A Boy Called Christmas

A Boy Called Christmas

A Boy Called Christmas

A Boy Called Christmas

Hardcover

$17.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
    Choose Expedited Shipping at checkout for delivery by Wednesday, April 3
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Before there was Santa Claus, there was a young boy who believed in the impossible. . . . Lemony Snicket meets Klaus in this cheeky, Christmas classic-in-the-making that sparkles with wit and warmth!

Now a Netflix movie starring Kristen Wiig, Maggie Smith and Henry Lawfull!


Eleven-year-old Nikolas–nicknamed "Christmas"–has received only one toy in his life: a doll carved out of a turnip. But he's happy with his turnip doll, because it came from his parents, who love him. Then one day his father goes missing, and Nikolas must travel to the North Pole to save him.

Along the way, Nikolas befriends a surly reindeer, bests a troublesome troll, and discovers a hidden world of enchantment in the frozen village of Elfhelm. But the elves of Elfhelm have troubles of their own: Christmas spirit and goodwill are at an all-time low, and Nikolas may be the only person who can fix things-if only he can reach his father before it's too late. . . .

"Irresistibly readable. Destined to become a Christmas and anytime-before-or-after-Christmas classic!" – Chris Grabenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

"The definitive (and funny) history of ho, ho, ho! My children loved it." – Yann Martel, bestselling author of Life of Pi

"Matt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories." – Neil Gaiman, Newbery-winning author of The Graveyard Book

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780399552656
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publication date: 11/01/2016
Series: Boy Called Christmas
Pages: 240
Sales rank: 1,053,519
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile: 650L (what's this?)
Age Range: 8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Matt Haig is an internationally bestselling author whose novels for children and adults have been translated into 26 languages. His children’s books have won the Smarties Gold Medal, the Alex Award, and the Blue Peter Book Award, and been nominated several times for the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. He lives in Brighton, England, with his wife and two children. He lives in Brighton, on the south coast of England, with his wife and two children. Visit him at matthaig.com and follow him @matthaig1
 
Chris Mould began studying art at the age of sixteen and has gone on to become an acclaimed illustrator of children’s books. He lives with his wife and two children in Yorkshire. Visit him at chrismould.blogspot.com and follow him @chrismouldink.

Read an Excerpt

You are about to read the true story of Father Christmas.

Yes. Father Christmas.

You may wonder how I know the true story of Father Christmas, and I will tell you that you shouldn’t really question such things. Not right at the start of a book. It’s rude, for one thing. All you need to understand is that I do know the story of Father Christmas, or else why would I be writing it?

Maybe you don’t call him Father Christmas.

Maybe you call him something else.

Santa or Saint Nick or Santa Claus or Sinterklaas or Kris Kringle or Pelznickel or Papa Noel or Strange Man with a Big Belly Who Talks to Reindeer and Gives Me Presents. Or maybe you have a name you’ve come up with yourself, just for fun. If you were an elf, though, you would always call him Father Christmas. It was the pixies who started calling him Santa Claus, and spread the word, just to confuse things, in their mischievous way.

But whatever you happen to call him, you know about him, and that’s the main thing.

Can you believe there was a time when no one in the world knew about him? A time when he was just an ordinary boy called Nikolas, living in the middle of nowhere, or the middle of Finland, doing nothing with magic except believing in it? A boy who knew very little about the world except the taste of mushroom soup, the feel of a cold north wind, and the stories he was told. And who only had a doll made out of a turnip to play with.

But life was going to change for Nikolas, in ways he could never have imagined. Things were going to happen to him.

Good things.

Bad things.

But if you are one of those people who believe that some things are impossible, you should put this book down right away. It is most certainly not for you.

Because this book is full of impossible things.

Are you still reading the book?

Good. (Elves would be proud.)

Then let us begin . . .

(Continues…)



Excerpted from "A Boy Called Christmas"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Matt Haig.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Children's Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews