Update Nov. 29th 2023: I’m reposting this mostly as is, as my favourite Advent books haven’t really changed! I’ve added a note at the end with a very few additions.
The leaves are only just really falling but I’m planning Advent early this year. Last year, too flattened by pregnancy and dismayed by lockdowns and loneliness, I found myself unable to sustain the watchfulness I so desired. There are seasons, there really are seasons and sometimes God knows that the most needed thing is just to keep breathing. But this year, I am so excited to engage afresh with this special season in the church year, one that, in many ways, most poignantly explores our grittiest realities and our deepest hopes. Advent allows us to really acknowledge, to mourn and confront the huge darkness that haunts our lives in the fallen world. But Advent also beckons us, commands us, even, to follow the great light, to search down the star that has suddenly broken in upon the shadowlands. There is a sort of gentle imperative to this season, an invitation to deeply consider the true nature of our breathing, hungering selves here on earth.

And oh, I need it. My heart needs the sojourn and the watchfulness; I need to learn afresh what it means to watch, to wait, to listen with expectation, to hush the many-voiced world so that I can hear the one voice singing that ancient song of healing into the shadowlands here.

I have always found, though, that I need help in being quiet, in keeping watch. I need the scaffolding, the companionship, the hand outstretched to steady me by image, word, poem, and art. The resources below are books, studies, anthologies, and stories I’ve used for years. I pretty much republish this post every year, so if you’ve followed me for awhile, you’re sure to recognise the old favourites. But I add a few new ones as I can and I’m adding in the new books I’m finding to use with my little ones as I go.

I should also mention that I will be hosting an Advent retreat this year. I hosted my first one last year and, despite the collapse of my bookshelf halfway through, I found such joy in cultivating a space of prayer and community and beauty as a sort of wayside chapel from which to begin Advent. That’s how I picture it, this retreat, a chapel with candles lit and a voice speaking comfort from the kindly shadows. I want to offer beauty, courage, companionship as the pilgrim season of Advent begins. This year, I’ve found a new live event platform and am so delighted to be able to create a real retreat of four separate sessions. I’ll be hosting four sessions in the first week of Advent, exploring the themes of yearning, annunciation, preparation, and welcome. The sessions will be live video events, but the videos will be available indefinitely so you could watch them each day or save them to watch one per week. Each session will also include a set of notes with discussion questions and resources for further exploration of the topic. Go HERE to find out more or register for the retreat.

(NOTES:
Go to the end of the post to see the list of resources I’m using this year with my children.
There are affiliate links in this post. Most, presently, go to Amazon as I haven’t had time to change them all, but I’m creating a bookshop storefront on Bookshop.org where you can find many of the titles listed here and your purchase will support small, independent booksellers. I’m slowly changing all my links to redirect to Bookshop.org instead of Amazon.
Go HERE to find most of the titles below in one list on Bookshop.org. )

My Advent Companions

Watch for the Light

I first found this years back when one of its most arresting passages was quoted in a daily Advent devotional I received by email. Having found these words - But round about the horizon the eternal realities stand silent in their age-old longing. There shines on them already the first mild light of the radiant fulfillment to come. From afar sound the first notes as of pipes and voices - I hungered for more of the same. And my hunt led me back to this collection of stirring Advent contemplations, one a day through Epiphany. For a book that sets you in the strong, clear light of Advent as a season of preparation, even of penitence, this is the best. The readings here aren't meant to evoke nostalgia or even comfort (yet), but to help a reader come wide awake, to take account, to consider what it is she hopes and what the coming of that hope means to the here and now. For 'preparing a way for the Lord' in my heart in this season, this book has long been a brave and resourceful companion.

God with Us, edited by Greg Pennoyer and Gregory Wolfe

This book is a luminous companion, prepared by the faithful and creative minds behind the literary Image Journal. This book offers carefully selected pieces of art, daily Scripture readings and prayers, and daily Advent devotionals, each week written by a different Christian writer or pastor. This is an ideal Advent devotional book as it offers a compact but rich contemplation, short enough for a snatched quiet time, but rich enough in image and idea to shape one's thoughts for the whole day. It's a world of a book, a twilit, contemplative, Advent world.

The Art of Advent: A Painting a Day from Advent Through Epiphany by Jane Williams

This book is just out, and I ordered a copy the minute I found it. It’s little, which means it fit in my bag for an overnight weekend with ease, but it contains a collection of art to startle and hush, to demand attention and aid contemplation, with reflections by Jane Williams, an author and podcaster known here in England. I am so excited to savor this book and have already loved the first reading, themed on light and darkness, centred on Blake’s startling image of the Ancient of Days.

Waiting on the Word, by Malcolm Guite

Poetry, as Owen Barfield insightfully claimed, can bring about 'a felt change of consciousness', a process that I think is at the heart of Advent celebrations and one that is masterfully crafted for a reader in this collection of Advent poems by Malcolm Guite. Guite's Lent collection has been my companion for the past two years, and the Advent one is a new favourite. Guite doesn't just give you a poem to read, he guides you into the heart of the woven words, words that can truly shift your sight from boredom to wonder, from discontent to thanks, from discouragement to a newly-kindled hope. Combined with his own radiant sonnets, this book is a gift of lyrical beauty and devotional quiet.

Wounded in Spirit: Advent Art and Meditations by David Bannon

I’ve come to love this quiet, grieved, book of hopeful pilgrimage. Written by a man who lost his daughter, it bears the depth of Advent’s darkness; the long shadows in which we sit with questions and a torturous quiet. It’s very hushed, there is nothing triumphal about it and at moments, it can be bleak as it allows you to sit with the grief you may find in this season. But it is richly beautiful and it thrums with a real and quiet hope as it explores the art that emerged from the darkness in the lives of different creators. What does it mean to hope, to reach forward, to walk in faith while still in the darkness? This Advent resource leads us into that faithful way.

Haphazard by Starlight by Janet Morley

This is a similar collection to Guite's, one I have just discovered. It comes highly recommended by my tutor here at Oxford, and we are using some of the poems listed within for an Advent poetry discussion group. I love the way this book introduces me to poems I would never have discovered on my own. And, I mean, the title. Splendid thing.

Advent with Evelyn Underhill, compiled and edited by Christopher Webber

I make no secret of my love for Evelyn Underhill. Her confident, motherly voice in writing, not to mention her excellent scholarship on contemplative prayer and Christian mysticism, has shaped my devotional life in countless ways. This collection of daily Advent readings has been culled from her many devotional works. These are short, accessible, luminous and for me, powerfully formative readings you could peruse in a spare 5-minutes. I've taken this book along to the airport to read in the waiting area and the pithy, wondrous tone always startles my soul awake even in the midst airport craze.

The Reed of God by Carol Houselander

This gentle meditation on Mary’s response and role in opening her life to the coming of Christ has deeply convicted and encouraged me. Devotional in tone, creative, a book to help a reader excavate his or her heart in the shadowland season of Advent.

The Glorious Impossible text by Madeleine L’Engle, OR The Nativity, text by Geraldine Eischner, art (in both) by Giotto

Every Christmas of my childhood, Giotto’s art arrested my eye in this book, brought out only for the Christmas season. The gentle or awed or anguished faces, the faded gold, the strange figures embodying a story I knew well, making it new and strange, and yet closer again… I have encountered few pieces of art that so capture the ache and wonder, the pain and passion of Christ's coming into this world. I think that art arrests the mind in a different way than words, allowing our eyes a fixed contemplation in which our imaginations 'see' the story of Christ afresh. In the book I grew up with, Madeleine L’Engle’s lovely prose accompanied the pictures and if you can get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend it. The contemporary (and in print) version by Geraldine Eischner is good too.

A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith

I love to steep my little ones in different illustrated tellings of the Christmas story and journey and in addition to the title below, this gorgeously illustrated book is one of our favourites to explore. The renaissanceish beauty and contemporary whimsy of it is amazing. It’s so lovely.

The Nativity by Julie Vivas

Lilian received this as a christening gift (I think) and I have been absolutely enchanted with it. Just the simple, Bible text recounting the story of the annuncation and of Jesus’ birth, yet with illustrations so magical I find myself smiling as I read. The sweeping, earthy, humorous images in their gangly contours, the lively, joyous faces, the delight of seeing the annunciation depicted as Mary and the angel sitting at a table over coffee, I just love the humanity and humor of this story and the true, pure wonder it conveys at the same time.

I Saw Three Ships by Elizabeth Goudge

I only grow in my love of good short stories. This one, in a simple, tightly woven little tale manages to tug hard at every hopestring in your heart, combine childhood Christmas delight with grown-up yearning, and bring it all to an end that, I must admit, brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it. It's a gem of a story, an emerald gem, bright with all the life of Christmas if you ask me.

A Christmas Book also by Elizabeth Goudge

A collection of Christmas short stories, some excerpted from her longer novels, some written purposefully for the book. I love that I can sit down for half an hour with a cup of tea and finish a whole, small tale that yet makes me feel I’ve sojourned in a good, spiritually nourishing place. The lively and eccentric characters, the humour, the spice of mystery, the presence of the sacramental in the lovely, all the usual goodness of Goudge comes as a gift in these small stories.

Home for Christmas edited by Miriam LeBlanc, illustrated by David Klein

I’ve so enjoyed the stories in this reissued hardback collection of short stories from the lovely Plough Publishing. Brief, very read-aloudable tales by authors I adore such as Elizabeth Goudge. Poignant, tender, lovely.

Christmas in my Heart by Joe Wheeler

Joe Wheeler is one of the best and oh so dearly beloved anthologists we have in the States and I was deeply privileged to have him for a mentor. I love these Christmas books, collections he has culled from the reading of thousands of old books. My family used to read these aloud in the evenings during Advent season… and we might have had bets on how quickly mom would tear up. Now I’m the one tearing up… they are sweet, funny, good, family-affirming, old-fashioned tales to enrich the season.

The Silent Bells by William MacKellar

A lovely friend sent me this book last year and it has joined my stack of favorite Advent short stories. Set in the Swiss Alps, named for a set of cathedral bells that have never been heard but are prohesied to ring with the coming of a certain gift at the Christmas Eve service, the book is the tale of little girl's generous heart. It's a dear story, one that stirred my heart. I look forward to reading this to Lilian. 

Midwinter Carols v. 2 by Joel Clarkson

My wondrous brother Joel just released an album of tender, lively, oh so richly woven but oh so quietly rendered carols for Advent and Christmas. I’ve had this album on repeat in the last days with Lilian and it brings such a subtle, rich beauty to our moments.

Celtic Christmas Spirit by Caroline Peyton
While this isn't strictly 'Advent' music, I find the haunting quality and some of the more ancient carols in this collection help me stand aside from commercial, contemporary Christmas and engage with Advent. I haven't found anything quite like this collection of Celtic Christmas music. Granted, my taste for the lilting and haunting runs strong, but there is a wonder and glory in this that I savour.

Behold the Lamb of God, by Andrew Peterson

Ah, this is an excellent journey of music, one that draws you into the high drama of angels and the sweet, low folksy drama of the stable in songs you will find yourself singing under your breath throughout the season. Andrew Peterson's storytelling in song, his grasp of the storied nature of faith, has made his music among my favourite for many years, but this album, inviting you to 'behold the Lamb of God' is one that has enriched my Advent journey in countless ways.

The Promise: A Celebration of Christ's Birth, by Michael Card

I grew up on these sweet, sweeping, and to me, rather haunting contemplations on the coming of the Christ child. Michael Card's music has companioned me lifelong, and I love it for its scriptural depth, its engagement with the whole of the Bible's narrative, combined with its richly imaginative lyrics. From the prophetic and dramatic tones of the opening song The Promise, this album progresses through the Christmas story through the eyes of the different people caught up in its glory. Whether in Mary's lullaby-like tune and aching wonder, or Joseph's awed contemplation (how can it be?), I find this album touches my heart with a quieted sense of worship.

Midwinter Night's Dream by Loreena McKennit.

Loreena's music has been beloved of my heart since I was a small child and heard her haunting setting to tune of a Yeats poem. The lilting quality of her voice, her love for the Celtic, her re-rendering of the old folk tunes I always wished I could discover make her a musical companion for all seasons. But I especially savor this collection and play it often in the Advent season, a gathering of more traditional hymns, carols, and yuletide songs whose lyric and melody evoke a feeling of wonder for me. 

Handel's Messiah, by, well Handel.

I have listened to this masterpiece on repeat for the past few weeks (I need it!), but this marvelous creation is always an accompaniment to my Advent season. This is a world of a work, an epic of storied music recounting the whole history of Christ's coming, leading us prophecy by prophecy by promise, in some of the most glorious choral music the world has known, into the hallelujah heart of what Christmas truly means. Listen to this repeatedly, let the story of Scripture soak into your memory and heart and tell me if your mind isn't formed a little more to wonder each day.

Update: What I’ll Be Using with My Children
Finally, after much consultation, exploration, and many requests for ideas (if you want more for yourself, go to my Instagram post HERE to read all the wonderful input I received!) I’ve decided to begin our family Advent celebrations with the following resources (several of which I’ll wait to purchase in following years):

• I’ll have a daily Advent devotion using Ann Voskamp’s Unwrapping the Gift.

• I’ll display the art and adapt the devotions from God with Us: Advent Devotions and Art Prints at A Humble Place.

• I’m creating 24 little bags, one to open each day, each with a card (and some containing chocolates) with a phrase of Advent themed Scripture or poetry on one side, and a family activity to do on the other (i.e., make Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and a film, read-aloud, etc.).

• Eventually, I’ll purchase these delightful daily Advent Prayer Cards for use at dinner time, with a daily verse, illustration, and collect, published by the ever-beloved old Rabbit Room.

• I really love this unique, candlelit wreath as a visual way (and wondrously candlelit way) to celebrate Advent - this will be a future purchase.

• The Advent Book looks like a rich possible resource for the future.

• And I’m using an idea that many suggested, of wrapping Christmas and Advent-themed books so that the kids can unwrap one every day. Makes reading time even more delightful.

Update, 2023: I don’t have much to add, but I’m adding in this book that I’ve heard of for years and finally purchased (mostly because of the woodcut illustrations): All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss and David G. Klein. Also, I used these Advent cards created by Gayla Irwin last year and my children loved them. They’re delightful.

(Note: This post contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links)