Sarah Reviews… The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher

Publisher: Puffin

Publication Date: 6^th October 2016

Format: eBook

About the book:

The Christmasaurus is a story about a boy named William Trundle, and a dinosaur, 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, music and magic. It’s about discovering your heart’s true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible.

What I Thought:

William Trundle has a happy life, until Brenda Payne arrives at school, within weeks she’s scared all his former friends into ignoring him and his life has become miserable. Until one magical Christmas Eve when he discovers Santa has accidentally left him the most amazing gift, a real life dinosaur!

I was thinking that I needed my first review of Blogmas to be Christmas related but I wasn’t sure what to read, and then I was putting together yesterday’s Six for Sunday and I included The Christmasaurus and checked my library’s eBook collection and was lucky enough to find it available. I certainly was not disappointed! From beginning to end Tom Fletcher creates an incredibly engaging and captivating tale.

The eBook version of the story comes in at around 370 pages, which seems long but don’t let that off picking up the book for your younger children. The book is split into 33 chapters so it’s easy to break down into bedtime reading throughout December. There are also a lot beautiful illustrations which means there are relatively few pages are solid text. As a grown up reading it on my own I managed to finish it in a couple of hours, I just couldn’t put it down.

I absolutely fell in love with a wonderful cast of characters. Beginning with William, it is impossible not to feel for this wonderful little boy with the Christmas loving father whose life quickly goes downhill following an accident with the new girl at school. It was a joy to follow his journey through the story and see his excitement as he visited the North Pole

Tom makes it so easy to dislike Brenda Payne from the moment she arrives at the school, she could have very easily been a 2D villain within the story but as the plot moves on Tom reveals more about Brenda’s life which creates a much more sympathetic character.

The citizens of the North Pole! I don’t think there was a single resident of the North Pole that I didn’t enjoy reading about! The crumpet eating, rhyming elves were a delight, and their names will leave you giggling! I adored Tom’s take on Santa Claus. Although a relatively brief part of the story I found the tale behind the Northern Lights surprisingly moving.

Then we come to the Christmasaurus himself! It was wonderful how much of a connection Tom managed to create for me with a character that can’t speak. I really felt his loneliness about being the only dinosaur in the world, and I loved his connection with William!

Before finishing the review I have to take a moment and talk about Shane Devries, the incredible illustrator who has brought Tom’s creations to life! The illustrations in this book are absolutely stunning, from the map of North Pole to every other moment within the story. The Christmasaurus especially is stunning!

There are so many more things I could say about this book but I don’t want to risk spoiling it for others even if it’s a few years old now! Definitely join me in the comments to talk about it some more!

Final Thoughts

What a magical Christmas story this is. I loved Tom’s version of the North Pole and the rhyming elves! It’s a fantastic Christmas read for both adults and children alike and I’m really looking forward to catching up with William and the Christmasaurus again in the sequel!

The Christmasaurus Series – via Goodreads

More Tom Fletcher on SWB

About The Author

Tom Fletcher is one of the UK’s bestselling authors for children. The Christmasaurus was the biggest debut middle-grade novel of 2016 and was shortlisted for a British Book Award, and The Creakers was a number one bestseller. Tom is also the bestselling author of the In Your Book picture book series, as well as one half of the author duo behind the Dinosaur that Pooped picture book series, which has sold over a million copies. Tom’s books have been translated into thirty-two languages and counting. He is also a music-making, song-writing, guitar-playing, Guinness World Record-holding, nappy changing, galaxy-defending dad!