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| Categories | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| Author | Matt Haig |
| Publisher | Yearling; Illustrated edition (October 16, 2018) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 256 pages |
| Item Weight | 12.8 ounces |
| Dimensions |
5.19 x 0.59 x 7.56 inches |
I. Book introduction
A Boy Called Christmas is a 2021 British Christmas fantasy film directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Ol Parker and Kenan, based on the 2015 book of the same name by Matt Haig, and starring Henry Lawfull, Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins, Kristen Wiig, Michiel Huisman, Zoe Colletti, Stephen Merchant, Jim Broadbent, and Maggie Smith. It tells the story of a boy who travels to a land of elves with the mouse that he trained to speak as he ends up coming to their aid when people sent by the king, which his father is part of, make off with one of the elves. The story is told by an old woman to her grand-niece and grand-nephews.
The film was released on 26 November 2021 in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and China, by StudioCanal, while Netflix released the film internationally, on 24 November 2021. The film received positive reviews from critics.
In the United Kingdom, the film was classed as a Sky Original and became available to watch on Sky Cinema and streaming on Sky’s streaming service NOW.
Plot
On Christmas Eve, Andrea, Moppet, and Patrick, whose mother has died recently and whose father Matt is leaving for an urgent task for work, are put in the care of their mother’s Aunt Ruth who tries to entertain the children by telling a Christmas tale.
13-year-old Nikolas and his father Joel, a woodcutter, live in the forest. Nikolas’s mother had died two years before, eaten by a bear, and Nikolas tries to take comfort every night remembering the legend of a place called Elfhelm where a girl found a magical place inhabited by elves that helped her to survive the winter. One night a mouse tries to steal some food but his life is spared by Nikolas who calls the mouse Miika and tries to teach him to speak.
One day, the King calls his subjects and promises a big reward if someone is able to find an object that would bring hope to the kingdom. Joel joins a group of hunters to try to find Elfhelm. Joel leaves Nikolas under the care of Aunt Carlotta, a selfish woman who makes his life miserable.
Nikolas finds a map that confirms the existence of Elfhelm so he decides to go to the Extreme North to find his father and give him the map. During the journey, Nikolas discovers that Miika has learned to speak and this provides hope in continuing his quest. When they reach the Half Moon Forest, a reindeer who Nikolas names Blitzen allows Nikolas to mount him.
The trio reach Elfhelm but find nothing there except for Joel’s knife. Nikolas loses hope and collapses. He is found by Little Noosh and Father Topo. Father Topo gives Nikolas a “hope spell” that allows him to recover. Father Topo informs him that he is in Elfhelm, but it is only visible to the people who believe in the place.
Nikolas is able to see Elfhelm after believing in the elves and tries to stay. He learns from Mother Vodel that a group of humans, including Joel, has kidnapped a small elf called Little Kip. Nikolas is sentenced to be eaten by a troll in the Dark Tower, However, Nikolas manages to escape with the help of the young fairy Truth Pixie. He then decides to try to find Joel’s party and clarify the misunderstanding.
In the forest, Nikolas finds a group of hunters and Little Kip, but he is trapped by them and discovers his father is with them. Joel has a change of heart and comes up with a plan. He frees Nikolas, Little Kip, and Blitzen and they run away from the hunters. Blitzen is unable to lift the sled with Joel sitting in it, so Joel decides to sacrifice himself to allow the others to fly away.
Nikolas comes back to Elfhelm with Little Kip and he is able to bring the little elf on time to prevent Father Topo from being punished. Little Kip’s parents reward Nikolas with the elves’ traditional making of toys. Nikolas then has an idea and has all the elves create bountiful gifts of toys and candies.
Nikolas is about to ride Blitzen with the gifts when he is confronted by Mother Vodol. She sees the locket he carries with him showing the portrait of her mother, revealing that the girl who reached Elfhelm in the legend is none other than Nikolas’s mother. Mother Vodol then tells him about how she lost faith in the humans when news spread in the place that the men (including Joel) took Little Kip. Nikolas tells her that his mother always remembered how joyful it was in Elfhelm.
Nikolas goes back to the kingdom on Christmas Eve and shows himself to the King, offering one of the toys. Confused, the King asks him about the meaning of the gift, leading Nikolas to take him to all the houses in the kingdom to leave toys for the children while trying to not disturb them. After Nikolas helps Carlotta to believe, the King decides to help.
Finishing the story, Aunt Ruth explains to the children the meaning of Nikolas’s actions and she felt that one of them has already accepted the fate of their mother and is learning to live with that. The children already realised the boy is Santa Claus.
Matt comes back to find to their surprise that the living room is filled with Christmas ornaments and presents. As Aunt Ruth puts on her hat, her pointy ears are briefly visible. Then when she leaves their place, she throws a firecracker into the sky, revealing herself to be the Truth Pixie.
Editorial Reviews
- “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
- “Like stockings hung by the fire, this spellbinding opus may well become a yuletide tradition.” —Kirkus, Starred review
- “Award-winning British author Matt Haig (To Be a Cat) writes with warmth, wit and irreverence.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred review
- “The definitive (and funny) history of Ho, ho, ho! My children loved it.” —Yann Martel, bestselling author of Life of Pi
- “Humorous and heartfelt, A Boy Called Christmas will grow your heart three sizes and make you believe in magic.” –Liesl Shurtliff, New York Times bestselling author of Rump
- “The most evergreen, immortal Christmas story to be published for decades. Future generations will receive the same comfort and joy from A Boy Called Christmas that they derive from mince pies, snowmen and creamy liqueurs.” –Stephen Fry
- “Matt Haig puts the Happy back into Christmas.” –Jeanette Winterson
- “A new festive classic. Funny, sad and brilliant. It turns out we only knew half the story.” –Simon Mayo, BBC
- “An instant Christmas classic… Nikolas is a terrific character, clearly the offspring of Gerda from The Snow Queen and Roald Dahl’s Charlie Bucket.” –The Guardian
- “Like enjoying the warmth of a good fire on a cold day . . . perfect for Christmas is every way.” –The Independent
- “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
About the Author (Matt Haig)
Matt Haig is an author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children’s book A Boy Called Christmas was a runaway hit and is translated in over 40 languages. It is being made into a film starring Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent and The Guardian called it an ‘instant classic’. His novels for adults include the award-winning How To Stop Time, The Radleys, The Humans and the number one bestseller The Midnight Library.
Matt Haig was born on 3 July 1975 in Sheffield. He grew up in the Nottinghamshire town of Newark and later went on to study English and History at the University of Hull.
As of 2015, Haig is married to Andrea Semple, and they live in Brighton, Sussex, with their two children and a dog. The children were homeschooled.
Haig identifies as an atheist. He has said that books are his one true faith, and the library is his church.
Some of Haig’s work — especially part of the non-fiction books — is inspired by the mental breakdown he suffered from when he was 24-years-old. He still occasionally suffers from anxiety. He has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.
II. Reviewer: A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig
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1. BASICALLY BRITT reviews A Boy Called Christmas
oh man, this was such a wonderful Christmas book <3
I think this is such an amazing middle grade read that teaches you about good and bad, love and friendship, and the power of believing in yourself and believing in magic.
What a perfect book to start 2018 with! (and yes, who cares that it’s about Christmas?! Christmas books can be read all year round <3). I’m already so ready for Christmas 2018 haha!
*update on December 3rd 2018*
I reread it and loved it just as much! SO READY FOR CHRISTMAS!
2. DARLA reviews A Boy Called Christmas
This book is a wonderful holiday read for all ages. If you have ever wondered about where Santa Claus came from, this book is for your. A young boy named Nicholas goes on an impossible (yes, I know this is an elf swearword) to find the Elf Village. His father has gone on ahead. Will he be able to find the village and his father? He will have help from a reindeer who he names Blitzen. In this story you will learn about spickle dancing, The Daily Snow, how elves stay at a particular age, and so much more. . . Most of all you will discover why the joy of giving is the spirit of Christmas. Now I want to watch the Netflix production based on this book and read the sequel: The Girl Who Saved Christmas.
Reposting now that I have gotten a chance to read A Mouse Called Miika and learn about Urga-burga cheese. 🧀
3. PHRYNNE reviews A Boy Called Christmas
This is a delightful middle grade children’s book about the origins of Father Christmas, written at the children’s level but with some wonderfully sarky comments from time to time which only the parents would understand. It was very entertaining.
Nikolas is a boy who is neglected and ill treated by the adults in his life, and who suffers in extreme poverty. His only toys are a wooden sled made by his father and a doll carved out of a turnip by his mother. A series of events lead to him meeting a reindeer he names Blitzen who takes him to the home of the elves. A lot more happens before he becomes the jolly man in the red suit including more reindeer (one with a strange red nose) and a magical escape up a chimney.
This a perfect book to read at Christmas. I understand the audio is read by Stephen Fry and that there is a good movie version too. Maybe I will look out for those next Christmas.
4. ANNET reviews A Boy Called Christmas
Impossible – an old elf swear word 🙂
Great Xmas story, out of the box!
Including elves, trolls, pixies and reindeers….
The drawings are just beautiful and cute.
Fun, although also a bit sad here and there….
All in the spirit of Xmas.
A Boy Called Christmas is a tale of adventure, snow, kidnapping, elves, more snow, and an eleven-year-old boy called Nikolas, who isn’t afraid to believe in magic.
My name is Father Christmas. When I was your age I was called Nikolas. There will be a lot of people in your life who will tell you to ‘grow up’or to insist that you stop believing in MAGIC. Do NOT listen to these people. There IS magic in this world. ….Now, go and spread the word. Merry Christmas! Yours, F.C.
He wrote the three bestselling books of the decade in Elfhelm, over twenty-seven copies each. ‘How to be jolly: The Father Christmas Guide to Happiness’, ‘Sleighcraft for Dummies’ and ‘The Reindeer Whisperer’.
5. JENNIFER reviews A Boy Called Christmas
A Great Santa Story!
I bought this book recently and read it as a read aloud with my 5th grade students. It was such a cute, sweet story with a variety of fun characters! Everyone loved it, and I plan on reading it again with my class next year. There is a movie on Netflix that goes along with the book, but as usual, the book is much better. If you have a class – or 8-10 year old(s) – and are looking for a good read aloud for the holidays, this book is a great choice! Not only is the story fun and original, but it also presents a unique backstory for the background and making of Santa Clause!
6. CJDSCURRENTREAD reviews A Boy Called Christmas
A great Christmas tale
I bought this to read last year or two years ago maybe…before there was a Netflix adaptation. I still haven’t watched, but now that I’ve finished reading, I think I will.
A boy born on Christmas Day, a poor family, but with a love for giving, rather than receiving. Of course he would find magic and become Father Christmas!
For me this was the whimsical Christmas magic I was looking for. It’s silly and fantastical, with bits of depth and sadness to balance. It has levity and is fun throughout. Blitzen peeing on people from the air was a fun touch.
Personally 4/5* for me.
7. AYCHAN reviews A Boy Called Christmas
A Must Read to Rekindle Faith in the Goodness of the Human Spirit!
The book is better than the movie as usual.
This story is not just about Christmas. It touches on so much more, grief, resilience, gratitude, kindness and generosity. The boy who would become Father Christmas overcomes hardship and loss to discover his unique talents and purpose and demonstrates that “an impossibility is just a possibility we don’t understand yet.”
Thank you, Matt Haig, for the beautifully crafted story!
8. BIBBLE BOO reviews A Boy Called Christmas
A wonderful, weird, magical book
What a relief it was to find this author. A Boy Called Christmas was so good that bedtime story time kept on going and going. We had finished reading every Roald Dahl book there is for kids (except for Witches, too scary or so I’m told) and other books were just a let down. Not this book! The description that it’s equal parts Dickens and Roald Dahl is spot on. I bought the two sequel books before we were even halfway through this one so that we could continue to binge read. Next up? The Truth Pixie and A Mouse Called Miika!
9. REGINA reviews A Boy Called Christmas
After adoring Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library” this year, I decided to work my way through his back catalog. What a delight to find that he’s written a few holiday-themed middle grade novels!
“A Boy Called Christmas” tells the origin story of Santa Claus/Father Christmas, starting back when he was a just a wee boy named Nikolas in Finland. There’s magic, adventure, peril, heartbreak, snowy scenes, cozy moments, and a perfectly plotted ending.
The blurb sums it up so well: Before there was Santa Claus, there was a young boy who believed in the impossible. Lemony Snicket meets Elf in this warmhearted Christmas caper.
Families should take note that the audiobook is narrated by Stephen Fry. This would make a wonderful listen in the car while heading to and fro in December.
10. CAROLYN MARIE reviews A Boy Called Christmas
“Impossible. —An old elf swearword”
This book is as sweet as a Christmas sugar cookie!!! 🎅🏻🌟🎄
Matt Haig was so clever in retelling how “Santa” or “Father Christmas” came to be!! I read this, wanting to get into the Christmas spirit, and it definitely worked it’s magic!! 🌟
I loved how charming and beautiful the illustrations were by Chris Mould!! The drawings really added to my enjoyment of the story!! (Which I hope they would being an Illustration student myself! 🤣)
I have a feeling that reading this book will become a new Christmas tradition!! 🎄🎅🏻💕
III. A Boy Called Christmas Quotes by Matt Haig
The best book quotes from A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig
“Of course, there was no cheese to be seen, but that didn’t stop Miika. If you believed in something you didn’t need to see it.”
“Trouble doesn’t always have to be caused. It’s sometimes already there.”
“If you keep on climbing a mountain you will eventually reach the top. That’s the thing with mountains. However big they are, there is always a top.”
“An impossibility is just a possibility you don’t understand yet”
“To lose someone you love is the very worst thing in the world. It creates an invisible hole that you feel you are falling down and will never end. People you love make the world real and solid and when they suddenly go away forever, nothing feels solid any more.”
“Perhaps a wish was just a hope with better aim.”
“To see something, you have to believe in it. Really believe it. That’s the first elf rule. You can’t see something you don’t believe in. Now try your hardest and see if you can see what you have been looking for.”
“So he knew terrible things- even the most terrible things-couldn’t stop the world from turning. Life went on. And he made a promise to himself that, when he grew older, he’d try to be like his mother. Colourful, and happy and kind and full of joy.”
“How to be jolly even when times are bad 1. Eat more gingerbread, chocolate, jam and cake. 2. Say the word ‘Christmas’. 3. Give someone a present. Like a toy, or a book, or a kind word, or a big hug. 4. Laugh, even if there is nothing to laugh about. Especially then. 5. Think of a happy memory. Or a happy future. 6. Wear something red. 7. Believe. (extract from How to Be Jolly: The Father Christmas Guide to Happiness)”
“There was no use trying to think of a way, because it was impossible. And the only way you could make something impossible real wasn’t through logic or sensible thinking. No. It was to believe it could be done.”
“Now, Nikolas was a happy boy.
Well, actually, no.
He would have told you he was happy, if you asked him, and he certainly tried to be happy, but sometimes being happy is quite tricky. I suppose what I am saying is that Nikloas was a boy who believed in happiness, the way he believed in elves and trolls and pixies, but he had never actually seen an elf or a troll or a pixie, and he hadn’t really seen proper happiness either. At least, not for a very long time. He didn’t have it easy.”“Most people grow up gradually, over many years, but standing there in the still forest, Nikolas lost his childhood in a second. Nothing makes you grow up quicker than discovering your father is not the man you think he is.”
“Sometimes,’ she said, as her eyes shone wide and bright, ‘people look up to people not for who they have been, but for what they could become. For what they know they could be. They see in you something special.”
“Life is pain,” he said, sadly. “But it’s also magic, Papa.”
“Everyone knew that the way to make something even lovelier was to put it in a pie.”
“If you keep on climbing a mountain, you will eventually reach the top. That’s the thing with mountains, however big they are, there is always a top. Even if it takes all through the day and all through another night, you will usually get there. If yoy keep remembering there is a top.”
“A ver short chapter with a long title, in which not very much happens.”
“I do like you,’ said Miika, in his quiet mouse language, ‘even though you are not a dairy product.”
“Nothing makes you grow up quicker than discovering your father is not the man you think he is.”
“Miika had disappeared. And then Nikolas felt so dreadful he said something equally dreadful. The very worst thing that anyone can ever say. (Close your eyes and ears, especially if you are an elf.) “There is no magic,” he whispered, delirious. And after that, everything became darkness.”
“… when someone is good, or kind, it’s a magic in itself. It gives people hope. And hope is the most wonderful thing there is.”
“Every day, not only did he wear his red and white outfit, complete with shiny black belt and boots, but he was determined to be as jolly as could be, because the easiest way to make other people happy was to be happy yourself, or at least to act as if you were. That was how his mother had done it. And even his father too, once upon a time.”
“Back in Mother Ivy’s time I would have been obliged to cook you gingerbread and show you my spickle dancing, and yet now I have permission to chop you up into little pieces. I cry myself to sleep every night, and feel dead inside, but society is definitely improving.”
“Yes. I gave an elf some hewlip soup and their head exploded. Ir was so much fun it was almost worth life imprisonment. I am saving my last leaf for someone special. I love seeing heads explode. I can’t help it!’
Nikolas felt fear prickle his skin. If even he sweetest-looking pixie could turn out to be a murderer, there really was no hope.
‘Would you like to see my head explode?’ Nikolas asked, although he was petrified of the answer.
The Truth Pixie desperately tried to lie. ‘Nnnnnnnnnnn…yes! I would like that so much!’ The she looked guilty. ‘Sorry,’ she added, softly.”“But you’ll know when you find yourself, because then you will stop ageing.”
“Tal vez un deseo no era sino una esperanza anhelada con más intensidad.”
“Listen, I know you think my father was a bad human, and it was a bad thing he did, but there was good, too. He was just weak. We had no money. Humans are… complicated.”
“Magic was useless by itself. Making impossibilities possibilities was harder than it looked.”
“Father Christmas?’ said Father Vodol, suspiciously. ‘It doesn’t sound very memorable.”
“Aunt Carlotta is a lonely woman. She’s a lot older than me. She’s really an old lady now. She’s forty-two. Hardly anyone lives to be forty-two.”
Excerpted from A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig
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 ….
….
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