Merry Christmas!! How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

So today is Christmas. Which means several things, first and most importantly 2,018 years ago Jesus was born well most importantly for me being Christian maybe not for everyone this is not a place for religious discourse so I mean no offense to any one and presents. The second of which is how I stumbled upon Dr, Who quiet on purpose and not accidentally at all. But that's not what we're here to talk about. No we're here to talk about books, more specifically How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess. This is truly a Christmas classic ranking up there with A Christmas Carol,  The Polar Express (honestly not one of my favorites), The Gift of the Magi, and The Nutcracker. While I'm sure everyone has heard this story I'll go through everything anyway.

• The Grinch- Predictably the main character as his name is in the title. He lives just north of Whoville and hates Christmas. 
• Max- The Grinch's dog. 
• Cindy-lou Who- who was no more than two. She's the sweetest little thing. 
• Everyone else down in Whoville- the Whos. They all love Christmas. 

Ok so the story goes as follows, exactly as follows, being very simple. "Everyone down in Whoville loved Christmas a lot. The Grinch who lived just north of Whoville did not." So hating Christmas, the Grinch decides the only thing to do is "keep Christmas from coming" ie. steal Christmas. So he dresses up like Santa Clause and goes down to Whoville with Max as his reindeer. When he gets to Whoville he steals all the decorations and presents and "even the last can of Who-hash" At one house he encounters "Little Cindy-Lou Who who was not more than two" who sees him and questions him as to why he's stealing her tree. He lies and gets away with it. The next morning the Whos wake up and discover all of their decorations, food, and presents are gone. Still they celebrate gathering where their big tree would be and singing. Bada bing. Bada Boom. Grinches heart grows three sizes and he returns Christmas.

I love this story and always have. Apparently many others have too. Even after two remakes I hold true to my opinion that the first movie that follows the book to the letter is the best version. Though Benedict Cumberbatch is definitely better than Jim Carrey. I give it ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! One Day Left! It's Christmas Eve! The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan

khanIt's Christmas Eve!!!!
So this particular story is sadly not well heard of. I picked it up in my local library a while ago and since then I've read it several times falling in love with the story all over again every time. The Legend of Holly Claus is a fantastic Christmas fairy tale. Nicholas Claus, Santa, and Viviana Claus rule over the land of Forever home of the Immortals as benevolent King and Queen. And then one day they have Holly.

• Holly- Nicholas and Viviana's beloved daughter who posses the most compassionate heart ever born, which was promptly frozen by a villain. Unfortunately said freezing of Holly's heart puts a curse on the land of Forever, oops. She watches the mortal world and one day decides to go to the mortal world to help.
• Nicholas- Santa! He loves his wife and daughter and would do anything to protect them. He also loves the people of the Land of Forever but not nearly as much.
• Viviana- Mrs. Claus and the Queen of the Land of Forever. She cares about Holly so much and wants the best for her. 
• Sofya- Some kind of Russian fortune teller/wise woman who becomes Holly's godmother and teacher. She teaches Holly everything, including somethings that Nicholas would rather her not know.
• Tundra- One of my absolute favorite characters. He'a a wolf and Holly's protector.
• Lexi- A mischievous fox and one of Holly's best friend. 
• Euphemia- Isn't that just a great name, especially for an owl. Euphemia wants to be good owl but she just can's seem to get it right.
• Empy- The most adorable little penguin who follows Holly wherever she goes.
• Herrikhan- DUN DUN DUHHH! Herrikhan is you guessed it the villain. Trapped where even the ground sweats, he hears of a way to end his imprisonment. He must possess the purest most compassionate heart to ever exist, a la Holly, cue heart freezing curse,
• Christopher- A ten year old boy who asks Santa what he wants for Christmas in his letter.
• Mr. Carroll- the owner of a toy store in New York who seems to have lost some of his Christmas spirit.

So in the North Pole, sort of, there exists The Land of Forever home of the Immortals, where Nicholas and Viviana Claus rule. Every year Nicholas gets letter from hundreds of children tell him, Santa, what they want for Christmas. This year he gets an unusual letter from a boy. This boy, who is poor, says he has everything he wants and asks Santa what he wants for Christmas. This allows Nicholas and Vii. And so Nicholas and Viviana have a little girl named Holly. Elsewhere, Odyl, Herrikhan is plotting how to get out of his imprisonment. He finds out that the only way to break the spell holding him there is to posses the purest most compassionate heart ever born, which just happens to belong to baby Holly. So being the evil son of a nutcracker he is Herrikahn casts a curse on Holly freezing her heart. This has the side effect of keep everyone in the Land of Forever and everyone out as well, along with the fact that if Holly gets to warm her heart will melt and she will die. So Holly grows up loved and protected by her parents, but curious about the outside world where she can't go. Holly also feels like she doesn't belong in the land of forever because she did not earn it but was simply born to it. One day Holly decides to leave the Land of Forever and go to the human world to help and earn her place in the Land of Forever and break the curse. Of course her loyal friends Lexi, Tundra, Euphemia, and Empy go with her. In the human world they find many who need help and work at a toy store owned by Mr. Carroll. Holly has to break her curse before winter ends or she will die. Oh and because Holly has left the Land of Forever Herrikahn has his opportunity to get his hands on her.

I think that everyone should read this book at least once. A richly crafted world of fantasy and magic draws you in and the lovable characters steal your heart, and could thaw a frozen one. Holly is compassionate to a fault but not a goody-two-shoes. She genuinely cares about things and is the perfect role model for anyone. I want to be so many characters but Holly is definitely at the top of my I want to be you list. Ten of Ten paw prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Merry Christmas!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! Two Days to GO!! The Angel Tree by Daphne Benedis-Grab

Merry Christmas! Happy (belated) Hanukah! Happy Kwanzaa!
So after What Light and it's cheesiness we have The Angel Tree which is also kinda Hallmark movieish but in a better way than What Light. Less like Fir Crazy and more like The Christmas Heart. Every year in Pine River a large tree goes up in the square and everyone puts wishes up on the tree and they get them granted.

• Lucy- She's blind and her service dog Valentine is dying of cancer. Unfortunately her family can't afford the life saving treatment she needs. So her wish on the Angel tree is for that life saving treatment.
• Max- He's part of a big family and recently his house burned down. He and his family are now living in a cramped apartment. He wishes for a new house.
• Joe- He's new to town and lives with his uncle. All he wants for Christmas is to spend it with his mom. So after finding out about the tree that is what he asks for.
• Cami- She loves to play the violin but her grandmother thinks its a waste of time. She wants to make her grandmother proud.
• The Benefactor- the person who runs the Angel Tree. 

So every year a tree goes up in Pine River for wishes. This year there are some pretty big wishes, life-saving cancer treatments for a seeing-eye-dog, a new house, and spending Christmas with mom something many of us take for granted that turns out to be a little difficult in this situation. So when all these wishes get granted, the kids decide to band together to find out who the benefactor is and thank them. Which turns out to be a little more complicated than they thought. In the process they all grow closer and Joe opens up about why he lives with his uncle.

I got this book years ago and fell in love with the story. Even now as my reading interests have changed and grown I still love this story. It truly captures that spirit you find in Christmas, one of giving and giving back. A sweet, slightly cheesy, heartwarming Christmas story. Nine paw-prints and a whisker.🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾⚟⚞ 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! 3 Days to go! What Light by Jay Asher

Merry Christmas to All!
While I realize that there are some people out there who are total Grinches and don't like Christmas, even on a superficial commercial not Christian way, I love Christmas and honestly I should have started this countdown a while ago, but the idea just occurred to me now. Oh well. So now I sit here watching A Miracle on 34th Street, unfortunately battling my sinuses just over two days (counting today but not Christmas), and brining you my thoughts on one of the best Christmas books I've read,  What Light by Jay Asher. I got this book for my birthday, which is about as far from Christmas you can get, a couple of years ago from CA and since then I've read it several times and every time is as good as the last. Still haven't loaned it to CA to read though...

• Sierra- Her family owns a Christmas tree farm in Oregon and every year they go down to California to set up their lot. See the Christmas already? She's been doing this since she was a baby and has friends in both Oregon and California and has friends in both places. Everybody likes her and she's unfortunately kinda stereotypical. Beautiful and everybody likes her. 
• Caleb- Ah Caleb, also just a little stereotypical. Adorable bad boy. Yeah he's sweet but *SPOILER* HE STABBED HIS SISTER'S DOOR!! Hello! Who the frick does that?! And yes I get that people make mistakes but yeesh, that's pretty bad. *SPOILER ENDS* He does all sorts of good things and has dimples.
• Hannah- Sierra's California friend. They've known each other for a long time and are total besties. 

Looking back this is probably only one of my favorite Christmas books because its a hard genre to find. It's like reading a Hallmark movie. It even kind of follows the ROM-COM pattern. Guy meets Girl. Girl and Guy get to know each other and fall in "love". Something happens they have issues. Guy and Girl end up together. Why oh Why can't there be more books set a Christmas that aren't cheesy. Thinking about it a mouse would have a great snack out of this. Christmas always puts me in a cheesy mood so honestly this idea is genius, but objectiveishly and critically if I read this any other time of the year I would DNF it. 

Ok so Sierra and her family go to California to sell their trees for possibly the last time. Her friend Hannah wants her to have a holiday fling so they can double date, but Sierra has high standards and her dad won't let her date any of the guys who work at the lot. So what to do what to do. Enter Caleb the bad boy with the cute dimple. Against the advice of everybody, even Hannah who wants her to date, Sierra pushes past the rumors and bad boy reputation as discovers a sweetheart who loves Christmas. And then well it gets cheesier and the characters get shallower. In the end Sierra and Caleb decide to give it a try and she goes back to Oregon.

And I googled it there are at least three Hallmark movies that revolve around Christmas tree farms. Wow. I personally enjoy because its one of the few Christmas books I can find. Even so I give it four paw prints and a whisker. 🐾🐾🐾🐾⚟⚞ So cheesy. And the Characters really are shallow. Hallmark movie as a book. I still say that it's one of my favorite Christmas books but those are limited in quantity.

Merry Christmas!

Merlin:)