A review by marc_lucke
Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne

4.0

I've been looking forward to reading Christmas in Camelot for a while, as it marks the first book in the new iteration of the long-running series. After 28 entries aimed at 5-to-8-year-olds, #29 was supposed to add a soupçon of pre-adolescent maturity to the mix; I was curious to see what the results would be.

As with any successful franchise, change comes slowly. CiC plays out along the same formulaic lines as the other entries in the series, though the story is longer -- allowing for more introspection on the part of the main characters -- and the dragons Jack and Annie have to face are described in greater, more horrific detail. When my 9-year-old and I talked about it afterwards, she said that she felt like she was getting to know the characters a little better, so the extra word count is going to good use.

I'm looking forward to reading more of these new adventures and I wonder how the siblings might evolve a little in the future.