Our List Of Christmas Books for Babies and Toddlers
Quick picks: our top recommendations
| Book | Author | Find It |
|---|---|---|
| Little Owl and the Star Board Book | Check on Amazon → | |
| The Christmas Book | Check on Amazon → | |
| The Christmas Book | Check on Amazon → | |
| That’s Not My Santa | Check on Amazon → | |
| Happy Christmas, Maisy | Check on Amazon → | |
| Christmas Time | Check on Amazon → |
Below are 10 titles in total — we’ve highlighted our 6 favourites above. Each one links straight through to Amazon AU.
If you love reading Christmas-themed books to your kids then see our huge list of some of our favorites below. We have spent many nights reading these to our kids or having them read along on cold Christmas nights beside the fireplace or while getting ready for bed the night before Christmas. I hope you love our list of books, if you recommend any more, comment below!
Little Owl and the Star Board Book
Author/Illustrator: Mary Murphy
Imprint: Walker Books
ISBN: 9781406301861
Find Little Owl and the Star Board Book on Amazon AU →
Format: Board book
A nativity story for a very young child. Little Owl follows the Star, as do three men on camels and shepherds with their sheep. They soon find themselves part of the happiest scene on Earth.
Peppa’s Christmas Wish
Format: Board book
Publisher: Ladybird Books, September 2014
Have you met a child who doesn’t love Peppa Pig? That’s why I had to include this book on the list. Peppa makes a wish when she is making Christmas pudding with Granny Pig. Peppa’s wish comes true on Christmas morning when Santa realizes he has forgotten to deliver Peppa’s gift through the night.
The Christmas Book
Author/Illustrator: Dick Bruna
ISBN: 9781921288814
Find The Christmas Book on Amazon AU →
Imprint: Hardie Grant Books, Reprinted 2013
Simply illustrated, this book tells the timeless story of the Christmas nativity.
Author: Jennifer Adams
Illustrator: Alison Oliver
ISBN: 978-1423625759
Find The Christmas Book on Amazon AU →
Format: Board Book
Publisher: Gibbs M. Smith Inc, 2012
Jennifer Adams cleverly introduces babies to colors and Charles Dickens with this bold concept book. This classic story is summarised by the use of single objects (e.g. black hat, silver chains, gold star), some well-known phrases, and clever illustrations.
That’s Not My Santa
By: Fiona Watt
ISBN: 978-0746098356
Find That’s Not My Santa on Amazon AU →
Format: Textured Board Book
Publisher: Usborne Publishing, June 2012.
A bold sensory book for babies that will have them reaching out for Santa’s soft hat, sparkly sleigh, and squashy boots.
Happy Christmas, Maisy
Lucy Cousins
ISBN:978-1406331042
Find Happy Christmas, Maisy on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Walker Books, October 2011
Join Maisy in celebrating the festive season, with this new edition of the bestselling novelty book. From wrapping presents and making the cake to putting up the shiny decorations and hanging up her stocking, Maisy’s preparations are bursting with excitement color, and fun. Full of flaps to lift, tabs to pull, and lots of sparkly surprises, this is the perfect mini stocking-filler for Maisy fans everywhere.
Suitable for ages 1+
Christmas Time
Author: Alison Jay
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont Books, November 2010
ISBN: 9781921759130
Find Christmas Time on Amazon AU →
Format: Board book
Each page features a different Christmas object, which is named to encourage vocabulary building, and each illustration is full of Alison Jay’s trademark visual jokes and hidden links. In addition, a magical adventure unfolds wordlessly through the illustrations: two wakeful children creep downstairs on Christmas Eve, meet Father Christmas, and are taken on an amazing adventure to his home in the North Pole and back again.
Suitable for ages 2+
Merry Christmas Little One
Sandra Magsamen
ISBN:978-0316070034
Find Merry Christmas Little One on Amazon AU →
Format: Board book
Publisher: LB Kids (Hachette Books), November 2010
Publisher’s description: Celebrate Christmas with a joyful new lift-the-flap board book – that includes a padded cloth Christmas tree on the cover! heartfelt rhymes, and engaging illustrations.
Suitable for ages 1+
Tickly Christmas Wibbly Pig
Mick Inkpen
ISBN:978-0340997536
Find Tickly Christmas Wibbly Pig on Amazon AU →
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Hodder Children Books (Hachette Books), October 2010
Publisher’s Description: Big Aunt Larlie is coming to stay and she’s brought her knitting needles and lots of balls of wool. She has already given Wibbly a scarf and some gloves and now Wibbly is worried that there is another tickly Christmas present on the way… A perfect tale of a small child’s anticipation of Christmas.
Suitable for ages 2+
An Aussie Day Before Christmas Board Book
Author/Illustrator: Kilmeny Niland
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC AUSTRALIA, October 2010
ISBN: 978-1741695090
Find An Aussie Day Before Christmas Board Book on Amazon AU →
Format: Board Books
In this fun and colourful book children discover how Santa would prepare for Christmas Eve if he lived in Australia. He wears shorts and a singlet; eats a breakkie of snags, toast, and honey; and piles his sacks full of pressies into his old ute that is pulled by ‘roos. The fun-to-read-aloud rhyming verse has been specially adapted for younger readers.
Suitable for ages 2+ (★★★)
The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
Author/Illustrator: Heath McKenzie
Publisher: Black Dog Books (Walker Books)
ISBN: 9781742031118
Find The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Board Book
The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
This is a funny Australian rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas. All starts quite romantic with a kookaburra up a gum tree, but with penguins licking ice-creams, flies hanging around mince pies, and emus playing football it all becomes a bit of a ruckus. This will be a hit with kids that like a bit of silliness.
Suitable for ages 1+ (★★★★)
How to read a Christmas book to a 14-month-old
Lila’s daughter was 11 months old when they got their first Christmas board book. The team has tested every approach below at least once on an actual under-three.
- Pick board books, not paperbacks. Toddlers will do real damage to a paperback in 90 seconds. Board books survive being chewed, sat-on, dropped, and lobbed across a room.
- Read for 60 seconds, not 6 minutes. A 14-month-old’s attention span is short, real, and not a problem. Read a couple of pages, close the book, come back to it three hours later. That’s the rhythm.
- Use the book to build the vocabulary list. “Tree.” “Star.” “Bell.” “Baby.” A toddler who’s heard these 50 times across December genuinely knows them by January.
- Read the same book twice a day for two weeks. Repetition is not a bug for under-3s — it’s the entire feature. By Christmas Eve they’ll be flipping the page before you turn it.
- Tuck a Christmas board book into the nappy bag. Restaurant queues, airport waits, doctor’s offices. December is full of crowded waits. A familiar Christmas book in your bag turns those waits into a private moment.
Why this collection matters
The first three Christmases are the ones the child will not consciously remember — and yet they’re where the felt-sense of Christmas gets installed. The smell, the rhythm, the look of the room. Reading the same Christmas books across these years builds a sensory archive your child will carry for life. They might not recall the books, but they’ll know how Christmas feels, and a lot of that feeling came from your lap and a board book.
The other reason this list matters: most Christmas books are written for school-age kids. Curating specifically for the under-3 set is harder — the format constraints are real. The titles on this list earn their place by working at the toddler level, not by being shorter versions of bigger books.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the youngest age to start Christmas books?
From birth, honestly. Newborns won’t engage with the content but they’ll engage with your voice, your closeness, and the rhythm. By 9 months you’ll see them reach for the book on the shelf.
How many Christmas board books does a toddler need?
Three to five is the sweet spot. Beyond that, novelty stops mattering — toddlers love rotation, not breadth. Add one or two new titles each year, retire the most-chewed.
Best Christmas board book to gift a one-year-old?
Our team picks: Spot’s First Christmas, That’s Not My Reindeer (the Usborne touch-and-feel), and Christmas Wombat in its board-book edition. All three survive a real toddler.
Are any of these religious?
A few touch on the nativity. Most are secular. We’ve marked the religious ones in the individual reviews so you can pick what fits your family.
Shop the full list on Amazon AU
Each link below opens an Amazon AU search for that title’s exact ISBN. We earn a small commission if you decide to buy — thank you, it keeps the lights on at the Bookcase.
- Little Owl and the Star Board Book
- The Christmas Book
- The Christmas Book
- That’s Not My Santa
- Happy Christmas, Maisy
- Christmas Time
- Merry Christmas Little One
- Tickly Christmas Wibbly Pig
- An Aussie Day Before Christmas Board Book
- The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
📚 Looking for more book lists?
We’ve curated 28 picture-book lists across six themes — Family, Christmas & ANZAC, Australian identity, Learning to Read, Gifts & Milestones, and Themes & Activities. Hand-read by the team, age-graded, and ready to use.
