A Royal Christmas to Remember by Jeanna Young and Jacqueline Johnson

A Royal Christmas to Remember by Jeanna Young Jacqueline Johnson, Illustrated by: Omar Aranda ISBN-13: 9780310748021 Hardback: 32 Publisher: Zonderkidz Released: Oct. 11, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher through BookLook.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
With the arrival of the most spectacular winter in years and Christmas only a night away, Princesses Joy, Grace, Faith, Charity, and Hope find themselves in the midst of a scene right out of a holiday fairytale. But then the threat of bandits in the village lead the king away from the castle on Christmas Eve!

Suddenly, the bandits come crashing into the castle. Praying to God for courage and safety, the princesses are soon rescued by five brave squires. The next day, the princesses go to the village to see how they can be of help to the people, discovering that the true meaning of Christmas is in sharing rather than storing up things for themselves.


My Review:
A Royal Christmas to Remember is a children's book for ages 4-8 years old. The illustrations are of the "animated movie" style and do a good job of illustrating the text, though I never did figure out which princess was which. It's a nice story about what Christmas is really about. It included the father reading to the princesses about Christ's birth, and they sing a Christmas song.

Yet the main lesson of the story seemed to be that Christmas is about sharing rather than greedily (their words at the very end) storing up things for yourself. I thought what they decided to share was very odd, though. The village had been burned and many precious items stolen, yet the princesses give away...their Christmas decorations! And their gifts.

A sacrifice, to be sure, but I'm thinking the villagers would have better appreciated an invitation to stay at that large castle until their houses were fixed or something more practical. I guess considering what will actually help those in need is a topic for a future book, though. Overall, it's a fun story that kids will enjoy, even if this adult was a little disappointed.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.