Advent Family Read-Alouds

I love all things Christmas – the lights, the music, the food, and the festivities! It is my favorite time of year. And yes, I do start listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving – I just love it. 🙂

Yesterday was the start of Advent.  The word “advent” stems from the word adventus which means coming or arrival –  referring to Christ coming as a babe in a manger and his eventual coming again. Something which should give us great hope!

Our family has many Christmas traditions, such as decorating the tree, baking, giving gifts, the Jesse tree, etc., but one of our favorites is our Advent read-aloud. We have found a series of books we love. And this year we are reading the 4th and final book in this Advent series.

We started this series in 2015 when our oldest was in 2nd grade. It is always one of the highlights of the season for us and helps to get and keep our hearts focused on the reason for the season.

Note: These books are historical fiction, and like any historical fiction book, the author has done research to give you a good idea of what life was like during that time and includes true facts, but many creative liberties are also taken.

These advent storybooks, all by Arnold Ytreeide, are listed below. The books intertwine with one another which creates an even more interesting storyline.

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Advent Family Read-Alouds

Jotham’s Journey (available on audiobook too!)

We’ve had this book the longest, and even though we’ve read it a few times as a family, each year I’ll catch my kids re-reading it.

Jotham is a young shepherd boy who gets separated from his family and eventually discovers the Christ child in the stable.

Bartholomew’s Passage

Bartholomew is a young fishermen who gets separated from his family and undergoes many adventures, eventually leading to the stable in Bethlehem.

Tabitha’s Travels 

Tabitha is the daughter of a shepherd and encounters many adventures and in the end finds her way to the manger.

Ishtar’s Odyssey

Ishtar is the son of a Persian wise man and adventures across the desert, following the star to Bethlehem.

How to read through the books:

Ideally, you start the 4th Sunday before Advent and read a section each day. But really, you can modify it to work for your family! Sometimes we have days where we can’t all gather and read at the same time, and so we’ll read two sections the next day.  Sometimes we read it at night and other times during the day.  Each chapter ends as a cliffhanger so the kids are always excited to read more.

The books all have between 150 – 200 pages and the recommended age is 8+. The books can be intense at times, so keep that in mind for sensitive readers.