Written by Kate A. Harvey
When critiquing a book aimed at an audience decades younger than myself—particularly when the target audience hasn’t yet reached a decade in age—I need to view the book under a certain lens. The Wish That Saved Christmas by Kate A. Harvey, with a target demographic of seven to ten-year-olds, is one such book. I need to think back to when I was a similar age, and to when my children were a similar age (admittedly, not that long ago in their case), and how I, or my children, would have found the book. It’s not about how engaging I find the book, but how engaging seven to ten-year-olds would likely find it.
While some children’s stories resonate with readers of all ages, The Wish That Saved Christmas is not one of them. If you’re an adult reader looking for a children’s story with cross-generational appeal, this isn’t that book. However, if you’re looking for a children’s story to pass to the target demographic, they’ll likely find a whimsical story that captures the Christmas spirit. The story is an innocuous fantasy tale designed to delight younger readers. It tells the story of a young girl, Emma, who makes a wish to the angel atop the town of Hope’s End’s Christmas tree, bringing her toy Nell to life. Nell then embarks on a magical quest within the Christmas tree, and—given the book’s title—it’s no spoiler to say she saves Christmas.
It’s a fun, magical plot that is sure to capture young readers’ imaginations. The book is packed full of Christmas spirit, and reinforces the positive messages that come with both Christmas stories and children’s literature. However, the further the book goes, the more convoluted it becomes. Harvey has built a thriving world within the Christmas tree, but it is bigger than the story warrants, and will no doubt confuse much of its audience. It’s an ambitious tale, but by the time the book reaches its conclusion, it begins to buckle under its excess weight.
This excess isn’t limited to the book’s plot, but also its length. At 187 pages in paperback (or an estimated 189 pages on Kindle, or four hours and twenty-seven minutes on Audible), The Wish That Saved Christmas is a dense read for younger readers. While the page count isn’t necessarily a detriment to the age group, it’s one that limits its audience to the older end of the demographic, and those who are confident readers. Readers confident enough to read a book of this length will likely want more depth to the story, itself offering more to the younger side of the age range.
The prose throughout the book is captures the whimsical nature of the story and its setting. Even the parts of the book set within the town of Hope’s End captures a sense of magic that children will enjoy. Its clarity is a boon to the younger readers. Less of a boon, however, is the length of the book’s sentences and paragraphs. Adult readers would likely have little trouble parsing it, but younger readers will likely struggle to make their way through the walls of text. Between this and its length, in most instances, children would get more from the book if it’s being read to them, rather than them reading it themselves.
Despite the book featuring a large amount of heavy prose, it is also heavy on dialogue. The characters all sound unique from one another, with their voices adding variety to the conversations. These conversations don’t sound particularly natural, but they are inviting, drawing the reader in. They fit within the book’s setting and serve the heightened reality of the story’s fantasy world.
The amount of dialogue is a double-edged sword, however. While it serves to break up the prose, it also means that many descriptions about the book’s world are left to the dialogue. The world building is wonderful, both conveying the magical nature of Christmas and brimming with fantastical vibrancy. However, in leaving so many of the descriptions to the dialogue, with these coming from the characters’ viewpoints, it lessens the impact of the world, making it more difficult to imagine the whimsy that’s being discussed.
The Wish That Saved Christmas offers an innocent, whimsical Christmas story that drips with Christmas spirit, while offering a rich fantasy world for children. However, the book’s length and the prose’s complexity make it a bigger task for young readers to get through than it otherwise could have. While the dialogue is fun, it also leads to the book telling, rather than showing, selling the overall story short. Children will no doubt enjoy the story, however, but they would likely get the most value from it being read to them, rather than them reading it themselves.
Favourite Passage
As they walked, Poco told Nell stories about his long life at Hawthorn House. He told her of kings and queens from the old days, even older than your parents. He talked about Christmas balls, like the one where the choir had awakened, at the end of yet another war. In those days, women wore huge impractical dresses and men wore curly wigs. When Nell stopped laughing, he recounted garden parties with jugglers and music and fascinating lectures from explorers and philosophers. Plays performed in round open theatres. A time where people were punished by having vegetables thrown at them in wooden stocks.
The Wish That Saved Christmas, Chapter 12: “Can You Wish for a Wish to Come True?”
The Wish That Saved Christmas was provided by BookSirens for the purpose of an honest review.
The Wish That Saved Christmas is available in paperback, Kindle and audiobook, exclusive to Amazon. The paperback and audiobook versions are only available from Amazon UK.
Note: I do not post scores for reviews on this website, but do post them on my Amazon and Goodreads reviews:
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Interested in purchasing The Wish That Saved Christmas?
Please find a link below; please note I do not collect any proceeds from the sale.
The Wish That Saved Christmas: An Uplifting Festive Adventure Story
wastanley.com 