really seem to enjoy it.
6. The Night Before Hanukkah
The night before Hanukkah this story is a wonderful holiday Hanukkah since a lot of my students celebrate Christmas I do like to teach them about other winter holidays as well and this book really kind of shows the kids how families prepare for Hanukkah.
What a menorah is and how it's used so this is a wonderful book especially for younger children if they don't understand other winter holidays besides Christmas because that's all they know this is a wonderful book to get them started mine.
7. Snowmen at Night
This story is so much fun it says on the back one Christmas Eve I made a snowman very fat and jolly I dressed him up in red and green and trim to that with Holly I saw his arms were trembling as if he couldn't wait it made me start to wonder how do snowmen celebrate what do snowmen do at Christmas.
This is such a fun story let's go ahead and open it up I just want to kind of show you a couple of the pictures the illustrations are absolutely beautiful in this book so it's a lot of fun for the kids it shows the snowman coming down the street with his snow dog so it shows the snowmen around the Christmas tree and Town Square.
And this book has a lot of rhyming words so if you have a child who is working their rhyming words if they're in the primary grades or even some in the intermediate grades this is something fun for them to kind of pick up on those rhyming.
8. The Snowy Day
I absolutely love this book to use in the wintertime whether it's in December or even January this book is wonderful, it talks about things that you can do on a snowy day this little boy Peter goes out and does some things on a snowy day.
And when I like to have my kids do after we read this story as we use shaving cream and glue and glitter to create our own snow and we actually make an arts and crafts project out of it they then complete a writing activity to tell what they would do on a snowy day.
9. I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Dreidel
This again is to teach the kids about Hanukkah now this story's a little bit funny it's a little bit whimsical is all about the holiday of Hanukkah but in the beginning, she swallows a dreidel so this was a lot of fun for the kids really enjoy it.
10. The Mitten
now my next pick is a very popular book, especially with classroom teachers I love to do a winter activity with this book is 'the mitten' and we all know that the G n Brett is one of the best children's authors maybe that's my opinion but she is amazing.
One thing that I love about this story is that the kids can make predictions as to what will happen so it increases the number of learning opportunities that they have when you're doing this read-aloud,
for example, 'it says once there was a boy named Nicky who wanted his new mittens made from wool as white as snow.
while over here an older woman is knitting we're getting ready to knit with her yarn what do you think she's going to knit probably some new mittens made from wool we'll have to see so you could kind of get the kids to make that prediction and see if they are correct love this book one of my favorites.
11. Mooseltoe
I love this book for kindergarten first-grade, second-grade, third grade any age this book is such a joy to read it's awesome to listen to I love it as an adult it's so much fun so this is Moosel's toe,
and just by looking at the front cover the kids just start giggling and are so cute I love it moo-stache and in this story, this poor family does not have a Christmas tree.
So what happens is the sweet dad daddy moose Braves it out into the cold weather to try to find a tree he can't find a tree so as you can see this book gets a little crazy crazy fun if you ask me like those random words
but the moose ends up dressing up like the Christmas tree and it was just a fun story for the kids they think it's really silly and there are lots and lots of giggles.
12. The Elf on the Shelf
My next pick is a very popular children's book during the time of Christmas this book is probably seen a lot in your home already maybe even in your classroom and among the kids. The Elf on the Shelf is a Christmas tradition each year Santa sends his elves to either children's houses or their classrooms.
and these scalp elves actually report to the North Pole each night to Santa to tell him if these children were naughty or nice so the Elf on the Shelf really explains the purpose of the elves and how to give them a name.
This is a lovely book for kids of all ages and it just kind of really brings in that magic of Christmas and it's fun for you too as a parent or as the teacher.
13. The Polar Express
my favorite winter holiday book of all time is 'the Polar Express' this book is one of my favorite Christmas children's books and it has a Caldecott medal it is absolutely wonderful
if you haven't seen the movie that goes along with this book you really need to do so I will be doing a Christmas party/Polar Express party haul.
Conclusion of Best Holiday Books for Preschool and Kindergarten
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