Alex, 6, and his little brother Dom, 4, are very busy at Christmas. Lots of cousins and aunties and uncles come to stay at their house. Here we meet them the day before Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve eve as they call it, getting ready for the big day, excited and happy...and a bit tired. Something goes slightly wrong; Alex gets rather cross, Dom gets rather upset and where, oh where is Mum when she's needed? And where is Lisimba, Dom's favourite, cuddly, toy lion?
But Mum is there, all is fine, everything quickly becomes magical and lovely in this little story, and we leave them in the early hours of Christmas morning wishing Merry Christmas to everyone as the silvery moonlight shines in on them across the snowy garden.
Children will see that including everyone is very important, that all contributions and ideas are valuable and that tolerance, understanding, forgiveness, safety, security and love lead to a settled peacefulness and joy where everyone can enjoy the fun of Christmas day.
This is a book that will become part of Christmas. The closing sentence is a nod both to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, recalling Tiny Tim's 'God Bless Us, everyone', and to Shirley Hughes' Lucy and Tom's Christmas.
Merry Christmas to Alex and to Dom and to children everywhere who celebrate this day.
