From fast food, to Amazon Prime, to high-speed internet, our economy revolves around the fact that we don’t want to wait for anything. For example, as I write this article, Thanksgiving is over a week away, and yet somehow there are already “Black Friday” deals going on over on Amazon.

The funny thing is, I don’t think I’m alone when I say I’m much less interested in Black Friday sales than I was ten years ago. Back then it was something special that only happened once a year. Now it doesn’t mean much, because “Black Friday” has transformed into “Black Friday Week.”

When you wait for something, what you anticipate takes on so much more meaning. The waiting itself is somehow all wrapped up in it. How can we teach our children the value of waiting in a society that increasingly favors instant gratification?

Enter Advent. Observing Advent is one of our family’s happiest traditions. I would say the kids look forward to Advent as much as they look forward to Christmas morning, except that it’s all part of the same package. The waiting and preparations we make during Advent all come together in the fulfillment we feel at the birth of our baby King on Christmas.

The primary lesson of Advent is waiting, anticipating, hoping.

Through the years we’ve established a lot of Advent traditions, including more common ones like the Advent wreath, Advent calendar, and Jesse tree. But perhaps most popular with the younger crowd is unwrapping a book every day until Christmas. I started doing this about five years ago, and it quickly became a family favorite. Here’s how it works:

1. Each November, I make a list of books to open, starting on the first Sunday of Advent. I take note of any special feast days we want to celebrate (St. Nick’s Day or St. Lucy’s Day, for example), so we can read books related to those feasts on those days.
2. I choose about four new books that I want to purchase to add to our collection and order them (if I’m on top of things, I’ve already ordered them throughout the previous year).
3. I get out the books and start wrapping! As I wrap each book, I write the date somewhere on the wrapping paper so I can keep track of which is which.
4. On each of the Sundays of Advent, I bring out the wrapped books for the week and put them on our Advent shelf (which also holds our Advent wreath, creche, Advent calendar, and Jesse tree).
5. Each day after morning prayer, one of the youngest kids (they take turns) opens the book for the day and we read it.
6. All the books we won’t open during Advent go in a big box (we’ve collected a lot through the years!). On Christmas day, the kids open the box so they can read more books throughout Christmas season.
7. When Christmas season is over, all the books go back into storage until the next year.

When I first read about this, I thought it would be a ton of work, but it really isn’t, especially if you start early. Last weekend I worked on our book list for 2024 and started wrapping.

I haven’t finalized our list for all of Advent yet, but I thought I’d share our list for week one:

• Sunday, December 1: The Story of Christmas Advent Storybook Calendar (this doubles as our daily Advent calendar)
• Monday, December 2: The Tomten, by Astrid Lindgren
• Tuesday, December 3: The Nutcracker, by Stephanie Spinner
• Wednesday, December 4: The Legend of the Candy Cane, by Lori Walburg
• Thursday, December 5: The Friendly Beasts, by Tomie DePaola
• Friday, December 6 (Feast of St. Nicholas): The Legend of St. Nicholas, by Demi
• Saturday, December 7: Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry

As you can see, some of the books are religious, but we also include books that aren’t explicitly religious but have beautiful images a wintery feel, like The Tomten and The Nutcracker. We also love books that tell the stories of common Christmas symbols, such as the candy cane.

In previous years, I’ve selected books that go along with Jesse tree readings – for example, Noah’s Ark, by Jerry Pinkney, Baby Moses in a Basket, by Caryn Yacowitz, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, by Tomie DePaola.

This year, I’m trying to include at least one Christmas carol-focused book each week (this week it’s The Friendly Beasts), so we can build a carol repertoire to learn and sing during Christmas.

Our book-a-day tradition has become a cherished Advent custom, even by our older kids (not to mention, the parents!).

Stay tuned for our list of week two books! Wishing all our readers who celebrate a blessed Advent season.

What are some of your favorite Advent read-alouds? Please share in the comments below!