8 Picture Books to Inspire Advent Service and Traditions

Happy second week of Advent!

If you enjoy seasonal picture books as much as we do, please enjoy coming along on a look back of our first week of Works of Mercy Wise Men adventures from the first week of Advent.

As is our tradition here, we've been journeying along through Advent with our Works of Mercy Wisemen getting into picture books and reminding us each day of ways we might prepare our hearts and homes for Jesus, sometimes through choosing Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy to act upon and sometimes by living our own family traditions. 

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On the first day of Advent, our Wise Men sat atop our copy of  If He Had not Come.  They had some purple markers and papers with them there at our Happy New Liturgical year breakfast table. Thus, we decided that they were hinting that we might each reflect upon our own shortcomings, think of ways we might improve ourselves in the new liturgical year, and write a commitment down.  So, we did!

On the second day of Advent, our Wise Men were rifling through our box of Jesse Tree ornaments and looking at a page in Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree. 

We decided that they were reminding us that, due to snafus the day before, we had never picked out a branch in the woods to set up as our Jesse Tree and, therefore, had not been hanging our ornaments and praying for those that made them for us.  So, after lessons and work, we made time to go find a branch just before dark.

On the third and fourth days of Advent, some crazy life happenings took over and an overnight at Grammy and Grampy's happened, so our Wise Men opted to get into our keys instead of a book, reminding us to pray for the living and the dead as we took care of commitments and quelled the rising chaos of life.

On the fifth day of Advent, it was St. Nicholas' feast day, and the children awoke to two new books and a CD set for our home library along with some small treats in their shoes.

Excited by the new books, our Wise Men decided to make up for missing the third and fourth days of Advent, and, so,split up to draw our attention to three different things.

One brought the star we always put above one of our nativity sets right up to our new copy of The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, a favorite book we used to take out of the library every year and now happily own.

My children quickly decided that Wise Man was hinting that we should make time to unwrap each of our nativity sets and to put pieces of them up around the house as a way to prepare our home for Christmas.

Another Wise Man held a Jesse Tree ornament and was looking at a copy of Jesse Tree, another book we have taken out of the library for years and now own a copy of.  

We decided this Wise Man was reminding us that we needed to catch up on reading Scripture, putting up Jesse Tree ornaments, and praying for those who made them.  So, we did.

We also went through all the Advent Chain strips we've taken down so far this Advent and put hung the ones we have acted upon on our Jesse Tree while putting the couple that we have yet to accomplish on our table as a reminder.

The final Wise Man sat atop a pile of Saint Nicholas books, including The Legend of Saint Nicholas, a different The Legend of Saint Nicholas, and Saint Nicholas.

He was surrounded by oranges, cheese, bread, paper, and scissors, so my children immediately knew that we were to make paper snowflakes and a basket to secretly gift a neighbor as have every St. Nicholas day since the year we organized a St. Nicholas playdate where we introduced this tradition.

On the sixth day of Advent, I neglected to take a picture of our Wise Men vignette. However, since the Wise Men were standing atop a copy of The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood and lugging an empty canvas shopping bag, my children decided this meant we were supposed to find clothing, shoes, or other items we no longer need to pass along to someone who could use them. 

 So, we set a timer for fifteen minutes and filled the bag as quickly as we could. Then, we immediately took a photo of what was inside the bag and posted it in several groups online to see if anyone wanted any or all of the things we'd collected.

On the seventh day of Advent, our Wise Men sat atop an image of the nativity from the beautiful The First Christmas book.  Because it was also our oldest's birthday, we knew the Wise Men were telling us to pray extra for him and to celebrate his birth.

And that brings us to today - the eighth day of Advent.

This morning the Wise Men sat among Giving Tree tags, gifts to give, and "Why We Give Gifts at Christmas" in A Child's Book of Christmas. 

The children knew it was the day we give gifts to our church's Giving Tree program for the children whose tags they'd picked off the tree the week before Advent.  They always enjoy doing this.

And, I always enjoy the pause we take (almost) daily during Advent to quiet ourselves for picture book read alouds, chatting, and deciding what Work of Mercy, virtue, or tradition we might act upon.

Our Works of Mercy Wise Men has become a beloved anchor of Advent for us as we revisit favorite picture books, read new ones, and spend time together preparing hearts and homes for Jesus.

If you'd like to read about our other Works of Mercy Wise Men ideas, please click through the images below to find some of our some past ideas.

More ideas!

May your second week of Advent be filled with service and special moments as you prepare yourself to encounter Jesus - past, present, and future - and rejoice that the Lord is near!