Blog Tour: The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher

Pages: 384

Genre: Middle Grade

Pub. Date: October 23, 2018

Publisher: Random House 

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "The Christmasaurus is a story about a boy named William Trundle, and a dinosaur, the Christmasaurus. It's about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure. It's about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer, music and magic. It's about discovering your heart's true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible."

William Trundle is a ten year old dinosaur fanatic.  He absolutely loves them; in fact, it's the one thing that truly brings him joy and it's the one thing he really wants for Christmas even though he knows dinosaurs are extinct.  William leads a normal life with his dad, who loves all things Christmas, but William is a little bit different than the other kids. He is confined to a wheelchair due to an accident when he was a young child.  So oftentimes at school, he gets bullied by Brenda Payne, the meanest girl in school.  Meanwhile at the North Pole, Santa's elves find an egg from long ago that just so happens to be a dinosaur egg and it hatches! Santa knows about William's dinosaur wishes and creates an amazing dinosaur toy that looks just like the dinosaur that hatched at the North Pole.  While packing up the sleigh, the real dinosaur jumps aboard and the rest that ensues is a grand adventure for William and the dinosaur.  The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher is an adorable Christmas story, especially for children that love all things dinosaurs as well as feel-good holiday tales.  

William is the type of character that you root for from the beginning in The Christmasaurus.  Williams back story is a sad one, but his relationship with his dad is great and definitely makes up for some of the heartache he endured.  He and his dad make a great team and it was heartwarming to see as oftentimes relationship with parents, at least in many middle grade novels, are not so great.  Also, I hated how Brenda Payne was mean to William; it broke my heart, but as the story unfolds, the readers find out why Brenda acts the way she does. 

The Christmasaurus is such a fun Christmas adventure! I read this story aloud to my son (another dinosaur fanatic) and he absolutely loved it.  Between all the fun Christmas aspects of the story and the focus on dinosaurs, he was in heaven.  Plus, there is an antagonist that my son loved to hate.  

The author, Tom Fletcher, is a song-writer and that really shows through in The Christmasaurus Santa's elves spoke with a lot of rhyming and singing. The "songs" that were included in the story were delightful and a lot of fun.  Some of the elves' jokes made my son laugh-out-loud. 

If you are looking for a heartwarming tale to share with your child this holiday season, check out The Christmasaurus.  It is filled with dinosaurs, friendship, forgiveness, and a major does of holiday magic.