To sweeten the wait for Christmas, Advent books
We know the legendary impatience of children when it comes to holidays and Christmas. The authors of these books have understood how to reduce this sometimes difficult feeling to manage!
A text of Eve Christian
Text : Lydia Masson
artwork : Svetlana Peskin
Editions : Mega
For children from: 2 years
Summary : More than one hundred pictures can be found on seven colorful double pages with a festive Christmas theme. Together with Jade and Olivier, the children visit a Christmas market and Santa’s factory, follow a labyrinth to the North Pole and drool in front of a table with a New Year’s Eve feast.
My opinion : A large all-cardboard album that can withstand small hands. Kids will love playing seek and find the camouflaged objects (almost!) on these pages. Young people are good at the observation game. In addition to finding objects, you have to count them and find the intruder.
—
Title : The tree thief
Text : Agnes Martin-Lugand
artwork : Session
Editions : Michel Lafon
For children from: 4 years
Summary : The story takes place in a beautiful village surrounded by forest. Unfortunately, the elderly do not communicate and are jealous of the properties in their neighborhood. The village children did not understand this attitude. A few days before Christmas, Cesar and Gabriel, his older brother, want the party to be as pleasant as they see it in their TV series. But the loss of fir trees, living room after living room, causes a lack of trust, until everyone starts talking to each other again to try to find, together, the person who commits the thefts.
Podcast : The tree thief is part of the collection A story and… Olistorybooks that kids can listen to on podcasts by turning the pages.
My opinion : It is not a book with 24 chapters, but an album that suggests a beautiful story set in the season of Advent. He talks about sharing and the happiness of being together. With related podcasts, this is a great collection to have in the family library, as the topics are varied.
Title : Who is the real Santa Claus? – Who will help Santa Claus? – The end of the naughty list?
—
Text : Valerie Fontaine
artwork : Mike
Editions : Scholastic
For children from: 5 years
Summary : A series of three volumes whose stories take place at the North Pole.
In the first volume, Santa Claus disappears while preparing for the festivities of the famous night. Several characters who look like him have introduced themselves to the elves claiming to be the real ones. Can we find the one who has been giving gifts for years?
In volume 2, Santa Claus offers a competition to Madame Binette’s students: we will choose two children to help the elves prepare for Christmas, live from his kingdom. Girls and boys, very excited, have to pass the tests, and above all, keep the secret of Christmas…
The elf Lutini receives letters from grandparents asking to be removed from the list of naughty children. Phew! How will Santa Claus and his elves deal with what promises to be an uprising on the planet? This is revealed in the third and final volume of the series.
My opinion : The stories are interesting to the youngest, but reading should be done by readers of a more advanced level, because the text is dense. However, the pictures help children to think about the details provided by the text. With this concept of one chapter (one page) every day, from December 1 to 24, girls and boys are eager to go to bed to know what will happen the next day.
—
Title : The mystery of Lord Noel
Text : Pascal Brissy
artwork : Flavia Sorrentino
Editions : Auzou
For children from: 8 years
Summary : A disturbing house at the end of the street; teenagers who take on the challenge of ringing this dilapidated doorbell. The man who opens them is old, thin and gruff, but friendly… What is his secret? It has something to do with Christmas…
My opinion : I often suggest books with 24 stories or 24 chapters to keep kids waiting until December 24. But this is the first time I’ve seen an advent novel aimed at slightly older readers! Each chapter, titled 24 days before Christmas, is sealed. You have to cut through the dotted lines connecting the pages to read the rest. It’s intriguing, especially since there are twists that will appeal to teenagers.
