Pocket's Christmas Wish by Ann Bonwill and Russell Julian
| Pocket's Christmas Wish by Ann Bonwill and Russell Julian | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
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| Summary: A sweet Christmas tale with much going for it. As it doesn't oust the Christmas classics, it might be better suited for borrowing from the library, rather than a purchase. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Maybe |
| Pages: 32 | Date: September 2010 |
| Publisher: OUP Oxford | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0192728203 | |
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It's Christmas morning and Pocket the rabbit sees a snow angel on the ground. He decides to follow the angel's tracks to discover the true meaning of Christmas. He leaves his brothers and sisters playing in the snow, and off he hops on an adventure, taking in a variety of sights and sounds.
Pocket's Christmas Wish is a very sweet tale, full of smiles, heart and love. It's largely as you'd expect - Pocket learns to appreciate home comforts, the joy of sharing, laughter and song, and mostly his family. Everything stays just the right side of predictability, being accessible gently heart-warming for the very youngest book fans, but with engaging enough text to keep slightly older children (and parents) interested. As sweet as it is (even for a Christmas book) it steers clear of being cloying. It's light-hearted sweetness, rather than truly tapping in to deep, deep emotions, but the mood of the book sits comfortably with the reader.
Russell Julian's illustrations are ideal for the text. Pocket is a cute little bunny, and the wintry scenes have you looking forward to playing in the snow. They're good, solid picture book illustrations, ticking all the right boxes and ably supporting the story. Much like the text, it would be very easy to go overboard with the cuteness and losing the audience in the process, but everything feels appropriately pitched.
Christmas books can be tricky - they're unlikely to be read all year round, and come Christmas itself, only a handful of true classics really get taken down from the bookshelf and read. If viewed in isolation, there'd be much to appreciate in Pocket's Christmas Wish, but I'm not sure how many people will go for it as a first or second choice. It's still well worth a look, perhaps borrowing it from the library.
My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
Christmas classics you say? How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr Seuss, The Night Before Christmas by Rachel Isadora and Clement Clarke Moore, The First Christmas by Jan Pienkowski, and Nut Cracker by David Walser and Jan Pienkowski are all magnificent choices. We're also big fans of The Happiest Man in the World or the Mouse Who Made Christmas by Mij Kelly and Louise Nisbet, Bear's First Christmas by Robert Kinerk and Jim LaMarche and Cub's First Winter by Rebecca Elliott.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Pocket's Christmas Wish by Ann Bonwill and Russell Julian at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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