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A review by annatsp
The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
4.0
I haven't read a Gaarder in years... I loved this enough to tell a few friends that they *need* to read it, but not quite enough to make it a 5-star book, mainly because I probably won't be enticed into re-reading it very much (unlike Maya and Sophie's World).
Joachim finds a very old homemade Advent calendar in a bookstore which was left there by an eccentric flower-seller called John. When he opens the first little door on the calendar on the first of December, he finds a piece of paper with a story. Soon the story of seven-year-old Elisabet Hansen, who runs out of a Norwegian store in 1948 after a little toy lamb who came alive, consumes Joachim and his family. Who is this girl who sets out on a journey through time and space to reach Bethlehem in time to witness Jesus' birth?
The Christmas Mystery is written rather like Sophie's World, with two different stories intertwining and finally merging at the end, though it is much less complex and very much more childlike. The ending is also a little open ended, which really does add to the mystery.
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First read: 2014
Re-read: 2016.
I tried to split this reading by day, but soon got annoyed because each chapter is quite short. This method would probably work for reading with younger kids.
Joachim finds a very old homemade Advent calendar in a bookstore which was left there by an eccentric flower-seller called John. When he opens the first little door on the calendar on the first of December, he finds a piece of paper with a story. Soon the story of seven-year-old Elisabet Hansen, who runs out of a Norwegian store in 1948 after a little toy lamb who came alive, consumes Joachim and his family. Who is this girl who sets out on a journey through time and space to reach Bethlehem in time to witness Jesus' birth?
The Christmas Mystery is written rather like Sophie's World, with two different stories intertwining and finally merging at the end, though it is much less complex and very much more childlike. The ending is also a little open ended, which really does add to the mystery.
---
First read: 2014
Re-read: 2016.
I tried to split this reading by day, but soon got annoyed because each chapter is quite short. This method would probably work for reading with younger kids.