Juniper's Christmas
By: Erin Colfer
Publication: October 31, 2023 by Roaring Brook Press
368 pages
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Christmas
Source: Personal Kindle Library
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Goodreads description--From the acclaimed, mega-bestselling Eoin Colfer comes a heartwarming, adventurous Christmas the perfect gift for readers of all ages who believe in the power of hope, kindness, and holiday magic.Eleven-year-old Juniper Lane is thrown into a Christmas adventure like no other when she seeks the help of a mysterious woodsman living in her local park, who she suspects is Santa himself, and accidentally gets exposed to North Pole magic. Join a boisterous cast of characters―including a neighbor who always believed in Santa, a young reindeer in training, and a cutthroat crime boss out to steal Santa’s magic―on an unpredictable journey bursting with Eoin Colfer’s signature exuberance and merriment. Complete with cheerful, festive illustrations, this is a beautifully packaged tale of wonder, sure to inspire the Christmas spirit in the whole family.
Celebrate the holidays with a story of hope, magic, and saving Santa Claus, from a celebrated author beloved for his spirited storytelling. Juniper’s Christmas is the perfect holiday read, year after year.
I have been wanting to read a seasonal read-aloud book with my kids for a few years. It never lined up for us to start a new read-aloud at a time that made sense to begin a Christmas book until this past year. We started Juniper's Christmas on December 5th, but we didn't finish until March 11th. We typically read every other night, but when activities make us late for bed, we skip reading those nights. So, it took WAY too long to read this book.
The book starts with Juniper's mom, Jennifer, going missing. Juniper is immediately thrust into a highly stressful and traumatic life event. Her father died shortly before the events of this book. So she has no guardian to look after her. Her parents have both been involved in charitable work, so a homeless lady, Duchess, who is familiar with the family and has babysat for Juniper before, steps in as her temporary guardian until Jennifer can be found. However, Juniper stumbles upon a man Duchess says can help her, and Juniper is convinced that he is Santa Claus, who has been missing for nearly 10 years. There are many layers to this book.
The high stakes had my kids invested in what was happening and what had happened to Juniper's mom from the beginning. The fictional world revolving around Santa Claus was done respectfully. I wasn't worried about my kids' belief being shattered. There is plenty of magic to be had, but I stressed ahead of time that this was a fictional story.
Why has Santa been missing for 10 years? What happened to Juniper's mom? Will the charity event that Juniper's dad was always involved in around Christmas continue? Or will it be shut down by selfish adults and thieves? What will happen now that Juniper has bonded with a reindeer? To top things off, Santa must pull out the wish list letters from his sack this year or Christmas will be destroyed forever. Many questions needed to be answered. Many challenges were wrapped together into one big ball. However, even with all of that, there were too many lulls in the story for my liking. That being said, our reading pace could have caused this particular feeling.
The writing style wasn't my favorite. It's hard to describe why. For one, I regularly stumbled when reading aloud because the words I expected to come next weren't the actual words. I imagine that many of the words used were based on some actual language I'm unfamiliar with. Skara, gifslaad, timboble, Tomescu, Sarika, etc. Being unfamiliar with the language of origin caused me to stumble even more. These would have been even more difficult words for a child reading this book on their own. A few comments were made that are mountain out of molehill things with ideology, but I noted them anyway. Nothing too severe or inappropriate for children, but noted regardless.
Favorite quote:
-"Mean words are the fruit of a sad tree," so Juniper couldn't help wondering what sad thing was making Rusty so mean.
-People are not born mean, and usually the journey from kind to mean is a long and torturous one filled with harsh life lessons...
Juniper's Christmas started off with a bang in the emotional stakes of Juniper's mom going missing. This created a desire to keep reading to find out what happened to her. However, I personally found there to be some lulls in the story, and I wasn't as interested in Trude Madden or her part of the story. Juniper's Christmas wasn't quite the Christmas story I was looking for. My 9-year-old daughter enjoyed it more than my 7-year-old son. Juniper's Christmas was just okay for me, so it gets 3 Stars. Have you or your child read Juniper's Christmas? What did you think? Let me know!
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