We read two novels together as a read aloud for Christmas this year. The first was “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (find the review for that one here) and the second was “The Christmas Pig” by J.K. Rowling.
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Why “The Christmas Pig”?
Well, I’ll be honest. As a Harry Potter fan, the author of this novel was a HUGE reason I wanted to try it. I haven’t read anything else by J.K. Rowling and I was so curious what another novel of hers would be like.
I also wanted a Christmas-themed novel. This book, of course, takes place during Christmas. It’s also a newer novel, published in 2021, so I was eager to check out a new story.
What is the Book About?
The book follows the adventures of a young boy and his toy pig. At the beginning of the story the boy goes through some difficult changes with his family when his parents split up. This leads him to become more and more reliant on the comfort of his toy pig.
Right before Christmas, his toys come alive and take him on an incredible adventure through the Land of the Lost to search for something very special, but he must make it back in time or else be lost forever.
Age Group
I read this out loud to my three girls who are 8, 6, and almost 4. My older two loved it and begged me to read another chapter every night. My four year old enjoyed it as well. I’m not sure how much she caught on, but she looked forward to reading each night.
I also enjoyed this book as an adult. There are some pretty abstract concepts when you get further into the book. I don’t want to give it away, but things like happiness, and hope, and ambition were terms used for some of the characters that really got me thinking deeply. I don’t believe my children could completely grasp what each thing was. However, they understood in a simple way. As an adult, it was just interesting to really wrestle with the different concepts in my mind as they related to the story.
Although this story is about a young boy and his toys, I do feel like middle school children (4th-6th graders) would enjoy this. There is a lot of adventure, and the story keeps you on your toes which I feel like would be something a middle schooler would definitely enjoy.
Warnings/ Concerns
I always like to share concerns about the book if I have any. A lot of times people want to read these out loud to children so it may be helpful to be aware of any red flags. This book really didn’t have many concerns for me so I’m really digging deep here to tell you some things.
The book kind of started a little sad and slow for me. Almost immediately we find out that the boy’s family is splitting up, and it doesn’t really give you that Christmas-spirit-feel. However, get a few chapters in and you’ll be turning pages quickly!
The word “stupid” is used a few times, but that’s about as bad as the language gets. I don’t remember any bad words coming up.
It may also be helpful to know that the Land of the Lost is mostly not a happy place. It could cause some fear in really young children, especially the Loser, which is the bad guy of the Land of the Lost. He is known to kill toys by eating them.
The only other thing I can think of is what I mentioned earlier about the words like “ambition” and “happiness”. It’s nothing bad at all. As an adult it really brought some depth to the story, but it may be harder for young minds to completely grasp.
An Honest Review
As I mentioned in the previous section, I felt like the book started out a little slow. Once we got a few chapters in, I really loved it. It was easy to read and hard to put down.
The chapters are very short, so we were reading 2-3 each night. If it wasn’t bed time, I probably would have read even more.
I love the way J.K. Rowling writes. The way she describes things is so detailed that you can actually picture it in your head. She makes the fantasy worlds seem so real that even I thought twice about what happened to a broken toy after I threw it out. It’s just crazy to me how she can make such an imaginary thing seem so real.
I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for an adventurous read this Christmas!
Listen to the Audio Book
The book was a little long for my taste (reading to little ones). We weren’t able to finish it by Christmas so I had the idea to get the book on Audible and finish it as we drove out of town on Christmas Day.
I am SO glad that we did this because the audio book was amazing! There was a different voice for every character as well as the narrator. There were also background noises which really made it feel like we were in a movie.
I honestly wish we would’ve listened to it from the beginning. It was so wonderful! My kids loved it so much and were so engaged. I need to find other audio books that are made like it, because we really enjoyed listening!
Just as a heads up – the Loser in the audio book is a little bit loud and scary. The shrill voice is quite ear piercing, but it really adds a level of excitement/fear to the story listening to it like that.
Final Thoughts
We loved this book and we loved the audio book even more! The kids were sad when it ended and actually asked to read it again the night after we finished.
I overheard them one day playing and imagining a whole scenario using the details from the book. I feel like that’s when you know it’s a good one. It’s one they still think about even after they’re done reading. It’s a book that expands their imagination and gives them an entire new world to play in.
