Jolabokaflod (jólabókaflóð in Icelandic) is Iceland’s “Christmas book flood”: a rush of new books before Christmas, given on Christmas Eve and read that same evening. To start your own, give everyone in the family one book after tea on 24 December, open them together and read before bed, then do the same again every year.
That’s really all there is to it, and you don’t need a pile of new books or a party. It works whether you’re reading to a baby on your knee or sitting next to an eight year old who’d rather read alone. For the present itself, our guide to giving a personalised story book this Christmas has ideas for children from 0 to 9.
The short version
- Give everyone one book on Christmas Eve, grown-ups included.
- Open them after tea, so there’s time to read before bed.
- Read straight away, together with the little ones.
- Put the year and a line from you in the front.
- Do it again next Christmas Eve, and keep the books together.
What does Jolabokaflod mean?
Jólabókaflóð is three Icelandic words joined up: jól (Christmas), bók (book) and flóð (flood). Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson says it’s pronounced yo-la-bo-ka-flowth, with the soft “th” you hear in “this” (Penguin).
The flood is the books themselves. Icelandic publishers bring out a big wave of new titles between late September and mid-November. A catalogue of them, Bókatíðindi, goes free to every household in the country. So in Iceland the word covers the whole season, from the new books landing in the shops to the reading on Christmas Eve. It’s the Christmas Eve part we’d borrow.
How Iceland does it on Christmas Eve
Icelanders traditionally celebrate Christmas on 24 December. Families open their presents after Christmas dinner, new books among them, and then people settle down and read into the night. Penguin’s guide says there’s often a box of chocolates nearby and a glass of malt and appelsín, a mix of malt drink and orange soda.
Visit Iceland says the reading often carries on into the next day too, and that the Bókatíðindi catalogue has been sent out every year since 1944 (Visit Iceland).
Nobody’s quite sure how it began. Penguin’s guide says the word was in print by 1936. The usual story points to the Second World War, when imported goods were scarce and, Visit Iceland says, paper was one of the few things that wasn’t rationed. So books became a popular Christmas present. Whichever version is right, we think it’s a lovely idea to copy: a present you open in the evening and use straight away.
How to start your own book flood
Pick one evening, one book for each person and an hour with nothing else planned. Here’s how we’d set up your first one:
- Choose a book for everyone. One each, grown-ups included, so the children aren’t the only ones reading. It can be new, second-hand or swapped with another family.
- Keep them hidden until Christmas Eve. Wrap them, write a name on each, and stack them somewhere small hands won’t find them. The unwrapping is half the evening.
- Open them after tea. That’s late enough to feel special and early enough for a proper read before bed.
- Read straight away. This is the Icelandic bit. Read aloud to the little ones, and let older children read their own book next to you.
- Put the books on one shelf. Keep every year’s books together, and the shelf becomes a record of every Christmas Eve you’ve done this.
Twenty minutes is plenty for your first go with small children. If they’re still turning pages when it’s time for bed, you’ve got yourselves a tradition.
What a book flood looks like at 2, 5 and 8
Say you’ve got three children: Ida, who’s two, Otis, who’s five, and Mae, who’s eight. Here’s how one Christmas Eve could go.
Ida, 2. We’d give her something short and sturdy, with flaps or textures, and she’ll want it read three times in a row. Let her turn the pages and lift the flaps, even if she goes backwards. It’s her book, so she gets to drive. Ten minutes on your lap is her whole book flood, and that counts.
Otis, 5. We’d pick him a picture book with something to find on every page, so he can hunt while you read. Read it once straight through, then go back and let him point things out. If he asks for it again on Boxing Day, you chose well.
Mae, 8. She might want to read on her own. Let her, in the same room as everyone else, and ask her to read you her favourite page before lights out. A first chapter book, a joke book or a book of facts all count.
Everyone’s reading at their own level at the same time, so you’re not asking anyone to wait for a turn.
Christmas Eve traditions with a story in them
We reckon the Christmas Eve traditions that stick with young children are the small ones you can repeat every year. These five all keep a book in the middle of the evening. If you’d like a box of cosy things for the night as well, our Christmas Eve box ideas cover what goes in it. These are about the reading:
- The family copy. One Christmas book that only comes out on 24 December and goes back on the shelf on the 25th. Write the date and the reader’s name in the back each year, and by year five the children will be saying the lines with you.
- A book for Father Christmas. Leave a picture book under the tree for him to read on his break, with a note saying which page to read first. In the morning, there’s a reply tucked inside.
- A grown-up swap. Each adult wraps a book from their own shelves for another adult. That way your children see the grown-ups unwrapping books and reading them too.
- The oldest reads to the youngest. One page of the youngest’s new book, read by a big brother or sister. Hand them the book and stay quiet unless they ask for help, so it feels like theirs.
- The last page in bed. Start the book downstairs, then save the final page for when they’re tucked in, so the evening ends with the story.
Pick one or two, because a tradition you keep up for ten years beats five you try once.
Choosing the book
Any book your child will want to open that night will do. The Icelandic tradition is about new books, but a second-hand copy of something they haven’t read is new to them. If you’re stuck, our list of Christmas books picked by age runs from board books to stories you read a chapter a night.
To explain the custom to the children, there’s a picture book about it. The Christmas Book Flood by Emily Kilgore, illustrated by Kitty Moss, is from the US publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews both give it ages 4 to 8 (Publishers Weekly, 2022).
A book that’s about them is a lovely way to start, because it’s the one they’ll pull out again next Christmas Eve. You can add a message to the front of any of ours, so the year goes in with your words. Something like ‘For Otis, on our first book flood. Christmas Eve 2026. Next year you choose the snacks. Love, Mum and Dad.’ For more wording, try our page on what to write in the front of a book. If it’s going to come out every December for years, a hardcover is the one we’d keep.
Cousins in different countries can share one book flood with My Way Home. It takes each child around the world and back to their own home town and country, with versions for Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore and the USA. A cousin in Perth and a cousin in Edinburgh can open the same story on Christmas Eve, and each copy brings its reader home.
A book flood in a summer Christmas
In Australia and New Zealand, Christmas Eve falls in summer, and it may still be light at bedtime. We’d start the reading outside after tea, on a rug in the garden or at the beach, then bring it indoors for the last story in bed. Your books and the idea stay the same, and only the blanket gets lighter.
How The Kids Book Company helps
You can add a personal message to any of our books, and we print it into the front of the book for free. Put the year in it, and the first book of your book flood keeps the date for you.
Every title also has a free personalised digital edition through the Free Book Project. It’s a PDF to read on a tablet, phone or computer, made in under five minutes, with no credit card. That makes it an easy second book on the night. Teddy hides on every page of every story, so a two year old has something to hunt for while everyone else reads.
Create their free book.
Related questions
How do you pronounce Jolabokaflod?
Say it yo-la-bo-ka-flowth. The “j” sounds like the “y” in “yes”, and the “th” at the end is soft, like the one in “this”. That’s how Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson spells it out in Penguin’s guide to the tradition.
What are some unique Christmas traditions in Iceland?
Visit Iceland says Icelandic children put shoes in their bedroom window for 13 days, in the hope that the Yule Lads will leave presents. The 13 Yule Lads, their mother Grýla and the Yule Cat are a family of trolls from Icelandic folklore. Then on Christmas Eve, there’s the book flood.
Why do Icelanders read so much?
Visit Iceland points to a long history of stories. The Icelandic sagas were written down in the 13th century, and stories were told through the long, dark winters. Reykjavík has been a UNESCO City of Literature since 2011.
What are some fun Christmas traditions to start with kids?
Pick something small that you’ll still enjoy in ten years. A book each on Christmas Eve is an easy one to start. So is a family copy of one Christmas story that only comes out on the 24th. We’d also try leaving a book out for Father Christmas, with a note saying which page to read first.
