Review: The Living Christmas Tree by Kristin Sponaugle

With Halloween behind us, I can finally dive into all of the wonderful, holiday reads in my pile!  

THE LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE

by Kristin Sponaugle

Illustrated by Agus Prajogo

Mascot Books

Picture Book / Holiday

38 pages

ages 4 to 8

The Miller family’s Christmas tree looks like a normal Christmas tree during the day, covered with beautiful lights and ornaments. But little do they know that the tree is anything but ordinary. Every night, the magic of Christmas brings the tree to life—much to the delight of Hannah and William Miller. Read along as the kids experience the magic of Christmas in a wonderful new way.

GOODREADS    /    AMAZON    /   B&N    /    BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

The magic of Christmas takes a lovely, fantastical twist with a tree, which holds more than a few surprises.

It's Christmas time in the Miller's house, and the tree stands ready for the big night. While Hannah and William sleep in their beds every night and dream of the surprises to come, the tree's magic is busy as the ornaments come to life and play. When Hannah accidentally gets a glimpse of them, she surprises the ornaments, but the wonder soon has her brother and her visiting the ornaments and enjoying the Christmas magic right along with them.

Having ornaments come to life and play around and on the tree is a theme I would have loved as a child and my own would have enjoyed seeing become a reality. This tale takes the cheerful and imaginative hopes of the season and lets them take flight. The ornaments are cheerful and fun, ready for adventure. Most of the illustrations are well done and let the bright scenes hold tons of Christmas cheer.

The text is a little on the longer end, making this a better read-aloud for the younger age groups or a book for those, who are already sure of their words. The vocabulary fits very well to the age group, and the tale flows along nicely. This one doesn't hold any tense moments are larger problems that need to be solved, but rather, centers on the wonder of the magic. It does, however, have a special twist at the end, which rounds off the season nicely...and is something that I haven't seen before.