One Christmas Night by Christina M Butler and Tina MacNaughton

One Christmas Night by Christina M Butler and Tina MacNaughton
Buy One Christmas Night by Christina M Butler and Tina MacNaughton at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Sam Tyler
Summary: Its December 24th and even the creatures of the woodland are looking forward to getting Christmas presents, but out in the wilds it can get pretty cold and Santa has the flu. Can Little Hedgehog help out Father Christmas to deliver all the gifts in time? A sweet Christmas tale that extols the virtues of friendship and helping one another.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: September 2014
Publisher: Little Tiger Press
ISBN: 9781848952423
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If you regularly read children’s books about Father Christmas you are probably as amazed as I am that he ever gets the job done. It would appear that almost every year some sort of problem befalls old Santa Claus and he has to ask for help. I can understand getting aid from his elves, his reindeers or even the tooth fairy at a push, but a hedgehog? However, this is not just any hedgehog, but Little Hedgehog and with the aid of friends and a fluffy scarf, Hedgehog may just get the job done in time.

The Little Hedgehog is a series of books all about different days in the life of the eponymous hero. In One Special Christmas we are treated to a very special day as it is Christmas Eve. I am a huge exponent of books based on Christmas as they are a great way of getting excited about the big day, but it also appears that publishers are as well; the market is flooded each year. To stand out you have to capture the magic of the season. Thankfully, One Special Christmas does this, without being exceptional.

Christina M Butler's storytelling is very sweet. Little Hedgehog is a character hard not to like; he is cute, friendly and always willing to help. Indeed, this is extended to his peer group. Without the help of his woodland cohort he would never succeed in aiding Santa on his big day. This central message of companionship and helping one another is a great message for any children’s book and is especially apt for a book about a day of giving.

Where the book falls down slightly is the slightly cynical air I got from the whole concept of it being a series. I have not read the others, but you get the sense that this outing has to fit in with a wider style, therefore some of the elements and structure is a little crowbarred into the tale. I am also not sure about the touch and feel elements of the book. It feels a little gimmicky at times, but at least the hat has an important role in the book.

Tina MacNaughton’s illustrations may also divide opinion; I found them cute, but quite basic. You get a whimsical feel from the drawings that in keeping with the story, but as a package it all feels a little safe. Perhaps this is not a bad thing for a book aimed at 2-5 year olds, but there is a definite lack of energy all around as if the duo has lost some of the impetus from the original design of Little Hedgehog books.

By no means is ‘One Special Christmas’ a bad book. In fact, it is an incredibly solid Christmas tale that has a good moral. For very young children it is a light and airy tale that will get them into the mood for the holidays, but slightly older children may want to be challenged slightly more with a less saccharin story of Christmas.

For further Christmas reading you might enjoy The Tooth Fairy's Christmas by Peter Bently and Garry Parsons and The Christmas Carrot by Allan Plenderleith.

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