12 Days of Christmas Books for Kids (2026): Book Sets, Personalized Picks and Classics

Quick answer: for a true 12-book set, pick Usborne's The Twelve Days of Christmas Boxset Collection, twelve numbered festive storybooks in one box for ages 3 and up. For the song with your family in it, Wonderbly's Our 12 Days of Christmas and I See Me!'s Our Family's 12 Days of Christmas are personalized single books. For the song as a classic picture book, choose Jan Brett's hardcover or Robert Sabuda's pop-up. And if you want a book-a-night countdown your child stars in, Magic Story's Six Days Until Christmas is six personalized hardcovers, read one a night from December 19 to Christmas Eve.

Magic Story publishes this guide, and Six Days Until Christmas is our book. Every detail about the other books comes from the publisher's or seller's own product page, checked on November 12, 2026. No one paid to be included.

12 Days of Christmas books compared

A 12-book boxed set: Usborne's Twelve Days of Christmas Boxset Collection

If you want twelve books to open one at a time, this is the boxed set to look at. Usborne's Twelve Days of Christmas Boxset Collection holds twelve numbered festive storybooks, listed for ages 3 and up. The titles include Jingle Bells, The Snow Queen, The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas and 'Twas the Night before Christmas. When the numbered books go back in the box, their spines make a snowman picture, a nice touch for keeping them in order. The books aren't personalized, and the product page doesn't list the binding or page counts.

Personalized 12 Days of Christmas books

Two companies make a personalized book of the song itself. Both are single picture books rather than sets, and both are built around the whole family, which makes them a nice read-together on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

Wonderbly: Our 12 Days of Christmas

Wonderbly's Our 12 Days of Christmas stars up to three kids and one or two grown-ups as everyone gets ready for the big day and decorates the tree. You build each person as an avatar you customize. It's 28 pages, best for ages 0 to 8, and comes in softcover, hardcover or layflat. Wonderbly says it's printed and dispatched in 2 to 4 working days.

I See Me!: Our Family's 12 Days of Christmas

I See Me!'s Our Family's 12 Days of Christmas takes one to twelve family names, and you can put your family's last name in the title. You can also add a photo and a dedication. It's 32 pages, 8.5 by 8.5 inches, for ages 0 to 8, in softcover or hardcover.

Classic picture-book editions of the song

Jan Brett's The Twelve Days of Christmas

Jan Brett's The Twelve Days of Christmas, from G.P. Putnam's Sons, is a 32-page hardcover for ages 4 to 8. Penguin Random House describes illustrations rich in traditional folk motifs that also follow a family's Christmas preparations, with "Merry Christmas" in eleven languages. There's also a board book edition for ages 1 to 3.

Robert Sabuda's The 12 Days of Christmas

Robert Sabuda's The 12 Days of Christmas, a pop-up celebration of the song from Little Simon, is listed for ages 4 to 8. Simon & Schuster says the anniversary edition adds extra pages with a pop-up Christmas tree that lights up and a pop-up ornament of two turtledoves. Pop-ups are delicate, so it's one to open together.

A countdown your child stars in: Six Days Until Christmas

If what you love about a 12 Days set is opening a new book each night, Magic Story's Six Days Until Christmas keeps that ritual and makes your child the hero. It's six personalized hardcovers, read one a night from December 19 to Christmas Eve. One photo turns your child into the illustrated hero of every book, with their name in the story. Each night they help a carved wooden Santa with one small act of kindness, and the six stories build to a Christmas Eve finale. The books are for ages 2 to 10, and each has 22 story pages. The set is sold only as the complete set of six, at the price shown on the Six Days Until Christmas page.

We don't make a 12-book set. Six nights is easier to keep up in the busiest week of the year, and the countdown lands when kids are most excited. You see a free preview of your child before you buy, and our Six Days Until Christmas guide walks through every night.

When do the twelve days of Christmas start?

The traditional twelve days of Christmas run from Christmas Day to January 5, the night before Epiphany. Some families count from December 26 instead. A 12 Days set also works as a countdown to Christmas Eve, so the right start date depends on how you want to use the books.

Which 12 Days of Christmas book is right for you?

• Twelve books to open one at a time: Usborne's boxset.
• The song with the whole family in it: Wonderbly's or I See Me!'s personalized book.
• A classic edition to keep: Jan Brett's hardcover, or Robert Sabuda's pop-up for a showpiece.
• A book a night your child stars in: Six Days Until Christmas.

For more Christmas books your child stars in, see our comparison of personalized Christmas books and the 2026 Christmas gift guide.

When to order for Christmas (2026 dates)

Every Magic Story book is printed to order. For Six Days Until Christmas to arrive in the US by December 18, before the first night, order by December 4 with Standard shipping or December 8 with Expedited. These dates are estimates, not guarantees, and checkout shows the estimate for your address. We haven't published order-by dates for Canada, the UK or Mexico, so check the estimate at checkout. Read will my book arrive by Christmas? for more.

Missed the countdown dates? The Night I Saved Christmas is one personalized Christmas Eve adventure, and US orders placed by December 10 (Standard) or December 14 (Expedited) are estimated to arrive by Christmas Eve.

For the other books in this guide, check the delivery dates on each seller's own site.