Set on Christmas Eve this well told story weaves together three plot strands in a magical tale of hopes, dreams and wishes coming true if you wish hard enough. Although originally published in the 1950s I had missed this gem during my childhood but quite honestly this is a lovely Christmas read for adults too.
Ivy, an orphan, is to be sent to the Infants’ Home for Christmas because “she has no-one”. Six year old Ivy has a quiet determination about her and says she will go to stay with her “grandmother” even though she knows she does not have one. Although she has never had a family to love her Ivy feels deep down that there is a family somewhere for her and once despatched on her journey she sets off alone to find them.
Meanwhile on a busy Christmas Eve the toys in Mr Blossom’s shop know it is their last chance to be sold. Holly, a little doll dressed especially for Christmas, wishes hard for her own special child to come and buy her. But the day ends and Holly is left in the window. In the same village a childless couple are preparing for Christmas. Mrs Jones has decided that they will have a Christmas tree and decorations but she longs for a child to share them with her. She sits and waits for her husband, the village policeman, to return home and wishes.
The way in which Rumer Godden tells these separate stories and then weaves them together is both clever and touching. I enjoyed this very much and think that children will do too. It has everything you could possibly want from a Christmas classic; an orphan, snow, talking toys and a happy ending. This is an absolute delight and I wish I had discovered it earlier.
My copy has the added bonus of illustrations by Christian Birmingham that complement the text perfectly.
But then on Christmas Eve, Mam has to go out to the shops for some last minute items and leaves her children alone for a little while. Bronwen and Dylan hear a ghostly plonk! plonk! plonk! from the washroom that sends them running into the street. They run straight into the arms of Mrs. O’Riley. Far from being scary or “different.” Mrs O’Riley reassures the children and takes them into her home until their mother returns. Once next door the children not only find the family are kind and welcoming but they also solve the mystery of the ghostly plonking. Better still Bronwen and Dylan’s mum makes a new and kind friend.
this book and take it all in. Young children would learn quite a lot of historical information from this lovely book without actually realising it. Shirley Hughes has a gift for conveying the emotions of small children in their expressions and general demeanour that encourages young readers to empathise with the characters. Little children can become very worried by the unknown or something they don’t understand despite there often being a very straightforward explanation for it. Both the story and the illustrations capture this perfectly. As with all this author’s picture books there is a feeling of comforting kindness and reassurance. We all need a bit of that sometimes.
This is a perfect read for the Christmas season. I think the combination of snow, adventure, family, love and mention of ghostly events in the night work extremely well. Yet again Emma Carroll ensures that with the use of historical detail she conveys beautifully a sense of time and place. The setting, the characters and the themes covered are almost Dickensian and this adds to the appeal of the story for me. The wonderful illustrations by Julian de Narvaez add to the enjoyment of the book. Once or twice I was reminded of the Little Match Girl and there is a poignancy to the writing too.
Library Lady 