Christmas stories to read aloud in Advent: ten minutes on even the tiredest evenings

December is busy, and for a four-year-old waiting for Santa, it can feel very long indeed. Reading aloud won't make the rush disappear, but it can bring a little calm at the end of the day. Here are some classics, a way to count down with your child's own book and a few honest words about the evenings when reading just doesn't happen.

Waiting is a long business when you're four

For a young child, four weeks until Christmas Eve can feel like forever. An Advent calendar makes the wait easier to see: there are little doors to open and count. A story each evening can do much the same.

December isn't all cosy moments, either. There are early starts for school events, last-minute errands, overtired children and equally tired grown-ups. Reading aloud doesn't need to become another thing to get done. Ten minutes in bed is enough, and those ten minutes can be calmer than the rest of the day.

The classics

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs was first published in 1978. It's a wordless picture book about a boy whose snowman comes to life, so you and your child can tell the story together as you turn the pages. It's a little sad and very beautiful, with plenty to notice in the pictures.

Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was published in 1957 and follows the Grinch as he tries to take Christmas away from the people of Whoville. Judith Kerr's Mog's Christmas, from 1976, sees a bewildered cat cope with a house full of Christmas visitors. Both are books families bring out year after year.

Libraries often put out Christmas books at the start of December. Borrow five and let your child choose one each evening. Be prepared for the same book to win ten nights in a row, and for you to know it by heart well before Christmas.

More books to look for

The Night Before Christmas is a lively poem about a visit from Santa, first published in 1823. There are many illustrated editions, so look for one whose pictures your child enjoys. The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg follows a postman delivering festive letters to familiar fairy-tale characters. Children who enjoy opening envelopes will find plenty to explore.

If you have a three-year-old and an eight-year-old on the same sofa, choose a book with lots of pictures for the younger one and let the older child read a page. It's often a good arrangement: one gets to look, the other gets to show what they can do.

One spread a night until Christmas Eve

Your child's own book has thirteen spreads, with text on one side and a full-page picture on the other. Read one spread each evening from 12 December and you'll finish on Christmas Eve. Of course, young children might prefer to hear the whole book every night instead.

Give the book a little before Christmas, perhaps as an Advent surprise. When you create it, tell us about your own traditions so they can become part of the story: baking a favourite treat, who hands out the presents, or why Santa somehow always sounds like Uncle. The adventure could be about helping Santa find his lost list, a lantern procession after dark, or a little elf door that suddenly appears by the kitchen skirting board. Find more seasonal ideas under Christmas, Lucia, the Swedish festival of light, and gnomes.

Order the hardback by 2 December to allow time for it to arrive before Christmas Eve. You can give the personalised children's book as an eBook whenever you like.

After the story

Ask a question. Who was the bravest? What would you have done? The answer might be a single word, or nothing at all. Sometimes it arrives three days later at the breakfast table.

Let your child draw their own picture from the story, or colour in one of our Christmas colouring pages. Put the pictures on the fridge and watch a little exhibition grow in the run-up to Christmas.

Reading and the Advent countdown

For many families, opening an Advent calendar is part of the countdown to Christmas, whether the doors reveal pictures, chocolates or little surprises. Reading can sit alongside it. Open the day's door, then settle down with a book at bedtime. Talking about what might be behind tomorrow's door can be a gentle way to wind down.

If your child is too excited by everything happening in December to settle for a whole book, choose something shorter. One page is enough. What matters is the moment together, not how many pages fit into it.

The evenings when nobody has the energy

There will be evenings without a story. Your child falls asleep in the car, someone has a fever, or a Christmas event has left everyone too excited to settle. That's all right. Advent isn't a test, and one missed evening doesn't mean a tradition is broken.

Some evenings, your child can do the storytelling instead. Ask what happened at nursery or school, or invite them to make up what Santa is doing right now. It's storytelling the other way round, and it doesn't need a lamp.

If you have the audio version of your child's book, you can listen to it on those evenings. Start it using the QR code printed on the book's first spread. For more ideas on making time for stories, see our post about reading aloud, and find more festive ideas under Christmas gifts.

Would you like to see a finished book before you decide? Browse our example books.