Diverse Winter Holiday Books for Kids

This post may contain affiliate links.

Between the months of December and February, there are many holidays to celebrate around the world. Introduce them with these diverse winter holiday books for kids.

The holiday books featured below teach kids about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, and more.

These books are great for introducing kids to holidays and cultures around the world.

Diverse Winter Holiday Books for Kids

Below, I’ve featured just a handful of books that will help you introduce kids to a wide variety of holiday traditions and cultures around the world.

You should be able to find them at your local library or bookstore. If you can’t find them locally, you can click each image cover to purchase them on Amazon.

Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas – Instead of latkes, this family celebrates Hanukkah with tasty Indian dosas.

To her brother’s chagrin, little Sadie won’t stop climbing on everything both at home and at the Indian grocery store, even while preparing the dosas.

As the family puts the finishing touches on their holiday preparations, they accidentally get locked out of the house.

Sadie and her climbing skills just may be exactly what is needed to save the day.

Li’l Rabbit’s Kwanzaa – The story of Li’l Rabbit captures the true meaning of Kwanzaa—coming together to help others.

Li’l Rabbit is not having a very good Kwanzaa. Granna Rabbit is sick, and so his family won’t celebrate his favorite part of Kwanzaa this year: a big feast called Karamu.

Li’l Rabbit knows what to do! He’ll find Granna Rabbit a special treat for Karamu so she can celebrate anyway.

A World of Cookies for Santa – A World of Cookies for Santa takes readers across the globe to see all the treats that await Santa on Christmas Eve.

Head to the Philippines, where children leave out puto seko cookies and ginger tea for Santa; jet to Russia for a honey-spice cookie; then set out for Malawi for a sweet potato cookie! 

When you’ve returned home, the journey’s still not over—M. E. Furman provides recipes for children to bake some of Santa’s cookies for themselves.  

The Legend of the Poinsettia – In Mexico, the poinsettia is called flor de la Nochebuenao flower of the Holy Night.

At Christmastime, the flower blooms and flourishes, the quite exquisite red stars lighting up the countryside.

This Mexican legend tells how the poinsettia came to be, through a little girl’s unselfish gift to the Christ Child.

Dragon Dance: A Chinese New Year Lift the Flap Book – It’s Lunar New Year and there are so many fun things to do!

Shopping at the outdoor market for fresh flowers, eating New Year’s dinner with the whole family, receiving red envelopes from Grandma and Grandpa, and best of all-watching the spectacular Lunar New Year’s parade!  

Too Many Tamales – Christmas Eve started out so perfectly for Maria. Snow had fallen and the streets glittered.

Maria’s favorite cousins were coming over and she got to help make the tamales for Christmas dinner.

It was almost too good to be true when her mother left the kitchen for a moment and Maria got to try on her beautiful diamond ring . . .

Tree of Cranes – As a young Japanese boy recovers from a bad chill, his mother busily folds origami paper into delicate silver cranes in preparation for the boy’s very first Christmas.

Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story – In an African village live seven brothers who make family life miserable with their constant fighting.

When their father dies, he leaves an unusual will: by sundown, the brothers must make gold out of seven spools of thread. If they fail, they will be turned out as beggars.

Using the Nguzo Saba, or “seven principles” of Kwanzaa, the author has created an unforgettable story that shows how family members can pull together, for their own good and the good of the entire community.

The Shortest Day – As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, early people would gather to prepare for the long night ahead.

They built fires and lit candles. They played music, bringing their own light to the darkness, while wondering if the sun would ever rise again.

“The Shortest Day” captures the magic behind the returning of the light, the yearning for traditions that connect us with generations that have gone before — and the hope for peace that we carry into the future. 

Horrible Harry and the Holidaze – The holiday season is here, and the kids in Room 3B are learning about all the different ways people celebrate.

In addition to Christmas and Hanukkah, there’s Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, Korean New Year, and more.

All the talk about holidays has everyone feeling festive. Everyone, that is, except Harry.

He doesn’t seem to care about the holidays, the class pet, or even the new student in class. It’s clear that something is bugging Harry—but what could it be?