What is a Book Advent?
Just like Christmas eve boxes and Elf on the Shelf, book advents are a fairly new idea but one that many people have welcomed into their homes over the last few years and are certainly growing in popularity.
The idea is simple, choose 24 books which you wrap up ready for the 1st Dec, then each day on your count down to Christmas your child can open a surprise book for you to share. Children love the excitement but I feel the real benefit is that it encourages you both to snuggle down and share a special story each and every bedtime for the whole of December.
What book do you need?
You don’t have to choose Christmas themed books at all. Any books work. We choose to mix it up with a few Christmas stories, a few rhyming stories, a couple of classics and one or two favourites.
Does it have to be expensive?
No. Absolutely not in fact you can do this without spending a penny if, like my children you have lots of book already. There are several options and no right one do what works for you and your budget. The important thing is sharing that quality time together.
You can:
- Buy new books, there our lots of budget ranges this time of year, especially here. We do a £1 range every year to help make reading affordable.
- Buy second hand books- why not take a peep in your local charity shops, Facebook Market Place, carboots or school jumble sales you can pick up some great used books for pennies!
- Use books you already have! The excitement is in the surprise. We only read our Christmas books really in December then they get put away for the following year. We have 8 or so that we bring out and wrap up again the rest of the books are from their bookcase. I tend to pick a few I know they love but haven’t read for a while. You can always add a few new ones too so low cost but adds a little extra to the excitement.
How do you wrap them?
Firstly you don’t have to wrap them it just adds to the fun. A lot of people just use normal wrapping paper but if like us you are more eco conscious then their are more planet friendly alternatives that keep the surprise element. You could wrap them in-
- Brown Paper, maybe get your children to decorate the paper first for an extra arty activity
- Newspaper
- Fabric wrap such as Cotton. I have a friend who hides a book each day in an old pillow case which is hung by the Christmas tree. The elves drop off a book each day whilst her children are at school!
- A bag or box. Similar to above a bag or box can be left out and each day pop in a new book.
What if you have older children who are past picture books so 24 chapter books a day is going to be too much!
I have come up with 2 options for this.
For our middle Bugs we pick a special chapter book and each night read a chapter (or 2) together. Top tip look for a book with around 24 chapters! :) Made more special with a hot chocolate or a Christmassy ginger biscuit as a treat.
For our eldest Bug we have adopted the Icelanders Jolabokaflod ‘Christmas Book Flood’ A good book with 
chocolate! Sounds perfect right!
Giving a book at Christmas is a tradition in Iceland dating back to World War II where paper was one of the only things not rationed.
The idea is to have a new book Christmas eve, snuggle up with a warm blanket in a book nook with a hot chocolate and simply read! This is the perfect alternative for older children and teens… and mums and dads!
Whatever book traditions you choose in your house it will be wonderful because its just you, your children and a good book – what more do you need!