Review: How Winston Delivered Christmas: An Advent story in twenty-four-and-a-half chapters

How Winston Delivered Christmas: An Advent story in twenty-four-and-a-half chapters by Alex T. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Winston is a very clever little mouse. He knows about Christmas and Santa, so when he finds an undelivered letter on Christmas Eve, he knows there's only one thing to do. After all, everyone deserves to feel special at Christmas...

This beautiful book is divided into 24 chapters, one for each day of December, interspersed with activities, games and decorations. It's a very clever idea and I expect it will become a Christmas tradition in a lot of households. Poor Winston and his struggles will make for a fantastic read.

(And I very much hope he gets to meet up with his friends again!)



As (Winston) looked around he spotted a curious object set up nearby. It was a large toy building a bit like a doll's house but it looked more like a barn or a stable. Inside several statues were standing on a bed of clean, sweet-smelling straw. There was a woman in blue and several men. Some were dressed in fancy clothes and others were dressed like farmers and there were even some pretend sheep standing beside them. Everyone was looking at a tiny wooden box in the middle. It was filled with straw and inside, fast asleep, was a tiny model baby.
That does look like a nice place to have a sleep, Winston thought, and he yawned. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if he just had the tiniest of naps there beside the baby? But as he began clambering into the scene the choir finished singing and the congregation clapped. The sudden noise made Winston stop sharply in his tracks. He waggled his whiskers.
'Winston!' he said sternly to himself. 'Fancy thinking about having a nap when you haven't finished your Important Job!' And with a flick of his tail, he forced himself to pad down the aisle and back out into the cold night. He thought about the little baby asleep in the wooden box full of straw and promised himself that, as it was Christmas, he would come back when the letter was delivered and have a nap in that nice peaceful building while candles flickers warmly around him.

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