The Christmas Wish

Starred review from September 16, 2013
Evert and Breiehagen’s first children’s book is a family affair, with the story built around photographs of their daughter, Anja. Set “in a place so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens,” the tale follows Anja as she ventures through ice and snow on skis and aided by several animals to find Santa Claus before Christmas. Dressed in a plaid jumper, Fair Isle sweater, and an elfin red cap, rosy-cheeked Anja looks like she’s stepped out of a fairy tale, and Breiehagen’s delicious (and, necessarily, digitally altered) photographs of her riding on the back of a polar bear and meeting Santa amid the snowy pines of the North Pole create the sense that magic is very real. Ages 3–7.

Starred review from September 1, 2013
Make a wish--for a truly magical Christmas story with supersized photographs of a darling little girl napping with a polar bear, meeting a reindeer and flying across the snowy sky in Santa's sleigh. The little girl, Anja, lives somewhere "so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens." That snowy land is presumably Norway, where the book's photographer and author live with their real-life daughter, Anja, the charming model dressed in traditional Scandinavian clothing for the striking photographs that illustrate the story. The fictional Anja dreams of becoming one of Santa's elves, and one snowy day in December, she sets off on her skis to find Santa Claus. She is helped by talking animals, including a reindeer who leads her to Santa in his sleigh. Santa allows Anja to drive the sleigh and delivers her back to her snow-covered home with a gift of a magical bell. The superb photographs are, of course, digitally composed, but with such skill that little Anja really seems to be riding on the back of a polar bear, skiing down a mountainside or flying through the sky in Santa's sleigh. The photographs use lovely backgrounds of snowy trees, sparkling icicles and the northern lights to create an enchanted atmosphere echoed by the text, which unfolds in fairy-tale cadences. A captivating Christmas story with a magic all its own. (Picture book. 3-8)

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October 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 1-Anja longs to be one of Santa's elves. Dressed in full Nordic regalia complete with red gnomic hat, she certainly looks the part. A thoughtful and helpful child, she acts the part as well. When she skis off in her quest to find Santa, a bird, horse, musk ox, polar bear, and reindeer show her the way. The full-page photographs look like they could be movie stills, so sharp and seamless are the figures that Anja and the animals cut against the winter landscape of Northern lights, glaciers, and snowy pine trees. While the scenes of Anja offering an apple to the reindeer or curled up next to the sleeping polar bear are whimsical and look unaltered, other images are obviously manipulated. Further, the story reads as if it were written around the pictures, rather than the other way around. Nonetheless, the striking winter visuals and the adorable heroine carry the day.-Joanna Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2013
A little girl named Anja, who lives so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens, dreams of becoming one of Santa's elves. She hops on some skis and sets off through the tundra. Along the way, she meets a cardinal, horse, musk ox, polar bear, and reindeer who guide her to Santa. The story takes place long, long ago, but the book's illustrationslarge, clear photographs of a Swiss Miss lookalike in a knit red capevoke the digital age, with Photoshopped images showing Anja up-close-and-personal with her animal friends. It's a neat effectespecially with backdrops including the northern lights and a glacierthat points to both the timelessness and the otherworldliness of a child's Christmastime wonder. elissa gershowitz

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2014
Anja, who lives "so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens," dreams of becoming one of Santa's elves. She skis off through the tundra, meeting various animals who guide her to Santa. The story is old-fashioned, but the illustrations--large, clear photographs of a Swiss Miss lookalike--evoke the digital age, pointing to the timelessness of Christmastime wonder.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)