BOOKBLOG: Tom Fletcher

The Christmasaurus: fun, engaging and exciting!

I KNOW I KNOW.
IT’S MARCH.
We’ve just finished The Christmasaurus in Year 4 and it was SO GREAT.

I get 1/2 afternoons a week to read to Year 4 (hence why it’s taken us so long to get through it!) and listening to me read is their favourite time of day. Generally the 3pm bell goes, we tidy up, collect our belongings ready for home and they get to lounge/sit on the carpet and listen to me read. As a teacher who LOVES reading it has been incredible watching my children fall in love with being read to – through all of the books we’ve read together – and it becoming their favourite time of the day. They HATE when I stop (I like to stop at a cliffhanger or in the middle of a really exciting part, it keeps them wanting more!).

This is such an incredibly written and well thought out story. It’s perfect for the run up to Christmas (we did start this before Christmas and I asked them if they wanted me to stop after Christmas but they wanted me to keep going!)

“Forget everything you thought you knew about the North Pole, and set off on a Christmas Eve adventure with boy named William Trundle, an elf named Snozzletrump, Santa Claus (yes! The real Santa Claus!), a nasty piece of work called the Hunter, and a most unusual dinosaur . . .”

This is the story of young William Trundle, dinosaur loving and inquisitive, and his incredible journey to the North Pole – including Santa, a beautiful Christmasaurus, a mean girl called Brenda, some wonderful elves and an evil evil man called the Hunter.

My kids loved this book so much. They loved William. He wasn’t a boy in a wheelchair that they needed to feel sorry for; he was a young boy who had interests like them, who had dreams and wishes. It’s filled with adventure, humour and heart.

I had one of those rare moments while reading this where there is a resounding gasp across the carpet. There’s a moment in the book where there is a BIG BIG BIG reveal and all of my kids were COMPLETELY taken aback. It filled my heart with SUCH joy to watch them. To know that they had been taking it all in, that they were as invested in this book as me. As an adult, I think kids lit is incredible. So beautifully written and illustrated. This definitely sparked something in my kids. I can’t wait to see what is to come from Tom Fletcher next. My kids want more.