Publishers Weekly
★ 09/16/2013
Evert and Breiehagen’s first children’s book is a family affair, with the story built around photographs of their daughter, Anja. Set “in a place so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens,” the tale follows Anja as she ventures through ice and snow on skis and aided by several animals to find Santa Claus before Christmas. Dressed in a plaid jumper, Fair Isle sweater, and an elfin red cap, rosy-cheeked Anja looks like she’s stepped out of a fairy tale, and Breiehagen’s delicious (and, necessarily, digitally altered) photographs of her riding on the back of a polar bear and meeting Santa amid the snowy pines of the North Pole create the sense that magic is very real. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"A captivating Christmas story with a magic all its own.” —Starred, Kirkus Reviews
"…rosy-cheeked Anja looks like she’s stepped out of a fairy tale, and Breiehagen’s delicious (and, necessarily, digitally altered) photographs of her riding on the back of a polar bear and meeting Santa amid the snowy pines of the North Pole create the sense that magic is very real." — Starred, Publishers Weekly
"[The Christmas Wish] points to both the timelessness and the otherworldliness of a child's Christmastime wonder." —The Horn Book
"…this cozy Nordic tale filled with extraordinary photographs will have readers of all ages believing in the magic of Christmas. This is one to pull out every year and savor." —The Children's Book Review
"Dreams have never been so photogenic." —USA Today
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2013-09-01
Make a wish--for a truly magical Christmas story with supersized photographs of a darling little girl napping with a polar bear, meeting a reindeer and flying across the snowy sky in Santa's sleigh. The little girl, Anja, lives somewhere "so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens." That snowy land is presumably Norway, where the book's photographer and author live with their real-life daughter, Anja, the charming model dressed in traditional Scandinavian clothing for the striking photographs that illustrate the story. The fictional Anja dreams of becoming one of Santa's elves, and one snowy day in December, she sets off on her skis to find Santa Claus. She is helped by talking animals, including a reindeer who leads her to Santa in his sleigh. Santa allows Anja to drive the sleigh and delivers her back to her snow-covered home with a gift of a magical bell. The superb photographs are, of course, digitally composed, but with such skill that little Anja really seems to be riding on the back of a polar bear, skiing down a mountainside or flying through the sky in Santa's sleigh. The photographs use lovely backgrounds of snowy trees, sparkling icicles and the northern lights to create an enchanted atmosphere echoed by the text, which unfolds in fairy-tale cadences. A captivating Christmas story with a magic all its own. (Picture book. 3-8)
