Published By: Canongate
Pages: 290
Released On: 12/10/2017
It isn’t always easy, growing up as a human in Elfhelm, even if your adoptive parents are the newly married Father Christmas and Mary Christmas.
For one thing, Elf School can be annoying when you have to sing Christmas songs everyday – even in July – and when you fail all your toy-making tests. Also it can get very, very cold.
But when the jealous Easter Bunny and his rabbit army launch an attach to stop Christmas, it’s up to Amelia, her new family and the elves to keep Christmas alive. Before it’s too late.
*****
*Contains minor spoilers*
This is the third story in this series I have read in as many days. This trilogy might be aimed at children (Google suggests 9-11 year olds), and I may be nearing 30, but these books mean something so very special to me. Once again – and more so than the other two – this is a book about the power of believing; in Christmas, in Santa, in hope, and in yourself.
I found this storyline less fantastical and more real than the others, but this isn’t a negative. It just brings a different element to the books. Whilst Father Christmas is meant to be the main character – it is called “Father Christmas and Me” after all – I found the character of Amelia is definitely becoming the lead character we all need, especially for young girls reading it. She is strong and hopeful and doesn’t compromise her beliefs for others.
My one tiny complaint is that the blurb says “When the very jealous Easter Bunny launches an attack to ruin Christmas, it’s up to Amelia, her family and the elves to fight off the forces of evil.” – and yet, apart fro a few mentions, the Easter Bunny doesn’t make an appearance until over 200 pages on, so it wasn’t necessarily the story I was expecting, no matter how much I loved it.
The ending wasn’t what I expected either but it round this book, and the series, off so lovingly and warmly and really, when I think about it, there was no other ending for it.
These books have reinforced my love for Matt Haig’s writing, and as Amelia puts it: “Words are a magic too, and they can contain everything”.
Books By Your Bedside 