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amibunk's review against another edition
4.0
As a fan of Madeleine L'Engle's "Austin" series, this short and sweet Christmas novella was a delightful read during the holidays. Told from seven year old Vicki Austin's perspective, this story gives the reader an old fashioned look at family celebrations before there were malls, cell phones, or Pinterest. The simplicity and sincerity of the holiday give this book its nostalgic charm.
ehays84's review against another edition
4.0
A charming little book. As I've said before, no one writes family like L'Engle. You just want to be a part of it. I just wish it were 2 or 3 times longer. This may end up as one I read every Advent season to my kids. They certainly liked it a lot.
pickekat's review against another edition
4.0
Vicki is worried that her mom won't be home for Christmas, because her mom has a baby in her tummy. Vicki is in a pageant and she is learning how not to be clumsy, and she finally turns out fine.
themartinmama's review against another edition
5.0
A sweet and simple story. It came recommended to me when someone found out my family does a daily advent activity calendar to both prolong the Christmas joy and peace the festivities from decorating to baking to gift giving to others.
lisalark's review against another edition
2.0
This is a cute little illustrated novella in the Austin timeline. Although I was published in the 80s it actually comes earlier in the chronology than Meet the Austins. Feels like a bit of a cash-in Christmas tale.
lizbusby's review
3.0
A very realistic family story about Christmas. L'Engle doesn't go over the top, but portrays a realistic family and their traditions, worries, and problems. I was surprised how worried the kids were about whether her mom would be in the hospital having a baby for Christmas. I was more surprised about how moving the final scene was of having a new baby at Christmastime. A nice cozy read, short too.
benjfleck's review against another edition
2.0
The 24 days before Christmas: Or, Older Kids are Jealous of Babies
As the youngest child in my family, I can't really relate to the worry my older siblings faced when I entered the world and stole all the attention from our parents. Still doing it to this day. Youngest kids 4 life!!
As for the story, it is #basic and boring and tries to be heartwarming, but is mainly just a slog. Oh, and clearly for children. So, whoops!
As the youngest child in my family, I can't really relate to the worry my older siblings faced when I entered the world and stole all the attention from our parents. Still doing it to this day. Youngest kids 4 life!!
As for the story, it is #basic and boring and tries to be heartwarming, but is mainly just a slog. Oh, and clearly for children. So, whoops!
tarshly's review against another edition
1.0
Okay, so I love Madeleine L'Engle. Growing up, A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite book, and I still own it plus the rest of that series. But,I can't see how any kid would actually like The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas. Even though it's such a quick read, and I thought the traditions were interesting, and I freaking love Christmas, I still almost didn't finish it. I mean, come on, it's 71 pages and I almost gave up? Yeah, obviously I really did not enjoy it.
I read it immediately after The Best Christmas Pageant Ever so it's interesting to read two books that are so completely different yet have such similar themes (Christmas pageant and the fear that it will be ruined, not fully understanding religious contexts, coming to terms with what's actually important about Christmas, etc), targeted at the same age group (elementary school), told through similar narrators (elementary school-age girls). But they really are very different, the voice, the flow, everything. I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but I would give a kid a copy of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever over The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas every time.
I read it immediately after The Best Christmas Pageant Ever so it's interesting to read two books that are so completely different yet have such similar themes (Christmas pageant and the fear that it will be ruined, not fully understanding religious contexts, coming to terms with what's actually important about Christmas, etc), targeted at the same age group (elementary school), told through similar narrators (elementary school-age girls). But they really are very different, the voice, the flow, everything. I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but I would give a kid a copy of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever over The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas every time.
karinaleonard's review against another edition
4.0
My mom read this out loud for us for Christmas. This was a sweet book, and I want to read Meet the Austins to find out more about their darling family.