Favorite Holiday Musical Children’s Books
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Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it and creating magic for my kids and making beautiful memories. I’ve curated some of my favorite musical books that really make this time of year special. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I succeeded in compiling a really unique curation of books highlighting beautiful music, stunning illustrations and the best of the holiday season. I have broken down my books into different sections and have shared my thoughts on each book.
There are so many memories wrapped up in our own Christmas books, and every year when I take them out of the storage container, my kids get so, so excited! Snuggling on blustery winter day with a cup of hot chocolate and a great book cannot be beat! I hope some of these books will become some of your most treasured memories too! Wishing you the most beautiful December and may it be filled with joy, music and love!
Important (Please Read):
I’ve linked many of the book covers and titles below through Bookshop.org, which is a wonderful platform that supports independent bookstores! You can buy directly from local bookstores through their website, and 80% of their profit goes back to bookstores! I always aim to use my online presence to uplift businesses (especially small businesses) doing positive things. However, many of these books are hard to find on Bookshop.org so I linked through Amazon in those cases. And keep in mind, some of these books are hard to find, or out of print, so perusing second hand book websites may be a better option for the best price. I have included Amazon links at the bottom of the post. And finally, this is a BIG list of books- try your local library and see if you can check some of them out first. <3
The Nutcracker Collection
Nothing is more synonymous with the holiday season than “The Nutcracker!” The masterful and sumptuous ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky takes place on Christmas Eve and has inspired families for generations. There are so many incredible children’s books on The Nutcracker that I had to narrow it down to my favorites. I highly recommend playing the music during the month of December and letting children get familiar with the story and the music. This story and music is just pure magic in every way! Maybe you can even catch a performance this season!
The Nutcracker This version is a wonderful telling of the story for children based on the traditional ballet. It tells the story simply and is a perfect introduction to understanding what the story is about. Susan Jeffers illustrations are simply beautiful and lush! A truly magical world she creates with her illustrations and children will absolutely love looking at this book.
The Nutcracker in Harlem I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this book! It is such an incredibly special book. Set in Harlem during the Jazz renaissance, it is a re-telling of The Nutcracker story. The storyline is spectacular, the illustrations are magnificent and the moral of the story is most special of all. My favorite line from the book is spoken by Miss Addie to Marie, “Music lives inside everyone. You just have to let it out.” It’s a book with a tremendous amount of heart and one of my favorites!
Jan Brett’s The Nutcracker So I have just ordered this book as a new addition to our collection, but I wanted to add it here because I already know it’s going to be spectacular! Imagine Jan Brett’s magical, detailed magnificent illustrations with The Nutcracker and I can only imagine how beautiful it will be. I will update here once I receive it. :)
Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite I absolutely love Duke Ellington’s music and his Nutcracker Suite is spectacular! I wanted to include this book as a pair for the wonderful music. Children can listen to Duke Ellington and then have you read this to them. This book has a lot of detailed history on the behind story of the music and is really wonderful. It is better suited for older children as it is very lengthy with a lot of details, but if you want to read it to younger children, then abridge it a little and have them look at the pictures. Don’t overburden them with too many facts when they’re little, or they will start to tune out. :) I love having kids listen to the original and then the jazz version and comparing - makes for great conversation!
The Story Orchestra, The Nutcracker I don't usually add The Story Orchestra books to my book lists, not because I don’t like them, but because I usually avoid battery books. I just dislike the hassle of them when the battery dies. I’d rather play the music from a speaker, than from a book. But I made an exception for this book, because I think this one is really fun for young kids! It’s beautifully done and kids will really start to associate the music themes with the different scenes and easily identify the music.
Christmas Musical Books
The Little Drummer Boy If I was to recommend only one book for Christmas it would be this one! Ezra Jack Keats illustrations are absolutely perfect in every way - this book glows!! I love the song “The Little Drummer Boy” and the lyrics are the story in this gem of a book, with the rhythmic pa-rum pum pum pum. The lessons in this book/song are so profound and make it a must have book in my opinion!
The Twelve Days of Christmas Jan Brett’s exquisite and detailed illustrations bring to life the traditional Christmas carol. This is truly a great song to sing with children! It builds memory and counting skills, rich language and symbolism all within this well known tune. I particularly like this carol because it emphasizes the 12 days of Christmas that leads to Epiphany/Little Christmas and puts so much rich meaning into the season.
The Friendly Beasts This Christmas carol is absolutely beautiful! I don’t know why it’s not more popular in the USA. It’s more traditionally sung in the UK, but it comes from the point of view of the animals in Bethlehem. The donkey speaks of carrying His mother and the cow giving up his manger for the baby, and it’s so simple and lovely and truly a children’s carol in every way. The iconic illustrations by Tomie dePaola make this a truly special book!
Silent Night: The Song and It’s Story This is a hard to find book and you may need to peruse the used book sites. But it’s another exquisite book! It goes into the story behind the world famous “Silent Night” carol and how it became part of history in many unexpected ways! A Christmas song that has touched the hearts of people all over the world with it’s profound and simple melody. This book is lengthy and the rich prose, in the tradition of Margaret Hodges (IYKYK), makes it a classic!
The Huron Carol There’s no other way to describe this book other than luminous! The beautiful carol was originally written in the Huron language by Father Jean de Brébeuf. Known for his sensitivity and appreciation of the Huron culture and language, this carol describes Jesus being born using beautiful imagery within stunning lyrics. The song is still sung by generations of Hurons and is known as the first Canadian Carol.
Feliz Navidad A celebration of Puerto Rican culture and the spirit of Christmas where coming together in song and delicious food and being together is what it’s all about! I’ve always loved this Christmas song, and this book is so unique and lovely with the wonderful illustrations celebrating Caribbean Christmas! There’s a wonderful intro in this book where it describes different traditions celebrated in Puerto Rico - I personally love learning about other traditions and I think this book is a true celebration of Puerto Rican pride, that everyone will enjoy. Highly recommend this book!
Jingle Bells (Golden Book Series) This is an adorable and fun little book that weaves the lyrics of Jingle Bells into a charming little story. It’s fun to read to the book and have the kids join in when it’s time to sing the lyrics! Perfectly suited for young toddlers and the vintage style Christmas illustrations bring all the nostalgia.
The First Christmas My love of beautiful art and illustrations are always a huge factor in the books I select and this book is case in point. Illustrated by Will Moses, the great-grandson of renowned artist Grandma Moses, his folk art style is truly beautiful. The book follows the lyrics of the gorgeous carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” another one of my favorites!
Jingle Bells What an absolutely incredible book this is! Iza Trapani expounds on the original lyrics of the song and takes a travel around the world to see how other cultures celebrate Christmas. Stopping in Mexico, Sweden, Italy, Kenya and the Philippines this book is truly special and celebrates the beauty of other cultures during this special season.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas This book is a little bit of an oddball in this curation, because it’s not technically a book that is sung. Of course, the rhythmic literary style of Seuss is indeed musical, but I selected this more because of the iconic music that sprung from it in the 1966 animated TV special. The composer Albert Hague actually worked with Dr. Seuss on the soundtrack of it and I think that once you know the music, this becomes a quintessential musical book! A funny side story is that my oldest was reciting this book during labor of my third child, to impress the midwife I think, and I will forever love this book and think of that day! “You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch!” :)
Musical Hanukkah Books
I Have a Little Dreidel Of all the books in this section, this one is my favorite, and a little bit harder to come by! I absolutely love the gorgeous illustrations and the family scenes of playing with the dreidel, playing the piano and making music. It highlights such wholesome family fun and connection and all in such a beautiful way. The lyrics are the traditional song “I Have a Little Dreidel,” and the easy melody makes it so that children learn this very quickly. I stamp this an instant classic!
The Hanukkah Hop I asked some friends about their favorite musical Hanukkah books and a few came back recommending this one! After I checked out the book I have to agree that this is a special little book and my friends did not lead me astray. The illustrations are almost 50’s in style and it’s written in this jazzy rhyming style, “biddy-biddy bim-bom bop,” while Rachel’s family prepares for their Hanukkah celebration. It’s a truly joyous book and I love that it also features a piano in the home!
Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah In my determination to find special and unique books, I came across this book and it caught my attention right away! It uses the words from the traditional song, “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah,” and depicts a family of mice celebrating the 8 days of Hanukkah. What is truly special is Susan Roth’s mixed-media collage illustrations. This book is a little understated gem and I hope you are able to score a copy, as it seems to be hard to find. What a perfect book to sing with your young children!
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel This is a spin off of the traditional song “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” and like the original, this version is hilarious. I wager your young children will absolutely love the sillieness and be singing along in no time. The rhyming is off the meters good! My kids actually laughed out loud at the end of this one, so I can assure you it has a happy ending! This book is not only hilarious but incredibly clever! The illustrations are hilarious parodies of famous works of arts, so in true Magical Music Method fashion, this book ticks all the boxes: music, art, humor, and wholesome silliness.
Winter Themed Musical Books
Ten on the Sled This is one of my absolute favorite books to sing! All of my kids love the song “10 on the Bed", which is a song/book I highlighted in Part 1 of my musical book series. It’s a wonderful song that is easy to sing and teaches counting to young children within a story. This version has clever rhyming and the animals are falling off the sled. So much fun to sing!
Walking in a Winter Wonderland This is such a holiday standard and so fun to sing. The illustrations are really modern and colorful by Tim Hopgood and I have come to really love his unique and bold style of illustration. I have quite a few of his songbooks and really like them all! Children will enjoy singing the song while flipping through the pages.
Carol Song Books
A Treasury of Christmas Carols I have had this book as long as I can remember! It is the most comprehensive carol book that I know of. There are carols from all over the world, and some I have never heard sung live before. It’s an Easton Press leather bound carol book of dreams and if you dream of having a carol party with friends and family, this book will have it all.
Book of Christmas Carols This is a Tomie dePaola illustrated carol book and it is has quite a few popular carols with gorgeous illustrations. I love this book because my boys like to look at the pictures next to me while I play carols on the piano. Highly recommend it if you love singing carols!