Christmas 2020: 12 children's Christmas books to read with kids in the UAE

Best for kids four to eight

A Christmas for Bear
By Bonny Becker
Bear’s understated Christmas celebration has Mouse feeling a bit anxious in this humorous and heart-warming story featuring the unlikely, loveable pair.

Dasher

By Matt Tavares
From the celebrated creator of Red and Lulu comes the story of a brave little doe who meets Santa and changes Christmas forever. Dasher is an adventurous young reindeer with a wish in her heart.

Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas

By Julia Rawlinson
It’s Christmas Eve, and the rabbits have moved to a new burrow. Fletcher is excited about celebrating the holiday with them, until he realises that Father Christmas won’t know where to deliver their presents. But after a cosy night of carolling and blackberry pie, Fletcher wakes to a snowy Christmas morning full of wonderful surprises.

Peppermint Post

By Bruce Hale
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when the North Pole’s Peppermint Post Office is anything but quiet. Postmaster Buck and his crew of penguins can’t rest until all of Santa’s letters and gifts are sorted and on Santa’s sleigh. But what happens when Buck discovers a lost letter after the reindeer already left the North Pole? A hilarious, epic adventure quickly ensues to deliver a little girl’s Christmas gift before midnight.

Pick a Pine Tree

By Patricia Toht
Joyous illustrations and fun rhythms lead readers on the nostalgic journey of the traditions of selecting and decorating everyone’s favorite holiday centerpiece: a Christmas tree!

Sammy Claus

Bu Lucy Rowland
Santa’s cuddly pet cat, Sammy Claws, will sleep anywhere. Snoozing in a box on Christmas Eve, Sammy finds himself wrapped up as a Christmas gift and bundled onto the sleigh with the other presents. How will Sammy escape? And can he save the presents from two robbers with plans to steal them all?

Best for kids eight to 12

A Christmas Carol
Illustrated by P.J. Lynch
A Christmas Carol has become as much a part of Christmas as trees, stockings and mistletoe. Ireland’s new Children’s Laureate P.J. Lynch breathes new life into Dickens’s classic ghostly tale for this magnificent paperback edition.

The Naughty List

By Michael Fry
This laugh-out-loud funny Christmas adventure is packed with comic illustrations. When Bobbie’s hilariously bumbling efforts to save her brother’s Christmas actually land him on Santa’s Naughty List, she must travel to the North Pole to make things right again and save Christmas. Bobbie suddenly finds herself on an epic holiday adventure complete with rogue elves, dysfunctional reindeer, a lazy Santa, and more.

The First Noel

By Jan Pienkowski
This enchanting Christmas gift tells the story of the Nativity in five exquisite cut-paper silhouettes. Each delicate scene is beautifully decorated with red, white and gold, and brings the Christmas whole story of the Shepherds and the Three Wise Men to life.

The Nutcracker
By Susan Jeffers
Join Marie, Fritz, and the intriguing Nutcracker himself on a magical Christmas Eve adventure. Behold the frightful Mouse King, the elegant Sugar Plum fairies, and the entire Land of Sweets in this dazzling, gorgeously illustrated holiday classic. With spare text based on the story in the ballet, this book offers a front-row seat to the enthralling tale that is a perennial favorite of adults and children alike.

The 12 Dares of Christa
By Marissa Burt
A thirteen-year-old girl spends her first holiday away from home completing a scavenger hunt that takes her across Europe in 12 Dares of Christa, the first contemporary novel from Marissa Burt, author of Storybound.

My Weird School Special: Deck the Halls, We’re Off the Walls!
By Dan Gutman
It’s Christmas, and you know what that means! Santa Claus is coming to town! Or at least to the local mall. But what happens when kid rapper Cray-Z gives a Christmas concert at the same mall and all his fans go bananas? One thing’s for sure – if A.J. and the gang from Ella Mentry School want to save the day, they will need a Christmas miracle.