I love books about Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Everything from old souvenir guides to Imagineer biographies to coffee table collections of unbuilt attractions are all in My Disney Theme Parks Library. In the last couple of years, I’ve been buying fewer theme park books because our toddler daughter, Megatron, has a growing collection of her own.
Christmas is far and away the most common ‘theme’ of the books in Megatron’s library. This is in part because the Bricker household is big on the spirit of the season (our Christmas tree went up November 1st!). It’s also in part because the holiday season is also the deal season, so we find ourselves buying more books this time of year. And what are we going to do, buy a Halloween book in mid-November? Of course not, don’t be ridiculous. We keep adding Christmas books to our collection!
Many of Megatron’s favorite books actually have nothing to do with Disney. We’re doing our best to indoctrinate her into the fandom, and have largely succeeded at that, but three of her favorite franchises are “Llama Llama” and “Pete the Cat” and “Little Blue Truck.” Actually, everyone in the Bricker household enjoys all three; they’re humorous and well-paced for toddlers. Although I suspect Megatron might just like the voices I do for Little Blue Truck and his cadre of critters. She also appreciates the classics–books that we all read as children, as did our parents before us. Those almost all hold up, and usually better than newer children’s books!
This is a list that I’ve wanted to do since last year, but kept putting off until Megatron had stronger opinions or a longer attention span so that some of the lengthier titles could be included. But while browsing Amazon this morning for more Christmas books to add to our collection, I discovered there’s an Early Black Friday ‘Get 3 for the Price of 2’ limited-deal. That was sufficient motivation to finally put this together, and just start it as a Bricker family list and update accordingly down the road.
If you’ve never taken advantage of one of these free item offers from Amazon, you simply browse the ‘Get 3 for the Price of 2’ page (or look for the green notation on product pages) and do the following:
- Add 3 items from the products below to your Cart using the Add to Cart button or select See Options for specific product variations.
- When you’re done shopping, select Go to Cart.
- The offer will automatically be applied at checkout, if eligible
When it comes to these items, we receive a small commission from your purchases, so buying through these links helps support the site. However, neither the price you pay nor our recommendations are impacted by that. These are all books that we actually own or have borrowed from the library. And at least two of the three of us loves each one of them.
Speaking of which, I’d be remiss if I didn’t make a “plug” for your local library. We own a lot of books–arguably too many–but we rotate through even more thanks to our community’s library, which is how we’ve discovered many favorites in the first place. We love taking her to the library and just browsing the books, doing activities, and interacting with other kids. Libraries are great for socialization, play, and various programming–not just the books.
If we asked Megatron right now whether she’d rather go to the library or Disneyland, there’s a decent chance she’d vote for the library. That could be ‘influenced’ by mentioning the fun activities at the library…or riding “it’s a small world” and meeting Mickey Mouse.
Point being, don’t overlook your local library. It seems like such an obvious thing and a product recommendation post might be an odd place for this PSA, but the bottom line is that you don’t need to purchase anything. You can probably borrow every single one of these recommended reads via library loans!
Anyway, on with the list of the Bricker family’s favorite Christmas books, starting with an emphasis on ones included with the ‘Get 3 for the Price of 2‘ limited-time deal…
Santa Stops at Disneyland (Little Golden Book) – The Disney Parks Little Golden Books are fantastic, with gorgeous art and cute stories. This mixes Christmas and Disneyland, making it a must-own for us. This is one of Megatron’s favorite books.
Merry Christmas, Woody! – Despite never having seen Toy Story, Megatron’s favorite Disney character is Woody (thanks to “it’s a small world”). The premise of this book is that all of the toys are getting ready for Christmas, while Woody is anxious about finding his friends the perfect gifts. The illustrations are absolutely adorable and the book flows perfectly for toddlers. Highly recommended for fans of Toy Story or, I guess, “it’s a small world.”
Olaf’s Night Before Christmas – This is a new classic for us, a retelling of the Night Before Christmas from Olaf’s perspective with all the innocence, discovery, charm and confusion you’d expect. It’s also beautifully illustrated and includes a CD (if you still have a player!) with the story narrated by Disney Legend Josh Gad.
Olaf’s Frozen Adventure – This Little Golden Book retells Olaf’s holiday story with beautiful, vintage-like illustrations that also feature Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Sven. Anything Olaf is a big hit in our household, and this is no exception.
Holiday Mischief with Stitch – Lilo teaches Stitch about holiday magic and traditions during the season on Earth, while Stitch learns about how it is important to be nice and not naughty. The Bricker adults like this because it reminds of us vaguely of “A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas,” which we loved. Megatron likes it because of Stitch. As with all of the above, this is part of the ‘3 for the Price of 2’ sale.
Santa’s Toy Shop Disney Little Golden Book – Inspired by a 1932 Walt Disney Silly Symphony animated short, the Santa’s Toy Shop Little Golden Book was originally published in 1950. In this delightful story, Santa wants time to play with all the wonderful toys he and the elves have made, but he’s just too busy–until Mrs. Claus gives him an idea!
Note that this is a book by the Walt Disney Studio artists…not a “Disney” book, per se. Consider it like the Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion of Disney books, which is to say that you won’t spot Mickey Mouse, Pluto or any other Disney IP. Sarah and I love it for this reason, and it’s becoming more of a hit with Megatron. She might still vote for an IP injection of Mickey, Olaf, Sven, and Sheriff Woody!
Elmo’s Twelve Days of Christmas – In this hilarious Sesame Street Little Golden Book version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” Elmo and friends celebrate as only Sesame Street can! The whole family will get a kick out of counting to 12, singing about three French friends, two yummy cookies, and a red monster up in a tree.
Sesame Street isn’t technically Disney, but I felt this merited inclusion for a few reasons: 1) Sesame Street Little Golden Books are excellent pretty much across the board, and this one is her favorite of the Christmas titles; 2) we have a lot of Sesame Street books, as these are her favorite characters; 3) it’s part of the limited-time deal.
I’ll refrain from mentioning more Sesame Street titles to maintain the ‘thematic integrity’ of this list, even though Sesame Street is very dominant in our library and it’s basically part of the extended Disney family. (Sesame Street is more “Disney” to me than Star Wars or Marvel, even if that’s not true in an ownership sense. But I digress.)
This entire list could be Little Golden Books, but a little variety is probably desired. The only other recommendation I’ll make is the Little Golden Book Christmas Stories Collection, which features 9 classic stories that are mostly from the 1950s and 60s (all of which my parents read to me, and theirs to them). This is inexpensive, iconic, and part of the ‘3 for the Price of 2’ promo.
The Muppet Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Holiday Classic – If you’ve followed this blog around Christmas-time, you know we are huge fans of Muppet Christmas Carol. I’ve seen it more than any other film (the next closest is Terminator 2, for those keeping score at home).
We’d love this by default simply because it’s Muppet Christmas Carol. But it’s actually a beautiful book, and one of our favorites to read to her. She’s expressing more of an interest in it this year, aided by truly exceptional (not really) voiceover narration for each character by me. We’re debating purchasing a spare for her, because it’s such an affordable, artistic book.
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Book) – When Jim Henson debuted the now-classic film Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas in 1977, few knew it was based on a story written and illustrated by Russell and Lillian Hoban, creators of Bread and Jam for Frances and other treasured children’s books. This is the book that started it all, a beautiful gift edition that will thrill Muppets fans young and old.
This book isn’t quite age-appropriate for Megatron yet, but we love it as big fans of the film. She is making progress; last year it took me several sittings to make it through the full book. This year, that number has been greatly reduced. Baby steps!
Both the Muppet Christmas Carol and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas books are included in the ‘Get 3 for the Price of 2’ limited-time sale, making them no-brainer purchases right now. Consider adding The Official Disney Parks Desserts Cookbook: Remembering 101 Sweet Delicious Disney Recipes, which is obviously not a Christmas title, to complete the trifecta. That’s just a good new release that gets you closer to maxing out the sale savings!
5-Minute Frozen Stories – Another Frozen hit for the Bricker household. This offers a dozen different Frozen stories that are each about 5 minutes long. This are perfect for toddlers, although I suspect Megatron would sit through a longer Frozen story so long as it had sufficient Sven and Olaf illustrations. A great option as part of the ‘3 for the price of 2’ deal!
Disney 5-Minute Christmas Stories — Same idea here with 5-minute stories, but not just Frozen. Join in the festivities of the season as Mike and Sully race to light the big Christmas tree, Alice finds the Red Queen’s present, Peter Pan brings Christmas to Never Land, and more!
Disney Christmas Storybook Collection — Join Ralph and Vanellope as they throw a Christmas party just for the Bad Guys; trim the tree with Woody, Buzz and the rest of the Toy Story gang; follow Elsa as she tries to create the best holiday ever for her sister, Elsa; and more.
Disney Storybook Collection Advent Calendar – This is from the same product line as our recommended autograph book replacement for Walt Disney World. We have a whole separate list of the Best Disney Advent Calendars, but felt this merited inclusion for the books in the collection. (We also love the Sesame Street Advent Calendar, which is part of the ‘Get 3 for the Price of 2‘ promo!)
This countdown to Christmas features 24 books, each of which are 24-pages. Unwrap a new tale every day from December 1st through December 24. Includes both holiday-themed and everyday stories featuring beloved Disney and Pixar characters.
For more on the holiday season in the parks, see our Guide to Christmas 2025 at Walt Disney World or our Guide to Christmas 2025 at Disneyland. We also have tons of content in our Christmas category of posts!
If you are planning a Walt Disney World or Disneyland vacation, check out our planning resources! The best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide or Disneyland Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Any other Disney Christmas books that your family loves? Hidden gems or sleeper picks we missed? Spot any other deals that we’ve missed as part of the ‘Get 3 for the Price of 2‘ sale? Buying anything as part of the early Black Friday sale?Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!