Operation Nativity – Jenny Pearson

Published By: Usborne Publishing
Pages: 352
Released On: 09/11/2023
Reading Age: 7-10
Illustrated By: Katie Kear

When Oscar and Molly rush outside to investigate a crash in the night, they’re not expecting to find a dazed Angel Gabriel wandering around their grandparents’ back garden. And they’re certainly not expecting to find themselves in a race to save Christmas.

But if they don’t track down a missing shepherd, wise man, donkey and the actual Mary and Joseph, who’ve all crash-landed in Chipping Bottom, not only will Christmas cease to exist, but they will too. Operation Nativity is on.

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Usborne Publishing for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Okay, so yes, it is aimed at 7-10 year olds, and I’m 30. So what? There’s something just splendid about reading a children’s Christmas book. Even the very best adult Christmas books are full of difficulties and loss and heartbreak and the expense of the season. What I wanted was just a good old nostalgic festive read. And that’s what I got.

I’ve not read a Jenny Pearson book before but from this one I can see that she is very talented at wrapping difficult themes in age appropriate humour. Which can be a very difficult thing to achieve.

The illustrations!! It seems once you get to a certain age, people assume we don’t want illustrations in our books. Let me tell you something, yes we do! Done right, they add to much to the prose and just add to the delight and the joy that the book is bringing you.

I knew it was going to be a bit special when, in the early pages, our protagonist says:

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter if I can convince you or not. People will always believe different things and I actually think that’s ok.” **

This is something that I think adults really need to remember, especially at this time of year.

I loved that it really showed the reality of a dysfunctional family. For all its glory, Christmas can be a difficult time if families don’t get on, are spread around, are missing people. And whilst fiction books and movies and TV shows tend to present the perfect family image, this shows the reality of it which made it all the more funny.

I don’t want to be the person who moans about us losing the meaning of Christmas; about us focussing more on presents and food and Santa rather than the religious aspect, but I’m afraid I’m going to be. Don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas in all its guises. I love Santa and presents, and festive movies and sons and the food and everything, but I do try and add a religious element to my own celebrations (this is a personal choice and not one that I assume everyone else does). But it was refreshing to me, to see a mainstream book that showed the origins of the Christmas festival without it being too preachy or trying to ram religion down the reader’s throat. It is very straightforward in that, without that religious element, we wouldn’t have the Christmas we know and love today. But Jenny has managed to wrap it up with those fun, more trivial elements, as she knows that these are equally as important to a modern celebration.

What I wasn’t expecting was to find it so moving. It’s a children’s book, about Christmas, with a lost Angel and a donkey. It was meant to be fun. And it was fun. But boy I found it emotional. There were definitely tears, so be prepared with a cuddle when you’re reading it to your little one.

I did wonder if 352 pages is perhaps a bit too long for the younger end of the age range. It’s a lot of book to commit to. But I think it is enjoyable and fund enough to balance that, but I would say the younger end would need someone to read it with them.

** Reproduced from Operation Nativity by Jenny Pearson by permission of Usborne Publishing, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8RT, UK. http://www.usborne.com. Copyright © 2022 Usborne Publishing Limited.