The story starts with 3 siblings Claire, Ben and Daniel, building a snow queen in the garden, as all children do. Claire begins to create a story around the evil snow queen and before long she explains how Elaine Gale – the evil snow queen has placed a spell on all children to be naughty so that when Santa checks his naughty and nice list no-one has been good and thus no presents are needed.
Happy with their days work they head back in for tea, but soon realise that their story is unfolding in front of their eyes. Realising they are the only ones who can stop Elaine Gale they start about a journey to overcome her evil plan and restore Christmas before it’s too late.
Review
Firstly I wish to thank author Daniel Thompson for the ARC copy of The Christmas Tale of Elaine Gale in return for an honest review.
Now I am the first to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Christmas, I am in fact a bit of a bar humbug, so a book set during this festive season needs to be really good to get a 5* rating from me! Well I really enjoyed it. In fact it might have managed to make me rethink my attitude towards books centred around this period!
Why did I love it so much? It has a modern, determined girl as a heroine, who leads her younger brothers on a festive adventure. There is an evil snow queen, who brilliantly breaks with tradition by not being male and reminds me of the White Queen from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The rhyming verse has a catchy contemporary feel to it, flows along without interruption from misplaced words and creates a story that charmed me with the way its paints a such modern Christmas tale. The main elements are there, Santa and his reindeer and the theme that to get presents on Christmas morning you need to think of others and be good, yet it doesn’t become overly sentimental, which my niece and god-children will adore. It reads well for adults reading to younger children and will serve as a great introduction for older children of rhyming verse.
Special mention must also go to illustrator Connor Edwards who has produced illustrations that compliement the story perfectly. They are fun and attractive to look at. They remind me of illustrations seen in graphic novels, with a boldness and quirkiness children will love.
The Christmas Tale of Elaine Page is one of the best children’s books I have read this year and I think it will become a firm family favourite in years to come.
The Christmas Tale of Elaine Gale can be purchased from Amazon
It can also be purchased from The Christmas Tale of Elaine Gale Website , where you can also learn more about the book and how it can onto being.
A little bit about writer and poet Danny
I’m Danny, a Poet/film maker/musician and all round creative human from Birmingham.
I wrote this book because I love Christmas and I wanted to create something to add to the already rich tapestry of the Christmas festivities. I felt it was really important to tell an original Christmas story that a new generation of readers can claim as their own. I am really proud of what Connor and I have created with this book and I hope you enjoy our work.
Not forgetting the illustrator Connor
I’m Connor, a graphic design student and illustrator from Birmingham.
For me the book was an exciting project to work on because its quirky story and writing style really inspired my imagination. As a Christmas story it was unlike anything already available, this refreshing look at the Christmas story gave me a lot to work with. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I loved making it.
For more news about the book you can visit Facebook / Twitter/Webpage.
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