Every December, our family does what we call a “book Advent.” I wrap 24 books about Christmas. Some are from the library and some are from our permanent collection. Each night, we unwrap one Christmas book to read. Each year, I like to include as many culturally diverse Christmas books as possible.

In this post, you’ll find 25 of our favorite inclusive, multicultural, and diverse picture books about Christmas.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase items through these links, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I was provided a complimentary copy of December’s Gift: An Interfaith Holiday Story by the author, and a copy of The Truth About Mrs. Claus from the publisher. All opinions are my own. You can read my full disclosure policy here. 

Diverse and Inclusive Christmas Books for Children

‘Twas Nochebuena: A Christmas Story in English and Spanish by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and Sara Palacios

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The night before Christmas looks different in each culture, but food, fun, and family are always key ingredients. “‘Twas Nochebuena, and all through our casa,” the story begins, “every creature was kneading tamale masa.” Spanish vocabulary is sprinkled generously throughout the book, which explores a Latino family’s Christmas Eve traditions. The light-hearted rhyming text is accompanied by equally playful illustrations. (Recommended for ages 4 to 9)

The Truth About Mrs. Claus by Meena Harris. Illustrated by Keisha Morris.

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This delightful book subtly addresses the roles women are often boxed into, while also starring Black characters who make the North Pole’s joy possible.

Like the women in her family who’ve come before her, Amalia the Elf is a skilled bear maker. The problem is, making bears doesn’t bring her happiness, even if it is what defines her family. She sets off in search of Santa, sure he’s the one person who can give her wise counsel.

When she finds Mrs. Claus instead, Amalia learns that Sarah B. Claus understands her issue. After all, when she first arrived at the North Pole, she thought all she was supposed to do was bake cookies, even though she longed for more. That dissatisfaction led Mrs. Clause to take on a much more active role than anyone could imagine. Can Mrs. Claus’ pursuit of her own passions help Amalia follow hers? (Recommended for ages 4 – 8. )

The Nutcracker in Harlem by T.E. McMorrow and James Ransome

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This enchanting picture book retells the famous story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, set at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. Young Marie loves all the sights and sounds of Christmas, especially the singing. She’s afraid her voice isn’t beautiful enough to sing, despite others’ encouragement.

After being gifted a toy nutcracker, Marie dreams of toy soldiers and dolls dancing around an enormous Christmas tree. When an army of mice invades, Marie knows she must join the army of toy soldiers to drive them away. (Recommended for ages 4 – 10)

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I Got the Christmas Spirit by Connie Schofield-Morrison and Frank Morrison

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The joyful, boisterous little girl from I Got the Rhythm is back, and this time she’s filled with the Christmas spirit! The vivid paintings capture the sounds, sights, and even the smells of the season, but most of all they capture the feelings of the holiday. (Recommended for ages 2 – 6)

What’s Cooking Jamela? by Niki Daly

If you’re looking for a Christmas story that will prompt a few giggles from your little ones, the South African tale What’s Cooking Jamela? fills the bill. Jamela’s mother and grandmother are planning a delicious Christmas meal, which will feature the new chicken they just bought. It’s Jamela’s job to feed the chicken, which she names Christmas.

As you might guess, Jamela starts to get attached to Christmas. She even builds the chicken a manger. On Christmas Eve, Jamela is instructed to go get the chicken so that it can meet its fate. Instead, Jamela takes off through town, carrying Christmas with her. That is, until the chicken jumps out of her arms…(Recommended for ages 3 – 8).

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December’s Gift: An Interfaith Holiday Story by Ashley Smith-Santos, Stasie Bitton, and Sandra Salsbury

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Each December, Clara and her parents travel to her Bubbe’s home, where they celebrate Chanukah. The most special part of her time there is making latkes together, as Bubbe tells her of the menorah that burned miraculously for 8 days on just one day’s worth of oil.

Clara also visits her Grammy each December, where they celebrate Christmas. Clara’s favorite part of Christmas Eve is making star shaped sugar cookies, as Grammy tells her the story of the miraculous star that guided the wise men to the new baby king.

That night, as Clara falls asleep, she dreams of the grandchild she will one day have, and how she will share both of these traditions with him. This will be December’s gift. The book also includes recipes for Bubbe’s latkes and Grammy’s sugar cookies. (Recommended for ages 4 – 9).

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Rachel Griffin

Rachel Griffith’s lavish fabric artwork transforms the traditional English carol into a journey around the world. The five golden rings decorate an Indian elephant. The nine drummers drumming are from Malawi, and the ten pipers piping are Indian.

There are also several fabric embellished pages of end notes that share about Christmas and Epiphany traditions around the world, as well as the history of The Twelves Days of Christmas song. (Recommended for all ages.)

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border by Mitali Perkins and Sara Palacios

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Since 1993, people in both Tijuana and San Diego have gathered on either side of the border wall to take part in “The Inn without Borders.” In this moving book, Perkins imagines one family who takes part in the observance, with Abuela on the Tijuana side and her daughter and grandchildren on the San Diego side. The family hasn’t seen each other in 5 years.

Maria and Juan are excited to share their handmade gifts with Abuela. They’re able to share excited conversation with her through the border fence, and to sing carols with people gathered on both sides of the fence. But when the children want to push their gifts through the fence, the border agent tells them nothing can go through. Maria comes up with a creative solution that allows Abuela to take their gifts home.

This is a beautiful story, but the border patrol agents are eventually shown as cheering on the children’s efforts to get their gifts to Abuela.  I suggest telling listeners the truth: this wouldn’t happen in real life, and that a border agents’ job is to keep families like this one separated. (Recommended for ages 5 – 9)

Miracle on 133rd Street by Sonia Manzano and Marjorie Priceman

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In Jose’s crowded apartment, his Mami tries to prepare their traditional Puerto Rican roast for Christmas Eve. The oven is too small for the roast to fit! Papi has the idea to ask the owner of the local pizzeria if he can put the roast in the pizza oven. On his way through their apartment complex, Papi soon discovers that no one else seems to be looking forward to Christmas.

Children will giggle at all of the grumpy things the grownups in the story say (and parents will likely identify with some of those things!) Can an invitation, and the smell of a delicious roast, put their neighbors in the holiday spirit? (Recommended for ages 4 – 9).

Silent Night by Lara Hawthorne

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Hawthorne’s gorgeous illustrations bring the beloved hymn “Silent Night” to life so vividly that I almost felt like I was walking in the dark with the shepherds on their way to see Jesus. This is a perfect book to soothe excited children on Christmas Eve.

As a children’s minister, I know how hard it is to find depictions of the holy family as Black (or even just non-western European looking), and I loved that the other characters had shades of skin from tan to dark brown. (Recommended for ages 3 – 8)

Tree of Cranes by Allen Say

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A young Japanese boy ignores his mother’s warning not to play in the neighbor’s pond. When he returns he finds her making origami cranes. When she finds he has a fever, she sends him to bed, and the little boy is sure she must be mad. That’s the only reason he can think of that she would not be checking on him while he is in bed.

When she begins digging up the special pine that was planted when he was born, he’s even more confused. His mother tells him that in a place where she once lived, California, today is a special day. She decorates his tree with the cranes and candles and shares Christmas traditions with him for the first time. (Recommended for ages 4 – 9).

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The Christmas Gift/El regalo de Navidad by Francisco Jiménez and Claire B. Cotts

Many Christmas stories that address poverty include some type of surprising or miraculous event that allow the main character to receive the gift they want to badly. The bilingual story The Christmas Gift, based on the author’s childhood experience in his farmworker family, is much more true to life. This, I believe, is what makes the story so beautiful and the reason it held my son’s attention.

Panchito so badly to receive a red ball for Christmas. When another farmworker couple asks his father to buy their very few posessions, Panchito hears his father apologize and say that they are broke too. Still, Panchito continues to hope that this will be the year he’ll get the gift he wants so badly. Instead, in watching the deep love of his parents towards their children and each other, Panchito begins to understand the meaning of Christmas. (Recommended for ages 5 to 10)

Related Post: 18 Children’s Books about Poverty and Hunger

The Christmas Truck by J.B. Blankenship and Cassandre Bolan

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This fast paced rhyming book celebrates the spirit of Christmas through giving to others. Along with her Papa and her Dad, a little girl goes to the town square to visit a special Christmas tree with the names of children who “don’t have many toys.

She’s delighted to pick out the fire truck that little Michael has asked for. In the middle of her family’s Christmas Eve celebration, a disaster happens! The Christmas tree falls over, breaking Michael’s special fire truck. Luckily Grandma (who used to be the fire chief) has an idea to save Michael’s Christmas. (Recommended for ages 3 – 8).

Related Post: 18 Inclusive and Diverse Children’s Books about Loving Families

Joy to the World: Christmas Stories and Songs by Tomie dePaolo

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Tomie dePaolo has written so many moving and diverse Christmas stories that I was delighted to find one collection that contains 3 of them, along with traditional carols.

In The Night of Las Posadas, we follow a village that is preparing for the annual procession that remembers Mary and Joseph seeking shelter. Sister Angie has carefully prepared everyone for their roles in the procession. Everything is ready, until the couple who are to play Maria and Jose get caught by a snowstorm on a mountain road and cannot get there in time. A quiet miracle, that only Sister Angie realizes has happened, takes place to save Las Posadas.

This collection also includes The Story of the Three Wise Kings and The Legend of the Poinsettia. (Recommended for ages 4 – 9).

Three Wise Women by Mary Hoffman and Lynne Russell

As a minister, I’ve been intrigued by the idea that some of the magi who visited baby Jesus may have been women. Although the magi in Mary Hoffman’s story are still men, they play a small role. The book instead focuses on three women: a grandmother, a young women, and a mother of an infant who travel from distant lands when they see a star that draws them into a journey.

I won’t give away the ending, but the connections that Hoffman makes between the simple gifts the women offer to Jesus’ life and ministry brought tears to my eyes. (Recommended for ages 5 to 10)

The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Patricia C. McKissack and Jerry Pinkney

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This story is set in a small Alabama town during the Great Depression. Nella opens the story by telling us that “Christmas always came to our house, but Santy Claus only showed up once in a while.” Even though she’s not sure if Santy Claus will arrive, Nella becomes entranced with a newspaper advertisement for a Baby Betty doll.

Her sisters warn her it’s silly to wish for such a doll during the Depression; she’ll never get it. She writes to Santy Claus nonetheless, and on Christmas Day her father has a special surprise. It’s a Baby Betty doll, which Nella and her sisters immediately begin fighting over. The girls’ parents tell them they must fix the argument themselves.

Nella convinces her sisters that she should have the doll, since it was her idea to ask Santy Claus for it. When her sisters go off to play on their own, Nella soon discovers that Baby Betty is not that interesting when it’s just the two of them. Will she find a way to make her Christmas gift live up to her dreams? (Recommended for ages 5 – 10).

Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco

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Welcome Comfort’s life as foster child who is always moving from home to home is tough. Mr. Hamp, the school custodian, becomes his closest friend and changes Welcome’s life. He tells Welcomethat Christmas is the most wondrous time of the year, but Welcome doesn’t agree. Mr. Hamp tells him to believe in Santa, because “believin’ is seein’.” While Welcome is disappointed that he can’t spend Christmas with the Hamps, who head up North each Christmas, he tries his best to believe.

On Christmas Eve, Santa himself shows up to whisk Welcome into his sleigh. When he returns from his amazing night of helping deliver presents around the world, Welcome begins to think it must have been a dream. Many years will pass by before he knows the answer for sure. (Recommended for ages 5 – 10).

Grace at Christmas by Mary Hoffman, Cornelius Van Wright, and Ying-Hwa Hu

Grace loves the anticipation of Christmas, especially acting out the nativity. Even when she can’t get others to join her, she plays as many roles as she can, giving the rest to Paw-Paw the cat. Mama and Nana tell her she’ll finally have more actors for her play, because this year friends from Trinidad will be staying with them.

But Grace isn’t happy about having to share her Christmas with strangers. She has to give up her bed to Savannah, who isn’t much fun to play with. When Grace finally discovers what it means to be kind to a guest, she gets the Christmas she’s always wanted. (Recommended for ages 5 – 10)

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An Ellis Island Christmas by Maxinne Rhea Leighton and Dennis Nolan

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Ever since Krysia’s Papa left Poland for America, she’s longed to see him again. But once they start their trip to join him in America, she has no idea how long or difficult the journey across the ocean will be. Everything is so different, and she had to leave behind one of her two beloved dolls because there wasn’t enough room to take both.

When they finally arrive at Ellis Island, it’s Christmas Eve. As the family waits in the Great Hall for Papa to arrive, Krysia marvels at the enormous Christmas tree, which shines brighter in the night than anything she’s ever seen. When Papa arrives, Mama reveals that she has a Christmas surprise from home. (Recommended for ages 6 – 10)

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and Ed Martinez

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Maria is having a wonderful Christmas Eve, making tamales with her mother. Her mother has let her wear lipstick and perfume, and she’s wearing her mother’s apron too. She just wishes she could also wear her mother’s ring. When her mother leaves the room, with her ring lying on the table, Maria thinks there’s no harm in wearing it for a minute.

It’s not until a few hours later, when all the family has arrived and the tamales are made, that Maria remembers the ring. It must have slipped off her finger and ended up in the tamales! Can Maria and her cousins eat themselves out of the big trouble she will get in if the ring can’t be found? (Recommended for ages 4 – 10).

Coyote Christmas: A Lakota Story by S.D. Nelson

It’s Christmas Eve on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, and Coyote is hungry for a good meal. When he spies on the foolish humans, he sees Grandma preparing the Christmas Eve dinner.

Knowing the food will be especially delicious, he decides to dress up as Santa to make it inside the house. Young Isabel is eager to invite him in, and since Grandma and Grandpa’s eyesight is not the best, they don’t notice he’s a coyote. But just when Coyote thinks he’s gotten away with his trick, something strange happens. Perhaps it’s a Christmas miracle! (Recommended for ages 6 – 10).

Related Post: 17 #ownvoices Children’s Books about Native Americans and First Nations Canadians

Grandma’s Gift by Eric Velasquez

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Every Christmas break when he was a child, Eric Velasquez’s grandma took care of him. One of their first tasks was to go all around the barrio, gathering all of the ingredients for her pasteles, a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas dish.

This year, there’s one more think Eric and his Grandma must do over break: visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a homework assignment. Eric is excited, but he can tell that his Grandma is nervous in a place where no one looks like them or speaks Spanish. Among all the unfamiliar paintings, she spots someone she knows a lot  about. It’s Juan de Pareja, a former slave who became a great artist in Puerto Rico.  (Recommended for ages 5 – 10)

Who Built the Stable? A Nativity Poem by Ashley Bryan

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This vibrantly illustrated poem considers how the stable where Jesus was born was built. Bryan’s poem declares that it was a little shepherd boy who built the stable, and later encourages Mary and Joseph to take shelter there. When Jesus is born, the shepherd child looks into his eyes “and in his heart he knew: The babe would be a carpenter. He’d be a shepherd too.”

The rich, bright colors of the illustrations drew us in immediately. The shepherd boy, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are all brown-skinned, a much needed balance to the vast majority of children’s books which portray Jesus as European. (Recommended for ages 3 – 8).

A World of Cookies for Santa by M.E. Furman and Susan Gal

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Children around the world celebrate Christmas in many different ways, but one thing is sure: sweet treats will be involved! Beginning in Australia and New Zealand and ending in Hawaii, this book takes kids around the world. Along the way they’ll discover which Christmas treats are popular in each place, and how children greet Santa. Several pages of recipes are included after the story. (Recommended for ages 4 – 9)

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Elijah’s Angel: A Story for Chanukah and Christmas by Michael J. Rosen and Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson

As a nine year old child, author Michael Rosen became friends with a barber and woodcarver in his eighties. Michael was enchanged with the carvings that decorate the barber shop from top to bottom, and Elijah’s happy to tell him about each one.

Michael is Jewish and Elijah is Christian. The year that the first night of Chanukah falls on Christmas Eve, Elijah offers Michael a special angel that he carved just for him. Michael hides the angel from his parents at first, fearful that they won’t want him to have what Judaism sees as a graven image. Instead, Michael’s parents help him understand the meaning of friendship and gift giving. (Recommended for ages 5 to 9)

A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas by Pat Mora and Margaly Morales

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Did you know that the twelve days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and lasts through the eve of Epiphany (January 5th)? Many Latino cultures celebrate The Feast of the Three Kings, and gift giving actually takes place on that day.  So, Pat Mora felt like it was especially fitting to write a Latino version of the famous Twelve Days of Christmas song.

I love the vibrant, playful illustrations that will help children easily understand the Spanish names for the gifts in the story. There are also pronunciation guides for those who aren’t familiar with Spanish. From a piñata to luminarias (paper lanterns) to burritos bailando (dancing donkeys), these twelve gifts are sure to delight children. (Recommended for ages 3 – 8)

Do you have a favorite diverse or inclusive Christmas book? Share your multicultural Christmas book pick in the comments!