A Winter Solstice Celebration

Running a second-hand bookshop, I very often get customers coming in, heading to our kids' section, and telling me how they enjoy finding new books for their children and grandchildren that 'aren't Disney!' What they're looking for are books that are a little different, with a good story and original illustrations, to snuggle up and read together. I think this book would go down brilliantly. It looks a little different to most children's books, which makes it stand out straight away, with the whole story written in wintry white capital letters on dark blue paper. The story is simple and easy to understand, drawing us into the tale of a little girl's meeting with the animals of the forest, and how she fights to stop her village cutting down trees for their human celebrations of the Winter Solstice. There are a few more challenging words to be learned along the way, as well as ideas and lessons about the way humans treat the world around them to think about. The illustrations by Jacquie Campbell fit in nicely with the story and add an extra dimension for children to enjoy. It dropped a star for me just for the fact that occasionally the underlying message clobbered me a little TOO hard over the head - and for British children, there are occasional words and figures of speech where they might need a little adult 'translation' to help them understand. I also had trouble figuring out the dialect of the feisty crow in the story - was he supposed to be Jamaican?! All in all though, a sweet and wholesome, beautifully presented story, which I will be happily passing on to a little girl I know who will just love it!

This was a fun childrens story on how you can celebrate nature without harming it in the process. DiDi LeMay does a great job of keeping the story flowing while also making a very good point in the process. Add in some very good artwork by Jacquie Campbell and this made for a great book that my 4 year old daughter really enjoyed.