St. Nicholas Books for Kids & Adults
Books to learn about and celebrate St. Nicholas on December 6th.
When Arthur’s first Christmas arrived, we chose not to make “Santa” a part of it. Scott grew up in a home that didn’t celebrate Santa Claus, and I was the nerd-child who at age five pointed out that it was my mom’s handwriting on all the packages and never looked back. It didn’t feel important to either of us.
As Arthur and then Tennyson grew a bit older, people would ask them what Santa brought them for Christmas… and those well-meaning people were met with extremely blank stares from my children who had no idea what they were talking about.
Something felt wrong about buying into the idea that a magical dude was delivering presents in the middle of the night… and I also felt that my kids were missing out on a bit of the atmosphere that the whole idea brings with it.
Before moving to Wisconsin, I’d never heard about St. Nicholas Day, but as soon as I did, I was intrigued. An entire separate day to celebrate this actual historical figure known for generosity and gift-giving? Sign me up! Still, there’s a lot we don’t know about St. Nicholas for sure. There’s enough evidence to suggest he was a real person and a bishop in the early church in the 300s in what is now present-day Turkey, but not enough to surmise who exactly his parents were or if he did, indeed, perform any miracles that led to his sainthood. In any case, the legend of his generosity lives on, even if the facts are a bit unclear.
So on the morning of December 6th for the last few years, our children have received a few chocolate coins and a small gift in their shoes left on the hearth overnight, usually their special Christmas ornament to add to the tree that year (Trader Joe’s has the best chocolate coins, and we love ordering ornaments from Ornaments 4 Orphans if we don’t find one in our travels that year). We talk about St. Nicholas and how the tradition of gift-giving at Christmas has grown out of the example he set in his life of kindness and generosity.
And we read books, as our family always does.
A few St. Nicholas picture books we love:
The Legend of Saint Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving
by Dandi Daley Mackall
This is a story-in-a-story about a boy named Nick who is supposed to be Christmas shopping for his brothers but has a crummy attitude about it. He stumbles on the department store Santa telling the story of St. Nicholas, and realizes that he’s forgotten what Christmas is all about.
It’s a simple retelling of the basic facts of the life of St. Nicholas, but making him a boy at the time when he begins to give generously to his community. I think making St. Nicholas young in the story helps to connect it to the child reading it, and shows them that generosity is available to them now, not just when they are grown.
We have listened to this one on audio, too, through our library. There’s a copy of it available on Libro.fm (linked below), but fair warning: I do not care for The Legend of the Candy Cane story by the same author included in the collection. It’s really a heavy-handed tale, and feels far too tied-up-with-a-bow. And I haven’t read or listened to the other two included at all.
Bookshop | Libro.fm | ThriftBooks (use this link + if you spend $30 and we both get a free book credit!)
St. Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend
by Julie Stiegemeyer
This picture book tells the story of St. Nicholas providing money for dowries to three young women in his city, which many believe actually happened in some way. The book gives the people in the story names, and also offers an author’s note about what is likely fact and likely fiction, as well as a glossary at the end of the book. It does lean into comparing the gifts of Nicholas and the gift of God in the form of his son, Jesus Christ, but not so heavy-handedly that it detracts from the storytelling. A simple, easy book that dresses Nicholas in his red clerical robes, which makes the leap to modern day Santa Claus easy to see.
St. Nicholas
by Ann Tompert
I love the (short) preface to this book and how it discusses whether or not the details matter if the heart of the story is true. It’s illustrated in a beautiful mosaic style, and tells a straightforward story of a young man who grew in wisdom and generosity. It handles the heavier things (plague, persecution) well, and also contains an author’s note with a bit more fact about St. Nicholas’s life and how we have come to have a modern Santa Claus.
This one appears hard to find and expensive. Here’s a link to AMZN.
The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale
by Aaron Shepard
This isn’t a book about St. Nicholas, but about how people in later centuries celebrate his Feast Day on December 6th. A baker in New York is known far and wide for making fantastic, delicious cookies shaped like St. Nicholas. One day, he is visited by an old woman who asks for a dozen of these cookies… but really wants 13. The baker refuses to give her more, saying 12 is fair, and through some hardship in the next year and a dream featuring St. Nicholas himself, he learns that to give more is the real way to honor St. Nicholas.
One I’ve read that I immediately returned to the library:
The True Story of St. Nicholas, Who Is Also Called Santa Claus
by Foster Eich
This one was far too simplistic, and everyone appeared to be blond and blue-eyed. It went back to the library without my children even flipping through it.
One that I’m interested to read next year:
Saint Nicholas the Giftgiver: The History and Legends of the Real Santa Claus
by Ned Bustard
This one’s in rhyme, which is why I haven’t picked it up so far. Rhyming is hard!
Want more Christmas-themed books for kids? Here’s a list of our favorites!
A few for adults that I found worth reading:
The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas
by William J. Bennett
I remain skeptical on how much of this is fact, but Bennet tells the story in a compelling way that really carries the reader along. Easy enough to read in one or two sittings, hopefully next to a lighted Christmas tree and with a warm beverage.
Bookshop | ThriftBooks | Libro.fm
Santa Claus: A Biography
by Gerry Bowler
Kate Bowler’s dad, Gerry, is a historian of Christmas (coolest gig ever?), so I nabbed a couple of his books last year in December. This biography of Santa Claus was fascinating, demonstrating how the Santa we know today is fashioned from a hodge-podge of religious and non-religious precursors, but who really came into his own during — you guessed it — the onset of American advertising. Santa because the spokesperson for causes, a seller of Coca-Cola, and more, and that’s largely how he entered our American mainstream. A little more academic than I was looking for, but I enjoyed it.
The World Encyclopedia of Christmas (not pictured)
by Gerry Bowler
The World Encyclopedia of Christmas was just that: a bulky encyclopedia with thousands of entries related to Christmas from “first-footing” to “Silent Night (hymn)” to how different countries around the world celebrate the holiday. I found it right up my alley as a total nerd, and would definitely flip through it again at Christmas next year. If you or someone you love delight in random and mostly-useless facts, this would make a great gift at Christmas.
I’d be interested to read Bowler’s Christmas in the Crosshairs some year. Let me know if you do!