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Keeping Holiday
Dylan loves his family's yearly vacation to Holiday and wishes it could last all year. When he finds a flyer asking if he'd like to keep Holiday, he encounters a bigger and better Holiday than the one his family has always visited; he also learns that entering it requires the Founder's authorization. Thus begins Dylan's quest to meet the one of whom people keep "You can't find the Founder; he finds you./He's not just the Founder, he's the Finder too." As Dylan reads of Holiday's origins, he experiences a number of adventures and meets characters who represent the sights and sounds he always finds in Holiday-characters who explain how each of these familiarities points to the Founder's previous rescue of the city's inhabitants. And the more Dylan learns, the more he longs to personally know the one who holds the key to entering the "real Holiday." Writing for elementary-age children and older, author, teacher, and grandmother Starr Meade offers a book that families can read together, discovering along with Dylan how God brings a person to faith. Keeping Holiday is also a charming, insightful way to help children grasp the meaning of the Incarnation.
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 2008
13 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Starr Meade
32 books10 followersStarr Meade served as director of children’s ministries for ten years at her local church and taught Latin and Bible for eight years in a Christian school. She is a graduate of Arizona College of the Bible and has authored a number of books, including Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. Starr and her husband live in Arizona where she currently teaches home school students and is mother to three grown children and three grandsons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 8, 2018
A theologically faithful but poorly written story. We wanted to love it but this is not good fiction.
December 27, 2025
A family favorite for the holiday season. I've read it many years in a row at dinner time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Read for the 9th year in a row - December 2016
Finished it again December 2017 - 10 years in a row of reading this one to the family.
Finished again 1.8.19 with the family.
And again 12.29.19 with the family.
Finished 12.30.20 with the four youngest kiddos. 13th year in a row.
Finished again 1/14/22
Read to Naomi and Julia 1/2/23
Read to Naomi and Julia 12/21/23. -- 16 years in a row reading this during the holiday season.
Read to Naomi and Julia 1/1/25
Read to Naomi and Julia 12/26/25
Read for the 9th year in a row - December 2016
Finished it again December 2017 - 10 years in a row of reading this one to the family.
Finished again 1.8.19 with the family.
And again 12.29.19 with the family.
Finished 12.30.20 with the four youngest kiddos. 13th year in a row.
Finished again 1/14/22
Read to Naomi and Julia 1/2/23
Read to Naomi and Julia 12/21/23. -- 16 years in a row reading this during the holiday season.
Read to Naomi and Julia 1/1/25
Read to Naomi and Julia 12/26/25
December 27, 2025
9th reading Christmas 2016
2016 A book you have read before
Finished our 10th annual reading as a family on Christmas Eve, 2017
2017 A book about theology
2019 - A book I've read before (11th time)(12th time)
2020 The first time we didn't read it with ALL the kids...they are growing up!
A book about theology
2022 A book with a two-word title
2025 A book that explains the gospel to kids
2016 A book you have read before
Finished our 10th annual reading as a family on Christmas Eve, 2017
2017 A book about theology
2019 - A book I've read before (11th time)(12th time)
2020 The first time we didn't read it with ALL the kids...they are growing up!
A book about theology
2022 A book with a two-word title
2025 A book that explains the gospel to kids
December 17, 2025
One of my favorite advent books. Keeping Holiday is one I love to come back to again and again. You’ll find yourself engrossed in the wonderful vacation spot of Holiday and the ever repeating phrase of the city folk : “You don’t find the founder, the founder finds you. He’s not just the founder, he’s the finder too. Hey! That rhymes!” As Dylan searches out the truth on how to “keep” Holiday all year long!
January 3, 2013
This is an allegorical story about coming to faith in Jesus (the Founder) and then living the Christian life (keeping Holiday). It is a tale about two children, Dylan and his cousin Clare, and their adventure to find the true city of Holiday, where the joy and celebration of “the holidays” is kept perpetually, and to be authorized by the Founder to come and go there whenever they wish. I bought it because Starr Meade’s devotional teaching material for kids is beneficial and this story came highly praised by a couple of theologians I respect and have benefitted from. I read it to my three oldest children (8, 6 & 4) as the book says it is for elementary age and older.
[NOTE: I hope no one takes this review as an attack on the author of this book. I know her previous books have been used to teach many young children (and their parents) the truths of the Christian faith and for that I am truly thankful. I have no doubt that God will also use this book in some people’s lives toward that same end. But I want to use this review to also speak about a broader issue affecting much Christian fiction, particularly that produced for children. I use this occasion because this book is an example of the issue I have in mind.]
First, the positive. This is a great concept. I wish there were a perpetual stream of fine works of imaginative fiction in which children (and adults) could steep in the truth, goodness and beauty of the Christian faith, its various facets reflected and captured in fine literature. Story is usually a far more powerful teacher than other forms of written or verbal communication, especially for children. Unfortunately, while I think this book is on the right track, I don’t think it gets very far from the station.
Also, it must be said that the book makes a carefully conscious effort to be theologically precise, something that is far too frequently lacking in Christian books of all kinds outside of a small number of publishers. (That the criteria of theological correctness ought to be the most basic litmus test of publishability for Christian publishing houses should go without saying but unfortunately it needs to be said over and over as it appears too many of them aren’t listening.) The author takes great pains to ensure that the symbolism of the story is, almost point-by-point, accurate with a faithful understanding of salvation by grace through faith, and not by our works. Actually, the point-by-point attempt at accuracy may be a major factor in the flatness of the story telling, but more on that below. The oft repeated lines, “you don’t find the Founder, he finds you. He’s not just the Founder, he’s the finder too” serves to regularly remind the cousins (and the reader) that as they seek the Founder (Jesus), son of the Emperor (God the Father), it is really he who is seeking them. The difficult and challenging circumstances that the protagonists go through, including being tempted by a kindly looking and sounding old man to give up the search for the true Holiday, are understood at the end to have been superintended by the Founder, and while they seemed nearly impossible to endure at the time, in hindsight the children can see the caring hand of the Founder watching over and providing for them in every circumstance.
Now the negative. This author is definitely stronger as a non-fiction writer and educator. Overall, the prose is clunky and laborious, in places too overt or “teachy” and in others, just awkward. This is the case to such a degree that at times as I read it aloud to my children, they asked me to re-read the sentence because they didn’t understand what the author was saying (I can’t recall them ever having asked me to do that before, even with something on the reading level of The Hobbit). I sometimes even found myself backing up and sorting out the flow of a sentence in my mind prior to reading it (supporting or dependent clauses should be rare in the sentences of a children’s story, especially geared toward elementary aged children). At any rate, the prose certainly doesn’t roll off the tongue. While I am in full support of the concept of story to tell and teach the truth, it really only works well when the story itself can stand on its own merits as a work of artistry and good literature, while not sacrificing “correctness” of the truth it contains. This story feels everywhere like theological correctness was the governing rule in its creation at the expense of attention to artistry. Even the descriptions of things like the sights, smells and sounds of Holiday, which were clearly meant to attract the reader and cause them to associate fond Christmas memories with the winsome beauty of the authentic Christian life, are described in very clunky language. About halfway through the book, I found myself simplifying sentences as I read them, substituting a simpler phrase for a backhanded one or a simpler word for an awkward or ill-chosen one. It is almost always true, especially in children’s stories, that the simpler way of saying something is the better way.
The thought that kept springing to mind was, “I wish that the author would quit writing for the theologians that the publisher will ask to blurb the book and just write for the children who will read it.” Perhaps that is an unfair statement on my part since I don’t know the author personally and I am pretty sure, being a mother and grandmother, she had some little people in mind when she was writing it. I am pretty sure she made an effort to tell a truly good story. Also, I do applaud her proper effort to be correct in her symbolic representation of various doctrines and truths. However, I couldn’t suppress the thought that this story was concerned more with theological accuracy than with the narrative that contained and carried it. Truth and goodness are of ultimate importance, but they ought to be inseparably married to beauty. It may very well be the scope of the story, the breadth of things it is seeking to represent (how a person comes to faith and starts to live the Christian life), that makes it so difficult to capture in one story, like Bunyan did. Thinking of the Narnia stories, Lewis writes from a perspective of truth, but the individual “truths” of the faith overtly represented in each story are limited in scope (the substitutionary atonement and resurrection as victory over sin, death and the devil in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the process of regeneration, repentance and sanctification in the life of Eustace Scrub in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, most obviously come to mind, though there are certainly additional particular truths present in those stories as well). So, while I think the attempt falls short, the author could be commended for attempting such a broad and worthy goal.
A Christian story book should be like a faithful Christian. Living a faithful Christian life is not only about thinking rightly and doing rightly but about our right thinking and action being accompanied by deep joy, abiding peace, hearty laughter and sacrificial love, by a winsome spirit. It is these traits that make the true Christian life and doctrines beautiful and winsome. No one is attracted by a dour theologian even if he is precise and accurate and no one is won by a nit-picking moralist, even if their morals are biblical ones. Likewise, no one is ultimately helped by an attractive liar or by beautiful lies. But truth and beauty are not mutually exclusive. Personally, I think a truthful story that lacks beauty is nearly as dangerous as a beautiful story that lacks truth. A beautiful lie will frequently suck people in because it is attractive. Truth presented in a drab or flat way will often deter people as they associate that truth with ugliness, or at least with something unbeautiful. But the Christian faith, which this book is symbolizing, is true, good and beautiful. I wish this story had the same mixture. In fairness, I think the author likely did make this attempt, but I wish the editorial staff had worked with her more carefully to achieve it before the book went to print.
The comparisons some have made to Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress are accurate only in so far as this work of fiction is also consciously symbolic of aspects of the Christian life. In the works of Lewis and Bunyan, beauty joins truth and goodness in full partnership. This is not the case with Keeping Holiday. I am currently beginning to read The Chronicles of Narnia to my children for the third time in their short lives (I have read them probably 5 or 6 times myself, both as child and adult). Lewis’s stories suck the reader in from the opening pages. They are truly magical. That never happened with Keeping Holiday, even though I really wanted it to and my kids expected it after seeing the cover art. Sadly, I can’t see our family ever re-reading this story. We are the type of story consumers who, not infrequently, sacrifice bedtime for “just one more chapter, pleeeeease”, so it says something that my children didn’t mind going to bed on time on the evenings when we were reading this story.
With Narnia, people fall in love with the characters, the plot, the mood and the settings. Often, it is only after the fact that a first time reader looks back upon, say, the death and resurrection of Aslan, and sees in it a retelling of the atonement of Christ on the cross in the place of sinners and of the triumph over death of the empty tomb. That such things are often seen in hindsight is not a bad thing but rather a testament to the quality of the story telling. What makes a truly good story is, well, a really good story. A reader gets “lost” or “caught up” in a really good story. The sweep of the plot, the personalities of the characters and the details of description all work together to suck a reader out of their world and into another. Unfortunately, Keeping Holiday felt flat, clunky, wooden and forced and never managed to sweep this reader, or my elementary aged listeners, into itself.
The draw with Bunyan’s Pilgrim is somewhat different than Narnia, but there is beauty there of another kind. It does not contain the hominess or the same type of magic as Narnia but it does capture the dramatic and martial spirit of the faithful Christian life in a cursed and fallen world. The symbolism is loftier, perhaps more operatic, than Narnia, and yet readily identified with by everyday Christians in their everyday struggles, failings and triumphs. Pilgrim is every Christian, and we enter his struggles because Bunyan has so successfully represented ours.
Holiday isn’t a bad story, but it isn’t a good story either, if you catch my drift. Content is fine, but the word-craft needs work. If this story had been a painting, I would applaud the painter’s intention to capture such a worthy subject on canvas, I would applaud the accuracy of her colour choices and vantage point she chose to paint the scene from. I would, however, encourage her next time to use varying widths and stiffness of brushes, to add shadow and depth and texture to her painting, to mix her hues more creatively and above all to study the masters more closely prior to tackling her next subject. I would implore her to do all these things not to discourage her from ever painting again, but rather to encourage her to try harder next time. And as a rebuke to myself and other lovers of good stories, her way of doing it is better than my way of not doing it.
[NOTE: I hope no one takes this review as an attack on the author of this book. I know her previous books have been used to teach many young children (and their parents) the truths of the Christian faith and for that I am truly thankful. I have no doubt that God will also use this book in some people’s lives toward that same end. But I want to use this review to also speak about a broader issue affecting much Christian fiction, particularly that produced for children. I use this occasion because this book is an example of the issue I have in mind.]
First, the positive. This is a great concept. I wish there were a perpetual stream of fine works of imaginative fiction in which children (and adults) could steep in the truth, goodness and beauty of the Christian faith, its various facets reflected and captured in fine literature. Story is usually a far more powerful teacher than other forms of written or verbal communication, especially for children. Unfortunately, while I think this book is on the right track, I don’t think it gets very far from the station.
Also, it must be said that the book makes a carefully conscious effort to be theologically precise, something that is far too frequently lacking in Christian books of all kinds outside of a small number of publishers. (That the criteria of theological correctness ought to be the most basic litmus test of publishability for Christian publishing houses should go without saying but unfortunately it needs to be said over and over as it appears too many of them aren’t listening.) The author takes great pains to ensure that the symbolism of the story is, almost point-by-point, accurate with a faithful understanding of salvation by grace through faith, and not by our works. Actually, the point-by-point attempt at accuracy may be a major factor in the flatness of the story telling, but more on that below. The oft repeated lines, “you don’t find the Founder, he finds you. He’s not just the Founder, he’s the finder too” serves to regularly remind the cousins (and the reader) that as they seek the Founder (Jesus), son of the Emperor (God the Father), it is really he who is seeking them. The difficult and challenging circumstances that the protagonists go through, including being tempted by a kindly looking and sounding old man to give up the search for the true Holiday, are understood at the end to have been superintended by the Founder, and while they seemed nearly impossible to endure at the time, in hindsight the children can see the caring hand of the Founder watching over and providing for them in every circumstance.
Now the negative. This author is definitely stronger as a non-fiction writer and educator. Overall, the prose is clunky and laborious, in places too overt or “teachy” and in others, just awkward. This is the case to such a degree that at times as I read it aloud to my children, they asked me to re-read the sentence because they didn’t understand what the author was saying (I can’t recall them ever having asked me to do that before, even with something on the reading level of The Hobbit). I sometimes even found myself backing up and sorting out the flow of a sentence in my mind prior to reading it (supporting or dependent clauses should be rare in the sentences of a children’s story, especially geared toward elementary aged children). At any rate, the prose certainly doesn’t roll off the tongue. While I am in full support of the concept of story to tell and teach the truth, it really only works well when the story itself can stand on its own merits as a work of artistry and good literature, while not sacrificing “correctness” of the truth it contains. This story feels everywhere like theological correctness was the governing rule in its creation at the expense of attention to artistry. Even the descriptions of things like the sights, smells and sounds of Holiday, which were clearly meant to attract the reader and cause them to associate fond Christmas memories with the winsome beauty of the authentic Christian life, are described in very clunky language. About halfway through the book, I found myself simplifying sentences as I read them, substituting a simpler phrase for a backhanded one or a simpler word for an awkward or ill-chosen one. It is almost always true, especially in children’s stories, that the simpler way of saying something is the better way.
The thought that kept springing to mind was, “I wish that the author would quit writing for the theologians that the publisher will ask to blurb the book and just write for the children who will read it.” Perhaps that is an unfair statement on my part since I don’t know the author personally and I am pretty sure, being a mother and grandmother, she had some little people in mind when she was writing it. I am pretty sure she made an effort to tell a truly good story. Also, I do applaud her proper effort to be correct in her symbolic representation of various doctrines and truths. However, I couldn’t suppress the thought that this story was concerned more with theological accuracy than with the narrative that contained and carried it. Truth and goodness are of ultimate importance, but they ought to be inseparably married to beauty. It may very well be the scope of the story, the breadth of things it is seeking to represent (how a person comes to faith and starts to live the Christian life), that makes it so difficult to capture in one story, like Bunyan did. Thinking of the Narnia stories, Lewis writes from a perspective of truth, but the individual “truths” of the faith overtly represented in each story are limited in scope (the substitutionary atonement and resurrection as victory over sin, death and the devil in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the process of regeneration, repentance and sanctification in the life of Eustace Scrub in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, most obviously come to mind, though there are certainly additional particular truths present in those stories as well). So, while I think the attempt falls short, the author could be commended for attempting such a broad and worthy goal.
A Christian story book should be like a faithful Christian. Living a faithful Christian life is not only about thinking rightly and doing rightly but about our right thinking and action being accompanied by deep joy, abiding peace, hearty laughter and sacrificial love, by a winsome spirit. It is these traits that make the true Christian life and doctrines beautiful and winsome. No one is attracted by a dour theologian even if he is precise and accurate and no one is won by a nit-picking moralist, even if their morals are biblical ones. Likewise, no one is ultimately helped by an attractive liar or by beautiful lies. But truth and beauty are not mutually exclusive. Personally, I think a truthful story that lacks beauty is nearly as dangerous as a beautiful story that lacks truth. A beautiful lie will frequently suck people in because it is attractive. Truth presented in a drab or flat way will often deter people as they associate that truth with ugliness, or at least with something unbeautiful. But the Christian faith, which this book is symbolizing, is true, good and beautiful. I wish this story had the same mixture. In fairness, I think the author likely did make this attempt, but I wish the editorial staff had worked with her more carefully to achieve it before the book went to print.
The comparisons some have made to Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress are accurate only in so far as this work of fiction is also consciously symbolic of aspects of the Christian life. In the works of Lewis and Bunyan, beauty joins truth and goodness in full partnership. This is not the case with Keeping Holiday. I am currently beginning to read The Chronicles of Narnia to my children for the third time in their short lives (I have read them probably 5 or 6 times myself, both as child and adult). Lewis’s stories suck the reader in from the opening pages. They are truly magical. That never happened with Keeping Holiday, even though I really wanted it to and my kids expected it after seeing the cover art. Sadly, I can’t see our family ever re-reading this story. We are the type of story consumers who, not infrequently, sacrifice bedtime for “just one more chapter, pleeeeease”, so it says something that my children didn’t mind going to bed on time on the evenings when we were reading this story.
With Narnia, people fall in love with the characters, the plot, the mood and the settings. Often, it is only after the fact that a first time reader looks back upon, say, the death and resurrection of Aslan, and sees in it a retelling of the atonement of Christ on the cross in the place of sinners and of the triumph over death of the empty tomb. That such things are often seen in hindsight is not a bad thing but rather a testament to the quality of the story telling. What makes a truly good story is, well, a really good story. A reader gets “lost” or “caught up” in a really good story. The sweep of the plot, the personalities of the characters and the details of description all work together to suck a reader out of their world and into another. Unfortunately, Keeping Holiday felt flat, clunky, wooden and forced and never managed to sweep this reader, or my elementary aged listeners, into itself.
The draw with Bunyan’s Pilgrim is somewhat different than Narnia, but there is beauty there of another kind. It does not contain the hominess or the same type of magic as Narnia but it does capture the dramatic and martial spirit of the faithful Christian life in a cursed and fallen world. The symbolism is loftier, perhaps more operatic, than Narnia, and yet readily identified with by everyday Christians in their everyday struggles, failings and triumphs. Pilgrim is every Christian, and we enter his struggles because Bunyan has so successfully represented ours.
Holiday isn’t a bad story, but it isn’t a good story either, if you catch my drift. Content is fine, but the word-craft needs work. If this story had been a painting, I would applaud the painter’s intention to capture such a worthy subject on canvas, I would applaud the accuracy of her colour choices and vantage point she chose to paint the scene from. I would, however, encourage her next time to use varying widths and stiffness of brushes, to add shadow and depth and texture to her painting, to mix her hues more creatively and above all to study the masters more closely prior to tackling her next subject. I would implore her to do all these things not to discourage her from ever painting again, but rather to encourage her to try harder next time. And as a rebuke to myself and other lovers of good stories, her way of doing it is better than my way of not doing it.
December 3, 2021
A simple, cute, fun children's allegory for salvation. Basically, Pilgrim's Progress at Christmas.
Would be good to read aloud and discuss as a family, a good platform to encourage deeper theological questions.
I enjoyed the Christmas elements, and was pleasantly surprised not to find any major theological issues. And, the allegory held together quite well.
Would be good to read aloud and discuss as a family, a good platform to encourage deeper theological questions.
I enjoyed the Christmas elements, and was pleasantly surprised not to find any major theological issues. And, the allegory held together quite well.
December 31, 2022
This is a family favorite. I read it to my older children during Advent 2019, and they have reread it several times through the years. This year (2022) was the first time to read it to my youngest, who is 7. She thoroughly enjoyed it. It is clever and theologically sound. Maybe not a great work of literature, but definitely an fun read with an excellent message.
Read
January 4, 2019Amazing picture of showing God's love to people at Christmas time! I love her portrait of " keeping holiday"
November 7, 2025
pilgrims progress meets a christmas carol
December 1, 2021
This is a good allegory for kids to read which discusses the faith and God behind Christmas (or, Holiday). We've read this book a few times over. This year my kids requested the re-read and I obliged. I think it can be really cheesy in spots but, overall, it's well thought out and makes deep truths accessible to younger children in a way that they can easily grasp the concepts.
Best ages to read to: 4 - 10
Best ages to read to: 4 - 10
February 9, 2021
This is kind of like a Christmas/winter themed pilgrim's progress. We read it slowly over the last two months and had good conversations; my boys were kept interested by the unfolding plot and characters along the way.
January 7, 2023
I enjoyed reading this story for Christmas. It helped me think of Christ during several of our holiday traditions. This book is similar to 'The Shining Sword' and 'The Silver Trumpet' by Charles Coleman, so if you enjoyed 'Keeping Holiday', I strongly recommend those two. Although the humor of this book isn't to my taste, I can't fault it as children love repetition. I wish the parents had tried telling Dylan about the Founder though.
January 4, 2013
My mom read keeping holiday to us. It was a really good book, the kind that you want to go back and reread over and over again. Starr Meade is a very good writer, and the book hooked me from the first page.
January 22, 2014
A sweet story boldly declaring that salvation is of the Lord.
January 6, 2020
I usually read late at night after everyone is in bed & it's quiet... this was one of those books that was hard to do that with though. It made you think & usually I'm just reading entertaining books that I don't put much thought into.
This book took longer for me to read because of that, as well as it being "the holiday season" & "Mr Smith" didn't want me to finish it.
I wish everyone would read this book. It puts salvation in a different perspective that I never would have imagined... but helps explain it in a really neat way.
This book took longer for me to read because of that, as well as it being "the holiday season" & "Mr Smith" didn't want me to finish it.
I wish everyone would read this book. It puts salvation in a different perspective that I never would have imagined... but helps explain it in a really neat way.
August 13, 2018
This book is very reminiscent of Pilgrim’s Progress as it seeks to portray the journey of salvation and faith in a highly symbolic and narrative form although for a juvenile audience. My wife loved it when she read it the first time so we read it together and although it is very sound theologically and at points creative, I simply was never deeply engaged with the story. The ending has powerful imagery if you can make it there. Unfortunately much of the book moves slowly and repetitively.
December 29, 2022
A favorite advent tradition of ours is reading "Keeping Holiday" - the allegory nature of the story makes for awesome conversations with our kids about the Gospel and Jesus. So glad we stumbled upon this book.
January 13, 2023
We absolutely loved this story! When my children began to understand the hidden story within the story they were locked in! Asking all of the questions-- that ending was UGH, SO good!! It evoked so much emotion within me. I will be making this a yearly read through during the winter season! ♥
December 21, 2025
Dec 2025 - read aloud with the kids.
I’d describe it as a Christmasy Pilgrim’s Progress style book. Many beautiful truths described through allegory. Might have to make it an Advent read aloud tradition!
I’d describe it as a Christmasy Pilgrim’s Progress style book. Many beautiful truths described through allegory. Might have to make it an Advent read aloud tradition!
October 15, 2020
This one reminded me of the lion the witch and the wardrobe.
January 13, 2023
This is a gem!
December 22, 2025
Reread of a childhood favorite. It’s as magical, meaningful, and fun reading as an adult as it was reading it over a decade ago. And so nostalgic, too!
December 17, 2012
Keeping Holiday is a fantasy/allegory about a boy named Dylan who discovers that the town Holiday that his family visits every year than he first imagined. In fact, he discovers that the Holiday he has been to is not the "real Holiday" at all, but only an elaborate visitor's center. He embarks on a journey with his cousin Clare to discover the enter the real Holiday, and more importantly, to find the Founder. Along the way he learns not only about the nature of Holiday, but also the many obstacles that exist to entering it. And he learns that even while it's good to seek the Founder, "you don't find the Founder, the Founder finds you."
Keeping Holiday is written with elementary school children in mind. I think if my daughter were old enough to read this to her, I would have enjoyed the story better. The problem with allegory is that rather than communicating truths here or there, allegory forces the author to make more direct comparisons and carry them out through the whole story. This very often flattens the novel, which is why I believe allegory works better in short stories than full length novels. The exceptions of course are the Narnia books. But Meade is not able to pull it off as well as Lewis.
That said, I do think kids might enjoy this story. And with an adult to help tease out some of the meaning, it may create opportunities to talk about spiritual truth in a way that could be meaningful and memorable to a child.
I recommend parents read a book like this to a 2nd-5th grade student. I wouldn't recommend an adult read it on their own. I think you'll be bored.
Keeping Holiday is written with elementary school children in mind. I think if my daughter were old enough to read this to her, I would have enjoyed the story better. The problem with allegory is that rather than communicating truths here or there, allegory forces the author to make more direct comparisons and carry them out through the whole story. This very often flattens the novel, which is why I believe allegory works better in short stories than full length novels. The exceptions of course are the Narnia books. But Meade is not able to pull it off as well as Lewis.
That said, I do think kids might enjoy this story. And with an adult to help tease out some of the meaning, it may create opportunities to talk about spiritual truth in a way that could be meaningful and memorable to a child.
I recommend parents read a book like this to a 2nd-5th grade student. I wouldn't recommend an adult read it on their own. I think you'll be bored.
December 23, 2016
My mother, brother, and I started to read this aloud, but we never finished it. ( We don't go through read-aloud books very fast.) I decided to read this by myself, as the plotline was intriguing.
What I liked: I have to give the cover artist and author a vigorous round of applause for that cover. The wintery wonderland with waxy candles dripping in the background is beautiful and cozy. The story itself was good, I liked the mirroring and the tale of trying to find a wonderful holiday town full of delights. I felt "hate" toward Mr. Smith, he was so evil and tricky. ( That's the way villains should be!) Also, the descriptions of the places of darkness were excellent, especially the cave.
What I didn't like: Though I loved the description of the places of darkness, the places of light weren't described too well. I just didn't feel like they had life and I couldn't envisage Holiday very well. Dylan was meh for a main character, his personality seemed typical and nothing out of the ordinary. ( I loved Clare though.) The wording was clunky at some points, and it felt like the author was trying too hard to have her book be like Pilgrim's Progress.
Conclusion: This was good.
What I liked: I have to give the cover artist and author a vigorous round of applause for that cover. The wintery wonderland with waxy candles dripping in the background is beautiful and cozy. The story itself was good, I liked the mirroring and the tale of trying to find a wonderful holiday town full of delights. I felt "hate" toward Mr. Smith, he was so evil and tricky. ( That's the way villains should be!) Also, the descriptions of the places of darkness were excellent, especially the cave.
What I didn't like: Though I loved the description of the places of darkness, the places of light weren't described too well. I just didn't feel like they had life and I couldn't envisage Holiday very well. Dylan was meh for a main character, his personality seemed typical and nothing out of the ordinary. ( I loved Clare though.) The wording was clunky at some points, and it felt like the author was trying too hard to have her book be like Pilgrim's Progress.
Conclusion: This was good.
November 7, 2012
This is a great story that illustrates how we come to Christ. I originally bought it to read to my almost 5 year old, but she's a bit sensitive about "scary things" so I think I'll wait a year or two to read it to her. It would be a great book for a 7 year old boy to read and re-read. I can easily see this book becoming a book that we read each December with the kids. Great writing and lots to pull out of it. I would put this in the same class as CS Lewis' Narnia books!
January 8, 2018
This is a creative allegory that presents the biblical, Reformed view of salvation in a way that children can understand and that will provide adults ample food for thought as well. I would read to children six or seven and older. We plan on eventually making this a December family reading tradition.
January 26, 2013
A friend recommended this book. I liken it to The Pilgrim's Progress but written for kids with kid characters that can be related to by kids. I especially liked that the main boy character was the one with the spiritual dilemma. He had to realize his need for a savior and then want the savior for who he was not what he got from the savior.
June 21, 2014
While the allegory itself was clever, the sentence structure was difficult to read aloud. Often times we had to reread sentences to grasp the meaning. My 2nd grader loved it, but my younger three lost interest. Wouldn't read it aloud again, but would encourage 2-5th graders to read it themselves. Appreciated the theme and accuracy.
June 24, 2015
Definitely recommended. The author manages to write an allegory about the miracle of Christmas, the Incarnation, and what that means for each one of us, without becoming cloying or yawnworthy. Awesome read for Christmas.
December 14, 2008
Reviewing for Crossway Publishing
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