Review (Book) - Just Right for Christmas by Birdie Black

"When the king comes upon a bolt of beautiful red cloth, he knows that it's just right to make a beautiful cloak for the princess. After the sewing maids finish their work, the scraps are set out and quickly picked up by the kitchen maid, who will put them to good use. So begins a chain of trickle-down crafting and gift giving until even the tiniest mouse has something warm and cozy - something just right for Christmas." (inside jacket cover)

I had high hopes for this book judging by the cute illustration on the cover, but alas, Bertie Badger and his story only appear on six of the book's 26 pages. I became wary as soon as I opened the cover of the book and noticed the background of the endpapers/pages/leaves (whatever you want to call them) were  horribly pixelated.

While the story is nice, when I look for a Christmas book, I look for a book about Christmas. There definitely wasn't anything as offensive as the story of Jesus's birth in this book, but even the jolly old elf himself (aka Santa) didn't make an appearance. The only thing "Christmassy" about this book is the giving of gifts and the word "Christmassy" in regards to a piece of soft red cloth. This story could have just as easily applied to Hanukkah, birthdays, or really any day of the year that you just feel like being nice and giving a homemade gift to a friend. While it has good morals, this will not be a book I buy for my future children (and would not be inclined to suggest for a library collection either, as I simply didn't find anything special about it). There are plenty of other books that teach the same good values while actually being "Christmassy".

Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up. This is a fine age range, as approximately half of most pages contain the repeating phrase ""Oooh!" he/she said. "That cloth is so red and soft and Christmassy! It would be just right to...""

My rating: