The Magic Faraway Tree: A Christmas adventure by Jacqueline Wilson

A second offering from Jacqueline Wilson that is inspired by the stories about the Magic Faraway tree written by Enid Blyton.  This time the children – Milo, Mia and Birdy - who were introduced in the first book, stay at the cottage beside the Magic Faraway Tree in winter for a Christmas holiday.  They soon find all their friends at the top of the tree and are excited to see new lands arrive each time they slip out of the cottage to visit the tree.  They enjoy the Land of Sunshine where they play on the beach, swim with mermaids and have a lovely beach picnic.  The land of the Frozen North presents some interesting experiences, such as meeting friendly bears, arctic foxes and running away from terrifying wolves, not to mention seeing Santa’s reindeer fly out of danger. Each land they visit presents new experiences and new challenges and the Land of Toys is so appropriate for this story set at Christmas time.

This book is perfect for reading as a bedtime chapter book for younger children as it uses simple language and contains a selection of small illustrations. The font is larger than most books this size making it ideal for young independent readers as well.

Themes: Christmas, Fairies, Trees, Magic, Siblings.

Gabrielle Anderson