The Snowman: what to read next

Look no further than Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Stick Man! There are also Christmassy classics like Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe which children may have seen but not read.

Mog’s Christmas by Judith Kerr is well-loved, or if you want more from Raymond Briggs, Father Christmas features a rather grumpy Santa! You could also try the Ahlbergs’ The Jolly Christmas Postman, which is full of interest for 2–4 year-olds.

Margaret Bateson-Hill and Karin Littlewood’s Leah’s Star presents a slightly different perspective on the Nativity story, whilst still including all the familiar elements.

Elsewhere, Christopher Corr’s new retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Fir Tree is full of brilliant and vivid artwork and reminds us that even the smallest of us are very important.

And Sam Hay and Helen Shoesmith’s A Cat’s Christmas Carol is a purrfect twist on a well known classic, featuring a mean cat, a deserted department store and three rather important mice.

Are your children ready to move on to slightly longer festive reads? Kids of nine upwards will adore Alex Bell’s snowy The Polar Bear Explorer’s Club, which is full of frosty adventure.

Tom Fletcher’s The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch is a delightful page-turner with plenty of fun for children aged 8+, and Winter Magic, a collection of wintry and Christmassy short stories, is just the thing for older primary kids looking for something to dip in and out of.

Now it’s your turn! You’ve read our recommendations, but which books do you think are perfect for fans of The Snowman? Maybe you’ve just found a story your children love, or remember a tale from your childhood that fits the bill perfectly.

We’ve already had some fantastic suggestions: @fechtbuch suggested Tove Jansson’s Moominland Midwinter and Matt Haig’s ​‘lovely’ A Boy Called Christmas, which he described as a ​‘great imagining of an origin story for Father Christmas’.

And over on Facebook, Lara suggested Sammy Claws the Christmas Cat by Lucy Rowland and Paula Bowles, The Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Kes Gray and Claire Powell and Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht.

Those are some of our ideas – but what about you? What do you love reading?

Let us know by messaging us on social media @BookTrust using the hashtag #WhatToReadAfter