A Boy Called Christmas Book Review

I was excited to unpack A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig from the delivery envelope when it finally got delivered.  Although I wanted to listen to it first before listing with my son...especially since I figured that it would be better at Christmas time.  I think that I was wrong because I think that this story is good all year round but it might be a family favorite to pull out every year as part of the holiday season to get the whole family in the spirit of giving.

Before there was Santa Claus, there was a young boy who believed in the impossible. . . . Lemony Snicket meets Elf in this warmhearted Christmas caper.

Eleven-year-old Nikolas—nicknamed “Christmas”—has received only one toy in his life: a doll carved out of a turnip. But he’s happy with his turnip doll, because it came from his parents, who love him. Then one day his father goes missing, and Nikolas must travel to the North Pole to save him.

Along the way, Nikolas befriends a surly reindeer, bests a troublesome troll, and discovers a hidden world of enchantment in the frozen village of Elfhelm. But the elves of Elfhelm have troubles of their own: Christmas spirit and goodwill are at an all-time low, and Nikolas may be the only person who can fix things—if only he can reach his father before it’s too late. . . .

I was hoping to get this book on CD before the holidays but I didn't.  I didn't realize how long the book was going to be.  It was 4 discs and they ran for 4 1/2 hours.  I listened to the first one pretty quickly and then I realized that we mostly do the listening as a family so doing this listening for myself before my son heard it to make sure that it was appropriate, limited the time that I had to listen to the book on CD.  My son is huge into the CDs and frequently took out my CD to replace with his without looking at what track I was on so I am sure that I listened to many parts of the book over and over just to try to get finished but it was all worth it in the end!  It was a great story and nice fantasy for the kids to enjoy.  I think that people old and young would enjoy this Christmas story about Father Christmas and how things came to be in the magical world.  I hope that it will also give children an idea of how lucky they are when they hear about the life of young Nikolas growing up.  I know that we will be listening to this next Christmas and I will put it in the Christmas book box for sure!  I hope that you and your family check out this great story and enjoy it together.

**I got a copy of the Book on CD for my review but all opinions here are my own.