The BfK Christmas Gift Guide 2025
Once again, the BfK elves have been sorting through Christmas deliveries on your behalf to pick out the year’s best books for stockings. As ever, this is a particularly seasonal choice, picture books must include Santa, snow or Arctic animals, and for once, books with flashing lights or sound effects are welcome. Happy wrapping!
Books for the very young
Slide and Peek Santa by Hector Dexet (Postwave) tops our pile for the very littlest. Everyone gets a brightly wrapped present in this chunky boardbook, from the spider to the crocodile and you can find out what’s inside by pulling the tabs. The illustrations are bright and full of movement; with lots to spot, name and count, it’s a Christmas treat. The shimmering pages in Hello Santa! by Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots) will reflect back the lights on the tree nicely, and, having met the principal Christmas players (Santa, reindeer, robin), the mirror on the final page puts you in the story too. Merry Christmas, My Little Cuddle Bug by Natalie Marshall (Little Tiger), in which ladybird mum and child get ready to celebrate is very sweet, nicely tactile, and reminds us that the best thing about Christmas is family. You Choose Christmas by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart (Puffin) is the consummate Christmas book for toddlers but look out for You Choose Bedtime by the same team – new, shorter, and though there’s no Santa it’s a book that brings magic to bedtimes, so we’re including it here.
Picturebooks for Christmas
It’s been a long time coming, but Lauren Child’s I Am Wishing Every Minute for Christmas (Simon and Schuster) is worth the wait; 
Child’s witty observations together with her distinctive use of collage and stylish page design make this another stand out creation, and there is no better book to count us down to the big day. The little girl in The Street Where Santa Lives by Harriet Howe and Julia Christians (Little Tiger) is convinced that a new neighbour is Santa. He has a white beard, is Santa shaped, and it turns out that he can fix pretty much anything (must be all the practice with the elves). When he falls ill, she rallies the street to help, setting them all up for the perfect Christmas in the process. It’s funny and positive, with a family and community that feel real, and the digital illustrations have a brightness and warmth that match the tone of the story. Neighbourliness and an inter-generational friendship are at the heart of Christmas Lights on Mistletoe Street by Kate Thompson and Natelle Quek (Puffin) too. Holly and her mum have just moved into Mistletoe Street and she notices that one house in the road isn’t lit up. Faster than you can say ‘Seasons’ Greetings,’ Holly has made friends with Ivy, the old lady who lives in the house, and is bringing the whole street to celebrate with her. It’s properly heartwarming and nicely told. A Christmas Delivery by Andy Shepherd and Sarah Warburton (Templar) fills the Christmas preparations with dragons, courtesy of Tomas and Lolli and their grandad, stars of Shepherd’s bestselling The Boy Who Grew Dragons series. The dragons cause all sorts of chaos but come to the rescue when Tomas and co need to deliver presents to their friends. Joyful, packed with surprises and festive cheer, as well as Sarah Warburton’s gorgeously bright and 
fleet dragons, this has its own Christmas magic. Inspired by a Sami folk tale, The Snow Fox and the Long, Long Night by Marieke ten Berge, translated by Michele Hutchison, is the story of a little arctic fox who gets lost in the snow and needs the help of a polar bear and the Northern Lights to find her way home. Striking illustrations of characters and landscape plus of course the Northern Lights make this wintery tale particularly beautiful.
If you’re after something a bit sillier, We Wish you a Veggie Christmas (Simon and Schuster), the latest in Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet’s Supertato series absolutely delivers (Evil Pea is shrinking the veggies to turn them into baubles), and Ten Christmas Bottoms by Barry Timms and Mike Byrne (Macmillan) is very catchy and more than rude enough to delight children. Finally, Mr Santa by Jarvis (Walker), a BfK Christmas 24 choice, is available now in paperback and highly recommended, while The Night Before Christmas in Neverland by Carys Bexington and Kate Hindley (Macmillan) finds a way to bring Santa and Captain Hook face to face. It’s refreshing to see reindeers on the beach and Father Christmas charming the crocodile and Kate Hindley’s illustrations have a thrilling pantomime drama.
Books plus
On the subject of Peter Pan, All the World’s a Stage: Peter Pan based on J.M. Barrie’s classic and illustrated by Ella Beech (Magic Cat) is equally theatrical and visually appealing and concludes with a pop-up of Neverland, Peter flying home in 3D. The pages also feature sound buttons with extracts from classical favourites – Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyrie adding tension as Hook sends the children down the plank, Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee heralding the arrival of Tinkerbell. Listen to the Music at Christmas by Mary Richards and Skylar White (Wide Eyed Editions) also features sound buttons, the narrative device being a ‘musical adventure’ around the world undertaken by two young children, with traditional festive tunes from Sweden, Ukraine, Mexico and Argentina included. Joy to the Whole World by Lucy Brownridge and Sang Miao also takes readers exploring, introducing Christmas traditions from as far afield as South Korea, Finland and Ethiopia. Each page is full of details and there are numerous flaps to lift too. Otter-Barry have cleverly republished Remarkable Animals by Tony Meeuwissen, which brings the reader playful activities with ten animals, platypus, baboon and hermit crab included. Each page is divided into three liftable flaps, one for the creature’s head, one for its trunk and one for its tail. Lift a flap and see what’s beneath and you’ll find the creature is transformed, in name, appearance and written description. There are 1,000 possible combinations and the book will provide hours of entertainment for readers of almost any age.
Old friends
This year sees a welcome reappearance for more old favourites too. The First Christmas by Jan Pieńkowski (Puffin) is as striking in its new 
edition as when first published over forty years ago, each bold silhouette a thing of beauty. Similarly, Brian Wildsmith’s illustrations for his version of The Twelve Days of Christmas (Oxford) are as vivid and captivating as ever, the colours so rich you almost want to lick the pages. Jane Hissey’s Old Bear and his friends hold a deserved place in many readers’ hearts and Templar’s new edition of Jolly Snow remains perfect bedtime reading. Ted Hughes’ Iron Man has been depicted by various illustrators over the years, and unsurprisingly Mini Grey rises to the occasion wonderfully in The Coming of the Iron Man (Faber), her mysterious giant creature both awe-inspiringly huge and reassuringly friendly.
Story Collections
Goldilocks, The Gingerbread Man, The Three Little Pigs, all and more are retold in James Mayhew’s My Book of Classic Nursery Tales (Otter-Barry Books), with his own colour-saturated collage illustrations accompanying them. The retellings are as lively as the pictures, and both equally memorable: a lovely 
collection for the very young. A troupe of storytellers and illustrators are featured in Super Great Kids’ Stories! (Bloomsbury) which features folk tales and traditional stories – 30 in total – from every continent of the world, ‘Story Owl’ facts and storytelling tips adding an extra something to a sprightly collection. There are fairies, shapeshifters, clever girls, giants and more in Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales by Lari Don (Floris Books), who is a gifted storyteller, making this collection wonderful to read aloud. On the subject of gifted storytellers, look out for Michael Morpurgo’s More Tales from Shakespeare which includes eight masterly retellings, including Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Othello – the illustrators here are equally starry. Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children (Little Island) is beautifully illustrated by Lauren O’Hara, with full page, painterly scenes and delicate lattice papercuts to frame the text. It comes with a foreword by Colm Tóibín in which he recommends the stories to both children and adults, as do we.
Ghost stories for Christmas
Ghost stories are enjoying a resurgence and winter is the perfect time for a chilly tale. Phil Hickes knows just how to send shivers down the spine and The Last Day of October, his first for Barrington Stoke, is a very creepy old house story with a thoroughly unsettling ending. The ending of Hide and Seek, the first in Christopher Edge’s new Fear Files series (Walker) is just as chilling, 
and the story itself a typically immersive and pacy read, as Adam negotiates a deadly game of hide and seek. Tomorrow’s Ghost by Tanya Landman (Walker) is an atmospheric and compelling story in which the tragic fate of a girl of her own age haunts Anna, and pulls her back into the past. There are three young women from different times at the heart of Finbar Hawkins’ folklore inspired chiller Ghost (Zephyr): an Anglo Saxon slavegirl, an 18th century white witch and Marie, our contemporary. All three are trying to escape a creature so malevolent and terrifying it could have stepped out of an M R James story, their three interlinked narratives piling on the tension. For classic ghost tales, look out for the elegant but spine-tingling Nine Authentic Ghost Stories, introduced by Kirsty Logan (Bodleian Library Publishing) while Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as brought to life by MinaLima Classics, with 3D interactive elements, will fascinate fans old and new.
Christmas fiction
We’ve just got room to squeeze in some stocking filler suggestions. Murder mysteries and Christmas go together well, and top of the suspect list is A Stocking Full of Spies by Robin Stevens (Puffin). When a bomb falls on Deepdean School, May and Nuala are sent to stay with Hazel, now working at Bletchley Park. It’s not long of course before they find themselves a mystery to investigate in another ingenious, cleverly plotted story which will delight their devoted fans. New to young readers, though a favourite with their crime-reading parents, is Janice Hallet, whose cosy crime drama A Box Full of Murders is set in a scout camp, summer 1983, and unravelled by siblings Luke and Ava using ‘source material’, the camp diaries. The format is lots of fun and readers will enjoy taking notes as they read racing to solve the mystery before Ava and Luke. Adam Baron’s festive offering, The Very Last Christmas Present (HarperCollins Children’s Books) is a race against the clock in more ways than one. Puppy Kado is recruited to help Santa deliver the one present he forgot but their route is circuitous, bringing encounters with a whale, a shark and a polar bear. All is made clear at the conclusion and as ever Baron delivers a story that tugs on the heartstrings, while slipping in much to think about. As does Fox Goes North (Scholastic) Jeremy Strong’s last book, and a 2024 choice, now out in paperback and recommended. In Snow by Meera Treehan (Walker), a lonely princess must search through endlessly-replenishing snow to save her kingdom. The arrival of Ela from our world brings hope, especially as the two girls learn they have much more in common than first thought, but there are obstacles, including, sadly, the princess’s deceitful father. Mixing magic and science, this story builds to a powerful ending, the eerie beauty of the magical snowy kingdom a warning to us all. Christmas laughs are delivered by the sackful courtesy of Jim Smith whose My Big Fat Christmas Poo Diary (Scholastic) – everything the title would lead you to believe – has three cartoon stories and three Santas (count them), while the exploits of Dave and his friend Skipper in Dave Pigeon (Turkey Dinner) by Swapna Haddow (Scholastic) will have everyone ho-ho-ho-ing, and possibly turning vegetarian. Finally, every Christmas needs a party and what better for teen readers than A Crongton Christmas Party (Hodder Children’s Books). Boy from the Hills is hosting, no, things don’t go to plan but yes, it all works out in the end and the much-missed Alex Wheatle’s dialogue and characters make this a joyful Christmas treat.
All the books mentioned are listed on our Christmas Shopping Guide alongside our 2025 Books of the Week.
