Reading to your children is beneficial in so many ways. During the frenetic weeks before the holidays, turning off the smartphone and reading to your kids is a great way to slow down and focus on the joy of the season and build memories with your family.

I still remember my mother reading The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore. Our copy was a beat-up hand-me-down from another family, which at one time had been a beautifully designed pop-up book. I bought a new, simpler version for our children.

I also bought them a bunch of Christmas-themed Little Golden Books. (Do they even make them anymore?) My favorite was one that existed when I was a child, Rudoph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, adapted from Robert L. May’s story by Barbara Shook Hazen, beautifully illustrated by Richard Scarry.

If you’re Christian, a book about the nativity is a must. There are literally hundreds of them out there; pick one with beautiful illustrations. Or if you can’t find one specifically about Christ’s birth, I suggest Donna Clark Goodrich’s My Rhyme-Time Bible for Little Ones.

Another classic you must read to your kids: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Did you know that Dickens also wrote The Life of Our Lord for his own children? It was published posthumously in 1934 and makes an excellent gift.

If you like to laugh out loud, I recommend The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. Any child who’s ever been in a Christmas pageant will identify, and the Herdman kids are a hoot and a half. It also gives parents a chance to talk about how to treat people who are different than us.

Need some more suggestions? I listed my eight favorite Christmas books here. (There’s some overlap, but five I didn’t mention in this article.)