What the Little Fir Tree Wore to the Christmas Party
This is a great Christmas story. There was a debate in this household whether or not it could be in the top category, a favorite we read over and over. The story has a sense of excitement built in it around Christmas, which is this household’s favorite part of the year. And the story is actually a Christmas story, unlike many of the books we’ve run into that tell a story with Christmas going on in the background. But what kept it in this middle category is 1) it just didn’t connect warmly with my little one, potentially because the characters are only pine trees and pine trees just aren’t warm and fuzzy, and 2) the cutting of several of trees brought up a bunch of questions and a little sadness. But overall, it is a sweet Christmas story of intergenerational friendship. Also, the illustrations don’t help with the warm connection classics always invoke. While done really well, the illustrations are kind of dark and cold (which I think is to get a feel of being out in the cold woods around Christmas time) and get in the way of a warm connection with the book.
Cautions: The only thing I noticed was my little one asked several questions when all but two of the fir trees were cut down.
