Screenshot_2019-08-28 A Boy Called Christmas - W F Howes LtdFrom Goodreads: “You are about to read the true story of Father Christmas.
It is a story that proves that nothing is impossible.
If you are one of those people who believe that some things are impossible, you should put this book down right away. It is most certainly not for you.
Because this book is FULL of impossible things.
Are you still reading?
Good.
Then let us begin . . .
A Boy Called Christmas is a tale of adventure, snow, kidnapping, elves, more snow, and an eleven-year-old boy called Nikolas, who isn’t afraid to believe in magic..“

My Review

This was wonderful! I don’t read or listen to a lot of children’s books but I thought I’d give this one a try when I spotted it on the library’s app. I’m so glad I took a chance on it, because it’s turned out to be one of my favourite listens this year.

It’s a delightful, funny and sometimes a bit of a sad story of Nikolas an 11 old year boy who lives in a wood in Finland with Dad Joel. His mother died when he was younger and he really misses her. They’re very poor living in a one room cottage in a wood where his Dad is a woodcutter. One day following an incident involving a bear and a hunter, Joel  goes off on a mission for the King that will make him rich. Unfortunately he leaves Nikolas behind with his nasty Aunt Clara who despises him, so he decides he’s going to go and find his Dad, which is when the fun starts.

I loved this audiobook! The story reminded me of a Roald Dahl book with some really miserable grown ups who don’t like children or having fun. Fortunately there are also some really lovely characters who made me smile and chuckle.

Stephen Fry was absolutely brilliant reading this book. I don’t how he managed to conjure up all the distinctly different voices for the characters, but he did and it was amazing! In fact at different points in the story I was convinced that Jim Broadbent was voicing one of the characters and not Stephen Fry.

As I mentioned before this is one of favourite reads of year and it makes me want to listen to the other Christmassy books written by the author.

I definitely recommend this if you’ll looking for a fun listen or enjoy children’s books.