Customer Reviews

Little Whistle's Christmas

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Everybody knows that up at the North Pole in Santa's workshop is where toys get made and that on Christmas Eve Santa Claus goes around the world distributing presents to all the good little boys and girls. But in "Little Whistle's Christmas," told by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Tim Bowers, we learn that is not always the end of the story.

Little Whistle is a real guinea pig who lives in Toytown. Each night, when the store closes, he puts on his blue pea coat and visits his friends, the toys. This night he tells them that it is Christmastime and that the children are talking about Santa. But not all of the toys know about Santa and when Violet the china-doll informs that that Santa makes toys for all the children, Little Whistle wonders if Santa made his friends. When his friends have to admit that they do not know, they decide to write Santa a letter to find out the truth.

"Little Whistle's Christmas" is a charming little Christmas parable, the lesson of which is made with gentle humor and should not be lost on the small children for whom it is intended. This is an excellent bed time story during the Holiday season for younger children, even if they are not old enough to read it all by themselves. This is the fourth volume in the Little Whistle series, following "Little Whistle," "Little Whistle's Dinner Party," and "Little Whistle's Medicine," all written by Rylant and illustrated by Bowers.

My 4 year old daughter, 2 year old son, my husband and I all love Little Whistle's Christmas. Is is a sweet, innocent story with very well done illustrations. At my children's request I've read the book at least a dozen times in the past few days since getting the book. I don't get tired of reading it either. Little Whistle is just adorable. We can't wait to read the other Little Whistle books.

Whistle is a cute and friendly guinea pig who lives in a toy shop called Toytown. During the day, he enjoys the children as they shop for toys. During the night, however, when the shop is empty and everything has grown quiet, Whistle goes out of his cage to visit the toys...which of course always become alive in the stillness of the night.

There's a toy soldier who loves reading to babies, a lion who thinks about vanilla cookies, a bear who likes to try on hats, and even a train to take fun rides in.

But tonight is no ordinary night, and there's a special, electric charge in the air, for it is Christmastime. Whistle and the toys talk about Santa and soon begin to wonder about their own origin and whether or not they were "made" by him. In order to find out, they decide to write Santa a letter and ask him. Each day they wait for a reply, but none arrives.... Will Santa ever respond? And if he does, what would his reply be?

The endearing illustrations complement the story beautifully. Because of its calming, serene quality, this is the kind of tale sure to induce quiet dreams, one any young child will love to fall asleep to, especially on those long holiday nights.

Armchair Interviews says: Little Whistle's Christmas is a sweet story that captures some of the magic and warmth of Christmastime.