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Adventures with Barbie #8
Holiday Magic
Barbie and Kira are snowed in when they visit Kira's uncle at his isolated house in the mountains at Christmastime
- GenresChildrens
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Suzanne Weyn
208 books645 followersSuzanne Weyn grew up in Williston Park, Long Island, New York. She has three sisters and a brother. As a girl, she was very interested in theatre and in reading. Louisa May Alcott was her favorite author, but she also read every Sherlock Holmes story. Suzanne lived pretty close to the ocean and going to Jones Beach was one of her favorite activities. Even today, if she goes too long without seeing the ocean, she starts feeling restless.
Suzanne now lives in upper New York State with her husband, two teen daughters and Abby the cat. Her house is at the edge of the woods and is nearly 200 years old. She graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton and received her master's degree from Pace University. She teaches part-time at City College in New York.
Suzanne's other books for Simon Pulse include South Beach Sizzle, a romantic comedy written with Diana Gonzalez. Her novels for the Simon Pulse line "Once Upon a Time" are The Night Dance: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Water Song: A Retelling of the Frog Prince, and The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumplestiltskin. She very much enjoys rethinking these classic tales from an original point of view, always looking for the real psychological underpinning of the story. Suzanne is currently doing revisions on her fourth book in the line, which will be coming in 2009.
Suzanne's other recent novels are include The Bar Code Tattoo (2004) and its sequel, The Bar Code Rebellion (2006). The Bar Code Tattoo was selected by the American Library Assoc. (ALA) as a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction. It is currently translated into German and was nominated for the 2007 Jugenliteraturpreis for Young People's Literature.
Suzanne now lives in upper New York State with her husband, two teen daughters and Abby the cat. Her house is at the edge of the woods and is nearly 200 years old. She graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton and received her master's degree from Pace University. She teaches part-time at City College in New York.
Suzanne's other books for Simon Pulse include South Beach Sizzle, a romantic comedy written with Diana Gonzalez. Her novels for the Simon Pulse line "Once Upon a Time" are The Night Dance: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Water Song: A Retelling of the Frog Prince, and The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumplestiltskin. She very much enjoys rethinking these classic tales from an original point of view, always looking for the real psychological underpinning of the story. Suzanne is currently doing revisions on her fourth book in the line, which will be coming in 2009.
Suzanne's other recent novels are include The Bar Code Tattoo (2004) and its sequel, The Bar Code Rebellion (2006). The Bar Code Tattoo was selected by the American Library Assoc. (ALA) as a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction. It is currently translated into German and was nominated for the 2007 Jugenliteraturpreis for Young People's Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 20, 2025
How bad is my seasonal depression this year, you may ask? Bad enough that I’ve been dwelling on this Barbie book that I read when I was like seven that was basically an advertisement for Holiday Barbie 1991, and FINALLY found it and paid American Earth dollars to hold it in my hands and read it again.
Anyway, this book was fun! I kind of understand why parts of it have stuck in my mind so much. It’s a heartwarming little tale of Barbie bringing together a diverse but isolated community and giving holiday cheer back to the heart of a lonely widower.
It also takes a surprising turn. One of the neighbor kids is convinced that the widowed Uncle Ben of Barbie’s friend Kira is secretly a werewolf. That was the thing that stuck in my brain, okay? That there was a doll in the Barbie lineup that canonically has an uncle who maybe turns into a wolf by the light of the full moon. And this was put in a holiday book for babies. I’ve been all alone in this knowledge for decades, and now it is a Christmas gift from me to you.
In the end, of course, that’s not quite the case. Everyone learns a lesson about judging people (and animals) unfairly. But also I was kind of impressed at how long the narrative indulges the possibility that perhaps Uncle Ben is a werewolf, even after Barbie summarily dismisses it. This is yet another piece of the puzzle about why I am the way I am.
As a kid, I do remember being a little let down by the anticlimactic reveal. (Team Uncle Werewolf.) As an adult, I was disappointed that this solid little morality tale ends with Uncle Ben justifying why he’s been feeding wild animals and no one challenges him on this. It’s good to make an effort to be nice to your neighbors, kids, even the cranky ones. But do NOT feed wild animals under any circumstances, no matter what Barbie says.
Anyway, this book was fun! I kind of understand why parts of it have stuck in my mind so much. It’s a heartwarming little tale of Barbie bringing together a diverse but isolated community and giving holiday cheer back to the heart of a lonely widower.
It also takes a surprising turn. One of the neighbor kids is convinced that the widowed Uncle Ben of Barbie’s friend Kira is secretly a werewolf. That was the thing that stuck in my brain, okay? That there was a doll in the Barbie lineup that canonically has an uncle who maybe turns into a wolf by the light of the full moon. And this was put in a holiday book for babies. I’ve been all alone in this knowledge for decades, and now it is a Christmas gift from me to you.
In the end, of course, that’s not quite the case. Everyone learns a lesson about judging people (and animals) unfairly. But also I was kind of impressed at how long the narrative indulges the possibility that perhaps Uncle Ben is a werewolf, even after Barbie summarily dismisses it. This is yet another piece of the puzzle about why I am the way I am.
As a kid, I do remember being a little let down by the anticlimactic reveal. (Team Uncle Werewolf.) As an adult, I was disappointed that this solid little morality tale ends with Uncle Ben justifying why he’s been feeding wild animals and no one challenges him on this. It’s good to make an effort to be nice to your neighbors, kids, even the cranky ones. But do NOT feed wild animals under any circumstances, no matter what Barbie says.
October 17, 2021
I like that this book had a variety of people, from race to religion. The differences weren’t explained very well, when considering the target audience, so this book is best read to an adult, so they can explain things in more detail.
April 14, 2012
Barbie can Warm anyone's heart. Grade 4.
September 23, 2012
I wanted that Barbie on the cover!!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews