December is a great time to discuss and explore Santa. This post shares Santa picture books that you can use for this purpose. All of the picture books on this list lend themselves to this topic really well. Take a peek below to learn more about these Santa picture books!
4 Santa Picture Books
Below is a list of some of our favorite Santa picture books to share with elementary students. They are part of our Santa Book Companion Bundle. Check them all out below!
1. Santa Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Santa Bruce is the hilarious story about a bear with a mistaken identity. Bruce the bear, does not like winter or the holidays. He wants to stay inside and sleep but his family wants to celebrate Christmas. When Bruce is outside with his long underwear and hat, a raccoon mistakes him for Santa! Within no time, all the critters in the forest are at Bruce’s house wanting to sit on Santa’s lap. The mice in Bruce’s house even promise that Bruce will deliver presents to everyone. Despite all his protests, Bruce is stuck acting as Santa and must give out presents all around town.
Students will laugh out loud during this fun Christmas read aloud about a bear that doesn’t like Christmas. Check out these Santa Bruce teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
2. The Animals’ Santa by Jan Brett
It is Christmas Eve and all the forest animals are talking about the animals’ Santa. However, Little Snow does not believe he is real because no one has ever seen him. Despite his brother trying to convince him, Little Snow gets mad and breaks the ice. That night, Big Snowshoe thinks about the broken ice and decides to make a chime. When everyone is sleeping, the chime sounds and the animals come out of their homes. All of a sudden, clover lands at the rabbits’ feet and each animal gets a present! The animals wonder if it could be the animals’ Santa. When a snowy owl flies through the sky and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, Little Snow truly believes!
Check out these The Animals’ Santa teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
3. Stick Man by Julia Donaldson
Stick Man lived in a tree with his wife and children. One day, he went for a jog, but quickly was taken by a dog! This humorous tale passes Stick Man along for different purposes, but he really just wants to get home to his family. Eventually, he is thrown in a fire, until he helps Santa down the chimney! Santa brings Stick Man back to his family and they have a wonderful holiday together.
Check out these Stick Man teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
4. How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky
When Santa was a young man looking for a job, he never seemed to find the perfect fit. He started as a chimney sweep, but did not get dirty enough, followed by working at the post office but he hated traffic. Santa then tried working at a late-night diner, but he became too plump. He was a zookeeper, then in the circus, but nothing seemed quite right. That is, until he met the elves who introduced him to the toys in their workshop. Together with his past experiences, readers learn how Santa became the phenomenon he is today!
Check out these How Santa Got His Job teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
Get All of the Santa Book Activities!
Scoop up all of the activity packets based on the picture books featured in this post!
Or Get All of the Activity Packets for 600+ Picture Books!
Starts with a Story is a collection of hundreds of book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Each book companion includes:
- reading comprehension questions with sample student responses
- 30 writing prompts targeting 10 different types of writing
- SEL lesson ideas based on character and events from each story
- printable student activities
- editable teaching slides with book-based clipart
- and more.
Learn how to get unlimited access to all 600+ book companion packets below!
Teachers Love these Other Santa Activities for Kids
We have lots of Santa activities you can use in your classroom. Check out the blog post Santa Activities for Kids to get more ideas and teaching resources!
One Last Thing Before You Go… Grab this Free Reading Resource!
If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It includes:
- seasonal read aloud books lists for teachers
- printable reading logs to track students’ reading
- monthly reading challenges to motivate students to read more
It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
In closing, we hope you found this list of Santa picture books helpful! If you are a member of Starts With a Story, you have access to all of these book companion activities. Lastly, you may also be interested in these winter children’s books if you love read alouds like us!
