Published By: BooksGoSocial
Pages: 186
Released On: 28/09/2025
Reading Age: 8-12
Illustrated By: Andrew Smith
When Laney and Ben stumble through the door of Kringle’s Emporium, they step into a world of hidden wonders. But the emporium is more than a shop of curiosities. It is Kris Kringle’s travelling hiding place, and the magic of Christmas is in danger.
Along with Ben’s mischievous sister Millie, the pair decipher the shop’s enchanted objects to face a global mission. All the while, they must avoid the shadowy organisation threatening to steal Kringle’s powers and the school bullies determined to ruin their unlikely friendship.
As snow falls across the town of Six Pines and the clock ticks towards Christmas Day, Laney and Ben discover that courage – and magic – sparkle in the most unexpected places.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Yes it is a kids book. Yes it’s aimed at 8-12 year olds and I’m 32. But I love kids book and I love Christmas books so this was a win-win. I admit it’s not the most taxing of books for older readers but still enjoyable.
It’s not surprising considering the page length, but I zoomed through it, I was so swept up in the magic.
It has some beautiful illustrations done by Andrew Smith. I would have liked more, but that’s because I’m greedy. It’ll be interesting to see if they are colour illustrations in the finished book because in the digital copy they were black and white. They’re absolutely fine in black and white, but I think they’d be more magical in full colour, like the cover.
It’s such fun but it has a real message at heart. It is a lovely story about magic and belief, not just in Santa but in yourself. It’s about friendship and kindness and doing good; about adventures, meeting new people. It’s about overcoming hardships, standing up to bullies, and about being there for others.
I could see this destined to become a Christmas classic.
Books By Your Bedside 