Cover art by Jan Pieńkowski, published by Walker Books, 2004, ISBN: 978-0744557801
The First Noël by Jan Peińkowski is the most beautiful work of paper engineering which tells the Nativity story in very few words but encourages a sense of awe and wonder at the story through delicate artwork and craftsmanship. The paper engineering of this edition, based on Jan Peińkowski’s artwork, is by Helen Balmer with Lois Bulow Osborne.
The book contains 5 double pages which open up to produce a paper-cut tableau from the Christmas story, with lots of detail to discuss as you share the book with young children.
When the book has been read, it can be opened out completely and the covers tied back with the integrated ribbon, so that it becomes a star-shaped carousel decoration for the Christmas season.
This book was originally given to one of my children as a Christmas gift, and has been treasured on the bookshelves for many years!
Cover image by Emily Sutton, published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2017, ISBN: 978-1526603678
One Christmas Wish already has the feel of a classic Christmas book, despite only being published in 2017. The beautiful, full-colour illustrations on every page have a slightly vintage feel, and the whimsical story is perfect for sharing with primary school children.
Theo might as well be home alone, as his teenage babysitter has fallen asleep at the kitchen table, while mum and dad are out for the evening. He wishes on a shooting star to be ‘un-alone’ and all of a sudden four ancient Christmas tree decorations spring to life to keep him company! Just how many adventures can a boy have with a very hungry rocking horse, a robin who needs singing lessons, a flightless angel and a tin soldier?
Katherine Rundell has crafted a gorgeous story filled with ironic humour and the artwork by Emily Sutton has the same delicately constructed feel as the text. They work perfectly together in this timeless tale of Christmas magic and wonder, which would make a lovely Christmas gift for a child aged 5-10.
Cover image by Harry Woodgate, published by Farshore, 2021, ISBN: 978-0755503681
The school Christmas holidays are a marvellous opportunity to curl up with a good book, and what better for fans of detective mysteries than an anthology of short stories from some of the finest contemporary authors of children’s fiction? Today I am giving a shoutout to a book which was published a few years ago now, but retains its ability to entertain and test the problem solving skills of middle grade readers.
The Very Merry Murder Club contains thirteen tales of mystery and/or murder, all set during the festive season. Of course, being a collection of short stories, many children will be inclined to seek out their favourite author(s) first and not necessarily read the stories in order. However, for those who do like to start at the very beginning, the first story, Shoe-Dunnit by Elle McNicoll, sets a perfectly snowy scene at a Scottish hotel, where the daughter of the hotel owners has to use her acute observation skills to solve the murder of a famous guest.
Other stories set in the snowy UK are It’s Snow Crime by Roopa Farooki, featuring her beloved mini-medic, twin investigators, Ali and Tulip; Scrabble and Murder by Nizrana Farook featuring a family stuck in a blizzard on the journey to visit their Grandmother for Christmas; Ice and Fire by Joanna Williams – an atmospheric historical fiction set during the London Frost Fair of December 1776. Silent Night by Serena Patel is a brilliant, wintery, child-oriented version of Rear Window. I think this is my favourite of all the stories. Arjun is stuck at home recovering from a tonsillectomy and spends his time observing the neighbours to deflect from the boredom. When he becomes convinced that he has witnessed a neighbour disposing of a dead body, he is determined to solve the mystery and takes dramatic action. No Piste for the Wicked by E.L. Norry takes the snowy action to a school ski trip in the Italian mountains, where one teacher begins behaving suspiciously and is found dead on the ski slope the following morning. Only Luca, with his vast experience of human behaviour, observed from the many homes in which he has been fostered, has the understanding to solve the mystery.
Not all of the mysteries feature murder. In The Beast of Bedleywood by Annabelle Sami, siblings Rumi and Tamsin solve two mysteries and gain a surprise extra present. The Christmas Heist by Abiola Bello, is a tale of skulduggery and rivalry between two dance troupes. Cool for Cats by Patrice Lawrence is a contemporary family mystery wrapped around a cat-sitting story. It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief is a twisty heist story written by Maisie Chan, with a fun plot featuring the kidnap of a famous cat burglar which threatens to ruin the Christmas celebrations of her family! The Frostwilds by Dominique Valente is a fantasy story with a mythical quality, while The Ticking Funhouse by Benjamin Dean is a very creepy tale set in a neglected fun fair attraction. The collection concludes with The Coven at Christmas by Sharna Jackson, a mystery set in a remote community on the Cornish coast, which builds to a tense denouement.
This varied selection really does provide something for everyone, most of the stories are about 30 pages long, providing the perfect reading length, and exercise for the little grey cells, to enjoy between Christmas activities. I love the diverse representation of characters, families and settings which make this a wonderfully inclusive collection. Primary and secondary school libraries should definitely ensure that this is on offer in their Christmas collections, and it would make an excellent Christmas gift for children aged 9 to early teens.
I will be forever grateful to my secondary school English teacher who introduced me to the works of Jane Austen through an analysis of Mr Collins’ proposal to Elizabeth Bennet; it sparked a life-long love of Austen’s novels, some of which I have read multiple times since that first reading of Pride & Prejudice at age 14. I am always overjoyed when I find books written for children, which might spark their interest in further exploring her works, at a later age when they can access her sparkling wit and social commentary. Therefore, on the date which marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, I want to present a short round-up of middle grade books that I’ve discovered over the past few years.
Firstly, because it is appropriately seasonal, The Christmas Wish-tastrophe by Cariad Lloyd, published in hardback in 2024 (and published in paperback in 2025 under the new title of Lydia Marmalade and the Christmas Wish). This book is magical, funny and charming and contains many references to Pride and Prejudice, it is illustrated by Ma Pe. It is eminently suitable for independent readers aged 8 years and above, and I would also imagine would be a delight for adult fans of Jane Austen to share with children in the classroom or at home. You can find my review here.
Next two excellent, historical, detective mystery novels written by Julia Golding, which feature the young Jane Austen using her razor-sharp observational skills to unravel mysterious occurrences. These stories are perfect for middle grade readers aged 9 years plus who are fans of historical mysteries by authors such as Katherine Woodfine, Robin Stevens and Sufiya Ahmed. You can click on the links to read my reviews for Jane Austen Investigates The Abbey Mystery and Jane Austen Investigates The Burglar’s Ball.
Finally, the publisher Hachette Children’s Books commissioned some top-rated children’s authors to retell the original Jane Austen novels in language accessible for middle grade readers, in the Awesomely Austen series. My absolute favourite is Katherine Woodfine’s version of Pride and Prejudice, which is beautifully illustrated by Églantine Ceulemans. This book brings all the wit and vivacity of the original to life for a young audience, includes many of the key lines from the original, and additionally contains endnotes providing some period detail and a short biography of Jane Austen. I would have loved this at age 10, and I love it still at considerably older! Also available in the Awesomely Austen series are:
Jane Austen’s Emma rewritten by Katy Birchall
Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility rewritten by Joanna Nadin
Jane Austen’s Persuasion rewritten by Narinder Dhami
Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park rewritten by Ayisha Malik
Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey rewritten by Steven Butler
Each book in the series is illustrated by Églantine Ceulemans.
Published 2019 by The British Library, ISBN: 978-0712352796
This wonderful anthology of Christmas tales is a perfect collection for busy teachers, parents and carers, and children to dip into for bite-sized chunks of seasonal wonder, in between all the activities which seem to fill December. The carefully curated selection of short stories, poems or extracts from longer books, put together by Anna James, provides something for every taste. In her introduction she points out that some of the extracts have been included because they have a snowy, wintery setting and the content points to “the spirit of Christmas – kindness and taking care of those around us.”
The book is divided into five parts:
Father Christmas
The Magic of Christmas
Family Celebrations
The Gift of Giving
Christmas Spirit
The first item dates from 1823; the classic poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore, there are stories and letters written by many well-known authors from the Victorian and Edwardian periods and more recent stories and extracts from works by contemporary authors, Kes Gray, Swapna Haddow, Michael Morpurgo and Matt Haig. The range of imagination celebrated in this book is immense, and will entertain young readers (or listeners) as well as conjuring up some nostalgia for older consumers. I was delighted to find extracts from a number of stories that I had previously enjoyed reading both as a child myself as well as to my own children. Particular highlights for me were Chapter 6 from The Phoenix and the Carpet which rekindled childhood memories, and Chapter 1 from A House at Pooh Corner by A A Milne, In Which a House is Built at Pooh Corner for Eeyore (which I have probably read aloud more than a hundred times). The moment when Piglet says “Only warmer” to explain the position of Eeyore’s house makes me smile every single time I read it!
I think that this is a charming book to gift to a child, and I would also imagine that school librarians and classroom teachers would find it a valuable addition to their collections at this time of year.
Cover image by Katie Kear, published by Usborne, 9 November 2023, ISBN: 978-1801315111
Jenny Pearson has built a reputation in the middle grade books market for her talent of creating stories which combine laugh-out-loud humour with genuine heartfelt emotion and this Christmas story is a wonderful demonstration of her skill. Readers are likely to chuckle through the majority of this warm-hearted story of a traditional Nativity play, and then find their eyes welling up at certain moments, the content of which I will not disclose as I don’t want to spoil the story for those who have not read it yet.
The story is recounted in the first person voice of 11-year-old Oscar, who, with his 5-year-old sister Molly, and Mum and Dad, have been commanded to spend Christmas at the stately home of Dad’s parents, aka Lord and Lady Cuthbert-Anderson. Mum has always tried her best to avoid Christmas with the in-laws, mainly because Grandmother, Araminta (Minty) directs a very ambitious Nativity play in the village church and insists that all the family take starring roles in the production. This year however, Mum has run out of excuses and there is word that Grandfather is sick, so the family make the trek from the Midlands to Chipping Bottom in Hampshire to join Dad’s extended family for the holiday.
On the first night at Barlington Hall, Oscar sees a bright flash in the sky followed by the sound of a crash. He and Molly go out to the fields to investigate and are hugely surprised by the discovery of a discombobulated Angel Gabriel. It turns out that he overdid his “announcing” role 2000-odd years ago, and has somehow transported Mary, Joseph, a donkey, Balthazar and a shepherd called Steve, forward in time and to a destination rather far from Bethlehem. What’s more, he has lost his companions en route to Hampshire and now needs to enlist the help of Oscar and Molly to save Christmas! The story that follows combines Araminta’s efforts to ensure that the 100th anniversary production of the Chipping Bottom Nativity is the best ever performance, with Oscar and Molly’s quest to round up the participants from the original Nativity so that they can be transported back to Bethlehem. The resulting crossed-wires, subterfuge and mix-ups are very funny indeed.
This tale has a lovely underlying theme of a family drawing closer together; the bonding that occurs over the course of the story is beautifully constructed. I really loved the multi-generational links as well as the sibling relationships and the very moving depiction of the love built up over a long marriage between the grandparents. I think that Operation Nativity would be an ideal book for adults and children to read together, it is also perfect for independent readers aged 9+. There are delightful greyscale illustrations by Katie Kear throughout the book and she has also decorated the chapter titles (which are puns on Christmas carols and songs) with baubles, lights and greenery.
This book was my own purchase and I would recommend it to everyone building a collection of Christmas stories for children.
Cover image by Lauren Child, Published by Simon & Schuster, 9 October 2025, ISBN: 978-1398542792
A new Charlie and Lola picture book, published 25 years after the first tale of these delightful siblings appeared, is definitely worth celebrating. I Am Wishing Every Minute for Christmas beautifully captures that childhood longing for Christmas Day to arrive, with every minute seeming to last for an eternity in the lead up to the main event. As with the other books in the series, the story is told by big brother Charlie and starts with the familiar lines
I have this little sister Lola.
She is small and very funny.
We then hear about the many ways that Lola expresses her excitement about Christmas. Her anticipation starts to build from the moment that the trees begin dropping their leaves in the autumn, so Charlie has his work cut out as he relates the various ways that he tries to distract Lola from her impatience. There is not a huge amount of text, but it wonderfully demonstrates the two children’s personalities. Charlie is the kindest of big brothers and provides all kinds of practical, pre-Christmas activities for Lola, including inventive use of their Advent calendar. Lola has a huge imagination and the most adorably quirky speech patterns, showcased magnificently as she longs for the arrival of the big day.
The joy of this book, along with all of the previous stories in the series, is the alchemy that author/illustrator, Lauren Child, conjures on every page with her amalgamation of characters, playful typography (which seems to wander around the page with the same freedom as Lola’s thinking) and distinctive illustration style which combines drawings with collage. The drawings look deceptively simple, but they convey so much expression. Every page contains so many little details and is so visually striking, that both adults and children will want to revisit the book endlessly. If you know of a young child who is finding the build up to Christmas slightly overwhelming, sit down with them and share this book, so that they can enjoy the Advent anticipation in the charming company of Charlie and Lola.
Cover image by Nick Sharratt, published by Red Fox, 2009, ISBN: 978-1862304970
As you can probably guess from the battered state of the front cover, Daisy and the Trouble With Christmas was a much loved and frequently re-read book in this house! It is a delightfully funny tale for children who are just gaining confidence in reading independently, and the storyline of participation in a school Christmas play will be familiar to many readers and any adults with whom they might share this book.
According to Daisy, the trouble with Christmas is that it is just too exciting. As if writing to Santa wasn’t exciting enough, Daisy has been cast as Mary’s helper in the Nativity play and will be performing in front of the whole school and loads of parents and other family members. Unfortunately, Daisy’s mounting excitement causes a slight disaster during the performance…but it really wasn’t her fault. After all, it was Mrs Peters who told her to cradle and rock the baby Jesus before handing him to Mary. So really it should be Mrs Peters who has to report to the headteacher’s office, not Daisy!
The entire story is narrated by Daisy, and Kes Gray does a magnificent job of capturing the voice of a Key Stage 1 child as the tension builds to reveal the dramatic events on stage. You just can’t help but love Daisy’s view of her world; the story is charming and absolutely hilarious. I love that this book (along with all the others in the series) is printed in a large, simple font, with plenty of white space around the text and has loads of cute illustrations (by Garry Parsons) breaking up the text. I cannot recommend this illustrated, early-reader highly enough for children aged 6-8 to enjoy during December.
Cover image by Alex T Smith, published by Harper Collins, October 2023, ISBN: 978-0008496081.
A perfect book to read when the first frosts appear in the run up to Christmas, The Miraculous Sweetmakers – The Frost Fair took my breath away! It is a book which I bought several years ago after reading gushing reviews by many blogging friends, but as with many books which I actually buy myself, it kept on slipping down the TBR stack due to the number of books that I am sent by publishers.
There were many aspects of this middle grade novel that I enjoyed. Firstly, it is beautifully written in a style and rhythm that just compelled me to read one more chapter even when my eyes were drooping with tiredness. The historical setting of the London borough of Southwark during the Great Frost of 1683, had clearly been deeply researched, and provided a fascinating and authentic backdrop to a tale of mystery and magic. Layered into the fantasy plot was a sophisticated and subtle exploration of grief, mental health and the ability of females to manage their own livelihood during a period of history when women could be carted off to Bedlam to be treated like circus exhibits by the medical professionals of the day. As a librarian who works in an NHS library, I am always happy to find books which highlight both mental and physical health issues, because they can provide readers with the vocabulary to discuss their own health. One of the main protagonists in this book, Thomasina, loses her twin brother to an asthma attack in the first chapter, and also suffers from ‘the wheeze’ herself, and early treatments for this illness are described when Thomasina befriends Anne who is training as an apothecary. I loved this element of medical history running through the storyline.
After the death of Arthur, her twin, Thomasina lives a life wracked by a combination of guilt and grief. Her mother has taken to her bed and become a silent ghost in the house, while her father continues to run the family sweet making business but has lost all of his previous joy. Thomasina helps with the business and tries to take care of her mother, but life is harsh and lonely, until the Thames freezes over and the local merchants of Southwark decide to take their business out onto the ice. For Thomasina, the Frost Fair brings two opportunities. She meets Anne, who works in her uncle’s apothecary shop, and with whom she begins to create sweets with healing ingredients, the two girls building a firm friendship as they develop their business. Secondly, she is visited by a spectre who leads her to the Other Frost Fair, where she encounters the mysterious Father Winter, who offers her a deadly bargain. Will the offer to raise her brother from the dead prove too tempting to refuse? Will Thomasina’s friends, Anne and Henry, be able to save her from the fate of the Frost Folk? And can anything be done to save Thomasina’s mother from her deep melancholy? This glittering adventure will sweep readers through an ice-covered landscape to the answers.
The Miraculous Sweetmakers – The Frost Fair is a perfect book to snuggle up with during the winter months, and would make an ideal Christmas present for children aged 9+. I am kicking myself that I waited so long to pick it up from my bookshelf, my consolation being that there is a second book in the series ready for me to enjoy. This is definitely a book that I would place firmly in the ‘reading for pleasure’ category, and I should mention that throughout the book there are beautifully atmospheric illustrations by Alex T Smith. It is a frosty adventure to warm the heart.
Published by Puffin Books, 11 September 2025, ISBN: 978-0241429952
A Stocking Full of Spies is the third middle grade novel in The Ministry of Unladylike Activity by Robin Stevens. It is set during December 1941, with most of the action taking place at Bletchley Park, and for those readers like me who love to settle down with a cosy crime mystery during the Christmas season, it is a perfect seasonal entertainment.
As with all of her previous novels (I will include some links to my reviews at the end of this post), Robin Stevens combines meticulously researched historical detail with a brilliantly plotted murder mystery that makes the book almost impossible to put down. I have seen this author often described as the ‘Agatha Christie’ of the middle grade market, in my opinion, she has certainly heralded a golden age of MG cosy crime, and in this novel I detect the influence of Patricia Highsmith. I suspect that many young readers will smile in recognition later in their reading journeys when they read some of the adult golden age crime mysteries. This story is recounted through the diary entries and case notes of the three tween protagonists, May Wong, Fionnuala O’Malley and Eric Schlossbauer, who find themselves working a messengers at Bletchley Park as cover for their latest WOE mission. There has been a suspicious death at the Park and there are indications that Bertie Wells the older brother of Daisy Wells (from the Murder Most Unladylike series which predated this series) has been framed for murder. When a second death occurs and all clues point to Bertie, their mission to detect the real murderer becomes even more urgent.
For fear of giving away spoilers, or ruining anyone’s enjoyment of the sophisticated plot, I will not discuss too many details here. There is a lovely map of Bletchley Park, created by Sophia Watts, at the front of the book, to help young readers track the locations as the action unfolds. I enjoyed the way that the local environment of the main mystery was placed in the wider geographical context of the Second World War, and the impact that world events had on different characters in the novel. This is literally the first time that I have read a book about WWII that mentions the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong (the home of May and Hazel Wong). I am hoping that my reading of the ending of the book means that a subsequent story might provide more insight into the war time experiences of Hong Kong residents.
At the end of the book there is an interesting essay by the author providing details about her inspiration for this novel and some analysis of the workforce at Bletchley Park through the lens of modern-day understanding of neurodiversity. I applaud the way that Robin Stevens always ensures that her books display kind understanding of minoritised groups and encourage inclusive behaviour. A Stocking Full of Spies is an essential book to add to primary and secondary school library collections, and one that I would recommend to any adults seeking to buy a book that youngsters aged 10+ will want to read for pleasure.
This book was my own purchase, not only do I have the sprayed edge edition, but I was also fortunate that Robin Stevens visited a local bookshop on her publication tour, so I was able to get a dedicated and signed copy to add to the ‘Bookshelves’ collection!
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