The cost Christmas teashop

by Caroline Roberts

HarperImpulse (Harper Collins), London 2014

Age group: mid-teen to adult

Format: 384 page paperback

This is actually my daughter’s book, but the title gives a Christmas link and sounded cute so I gave it a go.

The story

Ellie runs a teashop and weddings in an old castle, alongside her husband and a mixed team. The story covers their lives over a few months, including weddings, a Christmas Fayre and a Christmas wedding.

My review

I hadn’t realised it was the second book about Ellie, and the summary of the first book was a surprise – poorly written and not introduced as a summary made me wonder if it was a poor prologue!

Frankly, I think this book could be about one third shorter simply by removing the repetition! In the first fifty pages I lost count of how many times I was told Ellie had started a new tearoom and was lucky to have met the wonderful Joe. Then there was the mention of her father and brother in overalls in front of their van labelled “Hall & Son” – followed a page later with an explanation that her brother had moved into a trade like their Dad and joined the family business. I found it insulting to imply I couldn’t understand or remember anything and needed to be told it over and over.

Aside from the repetition, I found the writing very simple, over detailed and the conversation stilted.

The story itself varied between sweet romance with Ellie, Joe and their friends running a teashop and tourist castle, and humorous interactions with customers such as a Bridezilla wanting to arrive on a unicorn!

Running a Christmas Fayre followed by a special wedding, gives the story the tinsel, mince pies and Christmas cakes I enjoy. The Fayre does sound beautiful with a huge tree and lots of festive stalls inside the manor hall of an old English castle – I would enjoy being part of that!

So do I recommend it? I can’t say I would recommend this, unless you read book one and want to know more about Ellie and Joe, but it’s not bad for a light read if you can get past the repetition.

Artul’s Christmas hamper

by Richard Brown
illustrated by Paul Howard

Cambridge Readers, UK, 1996

Age group: 4 to 7 years old

Format: 24 page paperback

Another lucky find at our holiday house, this is a year one reader that originated from a school near home! My kids are above this reading level now but we still had fun reading it together.

The story

A young boy meets a hamster for the first time and is hopeful his parents are getting him one for Christmas.

My review

This is a sweet story that is actually based on a true story from 1973 when Artul Pandy was new to Cambridge (England).

When visiting a friend, Artul sees a hamster and very excitedly tells his parents how much he would love to get one for Christmas. His parents were very non-committal to this request but had some mysterious shopping trips.

Reading the book, it did seem very likely Artul would get a hamster on Christmas morning but a beginning reader book isn’t likely to have a lot of depth or complexity in the plot! Having said that, the book did have an unexpected twist for Christmas morning that added to overall enjoyment of the story (and luckily the potentially bad ending didn’t eventuate!)

Would I recommend it? For a child learning to read, this is a great Christmas story to practice with. For everyone else, it is simple but enjoyable so yes I’d say it deserves to be recognised as a good Christmas book!

Lettice’s Christmas wish

text & illustrations by Mandy Stanley

HarperCollins Children’s Books , Great Britain, 2010

Age group: 2-5 years old

Format: 32 page paperback

How happy was I to discover a Christmas book on the shelves at our latest holiday house? It may have been out of season, but my kids and I enjoyed reading it together ?

The story

A curious and brace rabbit sets off to discover Christmas.

My review

This is a cute little story that requires a certain suspension of disbelief!

Lettice is a young rabbit who can communicate with humans, wonder what Christmas is and dress but has never seen snow before.

She goes off exploring to find out what Christmas really is, eventually finding some children who show her Christmas in their house. They discuss things like decorating the house and Santa delivering gifts, which is sweet, but I was a bit uncomfortable about all their wishes coming true and the absence of ‘being with family’ and ‘sharing’ in their descriptions. That is, it may be somewhat realistic for how children think but isn’t encouraging deeper thought nor non-material warmth.

It is a happy and joyful story, including generous children, so it seems very suitable as  Christmas book.

Would I recommend it? For younger children and those who have enjoyed other Lettice books, yes this is a beautiful addition to a Christmas book collection.