It started with a text message.
Back in 2020, my sister’s friend, a consultant with Paper Pie, let me know I could get some free books with this company. I thought, “Well, that sounds fun, I’ll grab some to give as Christmas presents and hand a few out to families in our community who could use them.”
Well, when the free books arrived at my house, it was way more than we were expecting! We had so many that we decided to share them with others. We asked my audience to nominate families all over the U.S., and we ended up sending books to 13 families that first year. Thirteen!
I remember watching my girls in our old house, filling the toy room with books, lying on the floor categorizing them, and amazed at the content. Our whole family was completely delighted by how beautiful, sturdy, and well-written all the Paper Pie books were. And they didn’t shy away from hard topics either. Divorce, terminal illness, even biology and the solar system, all woven into stories a child couldn’t put down. We were marveling at them right alongside our kids.
That first year was the spark. I remember thinking, “What if we could do this again next year? What if we could send books to even more families?” So the tradition was born.
The second year, we sent boxes to 50 families. What started as an offer for free books has become a real Christmas boxes tradition in our home, and it just keeps growing.
Why We Keep Doing It
Here’s the honest answer: it’s magical for my family. Being able to do this for other people is genuinely fulfilling, and it has become one of our favorite family service project ideas because everyone gets to play a part.
That part-to-play piece changed pretty early on. When we realized how big the project was becoming, we started inviting youth from our community to come help us box up the books, and to hand-pick books for a specific family. When a family is nominated, they share the ages of their kids and a small snippet of their story. Then our youth volunteers go shopping for them, choosing books just for that child.
Kids and teens need to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Especially around Christmas, when so much of the season points inward toward their own wish list, it is deeply rewarding for a teenager to do something for someone they’ve never met and never will. Watching that light go on for them is one of my favorite parts of the whole process.
Now that we’ve done it for several years, here’s our process:
- We encourage people to buy Paper Pie books through my link so we can get free books to give to other families.
- We collect nominations for families in need through a simple spreadsheet, open to anyone across the country.
- Our whole family sits down together for a family meeting to read through the nominations and choose who we’ll help that year.
- We invite local youth groups to come box up books and hand-pick titles for specific kids.
- The teenager who selects the books writes a card to go inside the box, because the books matter, but so does the message.
That family meeting is tender every single time. We read through story after story of families walking through genuinely hard things, and there is a big variety of hardship out there. Grief, illness, financial strain, and loss. We tear up. We cry over these families we’ve never met. And I think that’s exactly the point.
Our “Random Acts” Surprise
If you want the wildest chapter of this story, it’s the year my daughter Lucy nominated me for the TV show Random Acts, a year before she left on her mission. While she was unreachable, the producers tracked down a niece of mine, who connected them with my daughter Erin. Erin looped in my sister-in-law Julie, who brought in my husband Brian (Julie assured the producers over and over again that he could keep a secret). When they were trying to figure out what the surprise for me should be at the end, Brian told them, “She doesn’t need anything, and she doesn’t want anything, but let me tell you about her Christmas boxes…”
That’s genuinely what made them decide to feature it. They partnered with Paper Pie, who donated a HUGE number of books, and Random Acts covered the rest. For the cameras, they boxed everything up as if it were shipping out that day. (You can watch the whole episode of Random Acts HERE.) We actually took all the books home and unwrapped them so they could be hand-picked for each family! And in 2025 after that episode, we ended up sending boxes to ONE HUNDRED FORTY families. That is twice the number of families we had done in 2024. It was mind-boggling!
When the producers called me to be on the show, I genuinely thought I was just there to help spark joy in other people in my community, and I was thrilled at the prospect. So when everyone flipped the surprise on me and showed me how many people had gathered, and how many books were being donated, it was an out-of-body experience. Walking into a surprise I never saw coming felt like walking into heaven.
Learning that I had been nominated by my own daughter was so surreal, as was seeing all the people I loved who helped to pull off the surprise on the ground! Kids stayed home from school, and parents took the day off work. So many people gave up real, ordinary hours of their lives to make it all happen, and witnessing that kind of goodness toward me in one concentrated day is something I will never forget.
More Than Just Books
I know it’s just books. I’ve said that on camera before, in the Random Acts episode I was part of, and I still believe it. But a box of books is really more of a messenger. It says: you were thought of. The world is good. The universe wants to uplift you through this. That message matters.
I think it helps people want to stay in a community, and in a universe that they believe is fundamentally good. And it isn’t only the receiving families who feel that. My own team, the people who create graphics, write emails, and drive long distances just to be part of it, they are proof that people will stop their busy lives to help make something like this happen. I could NOT do this alone, and I’m endlessly grateful I don’t have to.
Going through the nominations with my kids bursts their bubble a little bit, in the best way. It gives them gratitude for what is, and it helps them recognize their own capacity to do something for someone else, simply because their own lives are blessed enough to have that capacity. I don’t think an easy life is ever the point. I think we’re each given the ability to do a lot of good, and moments like this help my kids square their shoulders and take that seriously.
Thinking About How to Give Back This Christmas?
If you’re wondering how to give back this Christmas, start small. Pick one family. Ask your kids how they think your family can help. And then roll up your sleeves and get to work!
And if you’d like to help out with my Christmas boxes this year, I would be forever grateful. Use my Paper Pie link to buy books for those you love, whether it’s for Christmas, for birthdays, or just to help you have a conversation about a hard topic. Any books purchased through this link help me get free books to send to these families!
I even have lists of my favorite books in each of the following categories:
- Books You Can Stay in for Hours
- Activity Books
- Books About Kindness
- Discovery Books
- Preschool Age Books
- Books About Emotions
- Books that Make Good Gifts
- Books About Christmas
We don’t know exactly how many families we’ll reach this year. But we already know we’ll have a family council meeting, we’ll cry over the nominations, and we’ll fill a room with books again. And honestly? We can’t wait!
If you are looking for more ideas for holiday traditions to start with your family, you’ll love these posts: