The Christmasaurus (Christmasaurus #1) by Tom Fletcher

5 Stars Dec 20, 2022

My review

5/5 stars

I've spent the last few weeks reading this aloud to my 4 year old son at bedtime, and I absolutely loved it. It's got Christmas and dinosaurs, my favourite time of year and my favourite childhood obsession!

Tom Fletcher is a very talented children's author. We've read several of his picture books with our kids up to this point and loved them all, but this is the first chapter book of his that we've explored and it was a great first pick. His way with words is fun and leaves a lasting impression. I particularly enjoyed how he made up words that sounded like they should be real, they were fun to say out loud and added a real sense of silliness that my son adored.

William Trundle was a brilliant protagonist. He was bullied at school, had lost his mum at a young age, and was living in a wheelchair, and yet I never pitied him, because he was adventurous, brave and strong in spite of all those things. He never let his situation define him and that in itself is such a valuable lesson for young readers to take on board.

That is, by far, not the only lesson that this excellent author leaves his readers with - he shows them that kindness and understanding is the most valuable gift you can give someone, that living with hate in your heart never ends well and has a lasting effect on those around you, and that friendship can come from the strangest of places as long as you're open to the idea of it. All of these lessons are delivered gently, without ever being directly attended to, but are left to sit between the words in a lingering, approachable way that teaches kids something without them even realising it.

Back to characters, the Hunter was a fantastic villain - he was evil and loomed over the story, but never managed to be scary enough to put my kid off the book. This may sound like a criticism, but it's not; it's ideal for a children's book as it means that children of any age can read it and take it in. Equally fantastic but for a totally different reason were the elves, I loved how they always sang in rhyme, and my son got a real kick out of listening to me try to make the songs sound as elfish as possible. It gave us something to bond over while reading the story.

The best part of this book for me was the unique way in which Christmas is explained. It turns the idea of Christmas on its head somewhat, and yet is still completely plausible. I think my son even believes that some parts of this version of events is the way Christmas actually plays out, and I'm totally ok with that. The inclusion of an ancient icy dinosaur only adds to the sense of magic and wonder, and brings a sweetness and innocence to the story that might otherwise be lacking. The Christmasaurus absolutely steals the show in any scene that he's written in to, and I can totally understand why kids want to dress up as him for World Book Day - I wouldn't mind an adult version of a costume for myself for the next World Book Day!

I'm not ashamed to say that this is a brilliant book, and I reckon a reader of any age who enjoys Christmas and a little magic would adore this book as much as me. We've already started on the next in the series at bedtime, and my other half isn't allowed to read ahead without me because I don't want to miss any of the story!

Book blurb

This is a story about a boy named William Trundle and a dinosaur named the Christmasaurus.

It's about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure. It's about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer.

It's about discovering your heart's true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible . . .