Toddler Book Basket: God Sent Jesus
December comes with a lot of noise. Bright lights, endless ads, wish lists, and expectations all compete for our children’s attention and their memories. I want my kids to live in the world, but I don’t want them to be formed by it. So each year, I try to be especially intentional about what they’re seeing, hearing, and sitting with during this month.
In December, we return again and again to a simple truth: God sent Jesus.
For babies and toddlers, what they hear repeated, what they linger over, and what they associate with safety and comfort will shape them. One of the ways I push back against a consumeristic Christmas is by creating a feast of good books. I want to enrich the season with stories worth listening to, illustrations worth lingering over, and words worth repeating.
These are some of the books we reach for as we sit with the mystery and joy of Christmas:
The Silent Noisy Night by Jill Roman Lord — My toddler and preschooler are completely enraptured by the onomatopoeia in this book. All the animal sounds make the story of Jesus’ birth come alive in a new way as we praise God at Christmas. (P.S. There’s an Easter one, too!)
A Very Noisy Christmas by Tim Thornborough — The contrast between quiet and loud reading totally captures my toddler’s attention. It captures mine too as I meditate on the joyful chaos surrounding Jesus’ birth.
This Is Christmas (Our Daily Bread for Little Hearts) — The rhymes in this book introduce each character in the nativity and I find them so charming. The board book pages make it durable for little hands. It’s perfect for tossing in a tote bag for church on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas Surprise by Steph Williams — I love making silly voices during this retelling of the Christmas story. It’s a fresh, playful way to tell a very familiar story.
Christmas Stories for Young Children by Naomi Joy Krueger — Multiple flaps on one page means more time to tell the story before my toddler tries to flip the page on me. My boys reach for this one again and again.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: Indestructibles Book — You might have heard by now that I love Indestructible books for the early years. The familiar rhyme paired with durable pages makes this an easy way to talk about stars, light, and the One who came to shine in the darkness.
The World’s Best Christmas Light by Chelsea Tornetto — This one is new to our home library this year. I love how the author helps readers connect Christmas lights to the Light of the World—and the final page lights up, too.
All is Bright by Clay Anderson — This is also new to our home library, and it’s my favorite addition this year. A beautifully illustrated, rhyming elaboration on Silent Night. My preschooler loves finding the hidden verse on each page, and my toddler is obsessed with pointing out all the animals.
Why Books Like These Matter
We teach our children what matters long before we ever explain it by returning to the Christmas story repeatedly. We’re offering something steady and rich in a season full of distraction. We teach them that Christmas is not something we rush toward, but something we receive.
If you want more ways to gently anchor your 0–3 year old in this truth, explore the Monthly Menus theme for December: God Sent Jesus. It’s full of age-appropriate activities, prayers, and tools for weaving faith naturally into everyday life when you have little ones in tow.
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