BOOK REVIEW: THE DOG THAT SAVED CHRISTMAS

The Dog that Saved Christmas
Author: Nicola Davies
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
ISBN:978-1-78112-769-8
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

For most of us, Christmas is a wonderful time of year for young ones. It means two weeks' holiday off school, cool food and presents galore,  but for Jake it's nothing more than a nightmare of change he dreads every year it comes around, though this year will be different for Jake.

In Nicola Davies's new novel, Jake lives with his mum, dad and older brother, Andy who unlike him loves Christmas. The reason for Jake's dislike of this festive season is due to the upheaval it causes him; the Christmas lights disrupt his daily activities such as watching TV in the living room, next door's huge snowman disturbs his sleep, while activities at school revolve around this season, which annoys him even more.

It is only the sight of a stray dog in his local area that fills Jake with hope that this Christmas will mean he can share it with someone who won't care about Christmas. Jake's next day at school has him destroying a Christmas tree, costing a great deal of damage,  resulting in his parents not being pleased with him. As Jake is such a sensitive soul, he can think of only one course of action; he has to run away, but even his brother has an idea where he will be. What Andy doesn't expect to see is the dog keeping him company.

This Christmas, spare a thought for the one kid who doesn't like Christmas, but realises there are more out there he can be friends with - even stray dog, Susan who takes a liking to him straight away. Author, Nicola Davies lets us into Jake's life with what would look to us like a normal time of year we would celebrate, though to Jake it means he has two weeks of hell, and would probably prefer Halloween over this festive season instead. Jake's mum and dad do their best to help ease him through Christmas, but it's Susan who makes his month when it all seems lost.

With yellow coloured paper to make it easier on the eye, wide spaced text making it easier to read and artwork by Mike Byrne, Barrington Stoke  has done it again with another wonderful Yule story well worth getting your hands on.