Free Christmas stories for kids
Peabody has 5 free Christmas stories for kids, from The Elves and the Shoemaker at level 3 to A Christmas Carol at level 9, including the Nutcracker as Hoffmann first wrote it. Each opens at once with no sign-up, and the two with ghosts or a Mouse King carry a spooky mark. Free through the end of 2026.
| Story | Level | Pages | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Elves and the Shoemaker | Level 3 | 12 | A poor shoemaker has only enough leather for one last pair of shoes. |
| 'Twas the Night Before Christmas | Level 3 | 15 | On the night before Christmas, a small house is fast asleep, until a clatter out on the lawn sends the father to his window. |
| The Nutcracker | Level 5 | 18 | On Christmas Eve, a girl named Marie falls in love with a nutcracker doll that nobody else wants to look after. |
| The Gift of the Magi | Level 9 | 13 | On Christmas Eve, Della Young has one dollar and eighty-seven cents with which to buy a present for her husband Jim, and the only treasures the couple own are her long hair and his gold watch. |
| A Christmas Carol | Level 9 | 14 | On Christmas Eve, the stingiest man in London is visited by the ghost of his old partner, rattling in chains, and then by three spirits. |
Where these stories come from
'Twas the Night Before Christmas is Peabody's retelling of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", in short plain sentences, keeping only its two most famous lines in their original words. The Nutcracker is retold from E. T. A. Hoffmann's story of 1816, long before the ballet, so its characters are Hoffmann's. Every story's page says who first told it and when. Stories marked spooky have a ghost, a monster or a tense night; read the first page yourself if you are not sure.
Winter stories too
Not every winter story is about Christmas. These are snowy or wintry, and open to read the same way:
- Lou and the Snow Dad (level 1): Lou makes a snow Dad with a big hat and a scarf, and the real Dad comes out to look.
- The Run to Nome (level 3): A true story about the winter of 1925.
- Snow White and Rose Red (level 4): Two sisters, one with hair as white as snow and one with cheeks as red as roses, share their home with their mother.
- The Snow Fort Treaty (level 5): Milo has seen snow exactly once, and Ruby builds a wall in it every winter that falls down every winter.
- The Selfish Giant (level 6): The children play in the Giant's beautiful garden every afternoon, until the Giant comes home and builds a high wall to keep them out.
- The Winter Count (level 12): Kit finally gets to join her mother's winter animal-track count, secretly hoping to fill a lynx column that has been empty for forty years.
Reading them over the holidays
The stories run from levels 3 to 9, so there is one for most ages: a grown-up can read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas aloud to the youngest children, and a confident reader can take the longer ones alone. Every story is free and opens at once, so none needs setting up the night before.
More free stories
- The whole library: free stories by reading level, no account needed.
- Classic stories retold short: fables, fairy tales, myths and legends.
- Free Halloween and spooky stories for kids
- Free short bedtime stories for kids
- Free classic fairy tales for kids
- By level: Level 3 · Level 5 · Level 9
Questions parents ask
Which Christmas story is easiest to start with?
The Elves and the Shoemaker (level 3) and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (level 3) are the easiest here, and either reads aloud in a few minutes.
Are the Christmas stories scary?
Most are not. The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol carry the spooky mark, one for a Mouse King and one for the ghosts. Stories marked scary or horror are not in the open library at all.
Do the stories cost anything?
No. Every story on this page is free to read through the end of 2026, with no account and no card.
Checked against how Peabody works on 19 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher.