Sunday, December 25, 2016

Five of the best Christmas-filled fantasy books

At the BN Kids blog, Charlotte Taylor tagged five top fantasy books full of Christmas, including:
A Boy Called Christmas, by Matt Haig

This one is a new addition to the Christmas book pile, and it’s a good one that will be around for many years to come. Before he became Father Christmas, aka Santa Claus, Nikolas was a boy living a pretty dismal life of poverty in the woods of Finland. His one toy was a doll carved by his mother out of a turnip, and since she died when he was six, the turnip has lost it freshness. When his father sets off to find the land of the elves in the far north and doesn’t come back, Nikolas runs from his unkind aunt and sets off to find him. Riding on the back of a reindeer who he has saved from death, who he names Blitzen, he reaches Elfhelm, the village of the Elves, but it has become a gloomy place, and Nikolas is not wanted. To bring joy back to Elves, Nikolas must undo the harm his father has been part of, and in so doing, Nikolas finds his own calling in life—to bring joy to all the children of the world. This is a great one to read aloud. There’s lots to chuckle at, some of it a bit irreverent (Blitzen, for instance, lets loose all over the unkind aunt while flying over her), and the many illustrations add lots to the lighthearted charm of the story.
Read about another book on the list.

See Matt Haig's ten top Christmas books.

--Marshal Zeringue