North Country Christmas

by Shelley Gill, Shannon Cartwright (Illustrations)

This classic story reveals how love is the best present of all as two children and an Eskimo named Nick borrow some huskies from a famous musher and race to bring greetings to a small Bering Sea village. Ages 3 and up.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 1992

About the author

Alaskan author Shelley Gill lives in Homer, Alaska at the end of the road in North America. Her books reflect her life: racing in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, doing humpback research in Prince William Sound and working as a naturalist in various habitats: Alaska, Antarctica and Hawaii. Her current project, Whale Detective, follows her own research into the community life of humpbacks in Alaska. Her APP What's Up With Whales is in the App Store and looks at the new science about whales around the world. And in February her first board book: If I Were A Whale will be released by Sasquatch Books. She has visited 4800 schools around the world inspiring students to be avid readers and great writers. Her autobiography, Gabe-a girl, her dog and the 1970's, was released in the fall 2016.

Reviews

[Bat713 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful paintings of Alaska make this book memorable.

[Sadie McGinnis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting and i genuinely could not tell you what happened

[M.M. Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a delightful twist on the Santa Claus delivering presents story. Based in Alaska, Santa looks much different than most of us would think he would look. The illustrations are well done with bold pictures and beautiful colors to give the reader a feeling of being right in snowy Alaska.

I enjoyed following along with the children in the book as Nick takes them to a town whose needs for Christmas are much simpler. Generosity and the magic of Christmas can be seen throughout this book. The wonder of the Aurora lights develop the story into something special.

This book is aimed for 3 year olds and up but I think that is a bit young. The sentences in the book are much more complex and made for more than just the emergent reader. I think a younger child would enjoy the pictures but not get the connections. This is however, a great family friendly book that could be read aloud that all ages would enjoy.

This book is definitely a 5 star and worth getting for your shelves.

Disclosure: I purchase this book for my own collections. The review here is 100% my own and may differ from yours.