A Christmas Wish

by Sue Bentley, Angela Swan (Illustrator)

When lonely Marie moves from Poland to a new school, all she wants to do is make a friend. So when Starshine, a fluffy little reindeer, appears, it seems that Marie’s biggest Christmas wish really could come true.

Genres: Christmas, Childrens, Holiday, Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Sue was born in Northampton where she still lives. For many years she worked for Northamptonshire libraries and remains a passionate supporter of Public Libraries. Sue loves everything about books, the feel of them, their smell. the way they look. And has a habit of matching a bookmark to the cover of each book she's reading. The process of reading, the feel of the book, carrying it around in her shoulder bag, sitting in favourite cafes reading all make for a complete sensory experience.
Browsing bookshops old and new, talking all things bookish with other book lovers, spending time with other writers and meeting with fans of her own books at author events are her favourite things. That and eating good quality dark chocolate, while writing.

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old daughter has been enjoying the magic kitten series written by Sue Bentley so when Santa brought her this special magic reindeer book she was so excited to read it! Together we would read two chapters before bedtime & she really loved this book a lot & thinks we should read it every December like a new tradition! :)

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

first book i actually bought and read in one sitting. had to give it an honourable mention as i just remembered it.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for kids

[Sabine Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daria ist aus Polen nach England gezogen und fühlt sich sehr einsam. Das liegt einerseits daran, dass Lucy daran gelegen ist, ihre Vormachtstellung in der Klasse nicht aufzugeben und die Neue schon mal vorsichtshalber kleinhält. Das liegt aber auch daran, dass sie die Welt um sich herum sehr selektiv wahrnimmt und von vornherein davon ausgeht, dass niemand freundlich zu ihr sein wird.
Ganz anders das junge Rentier Sternenglanz. Es ist fest davon überzeugt, dass es bereits bereit ist, den Schlitten zu ziehen und Geschenke zu verteilen. Leider ist das ein Irrtum und so landet es in London.
Dort wird es von Daria im Fahrradunterstand der Schule entdeckt. Die beiden freunden sich an und helfen sich gegenseitig. Das Rentier kann Magie wirken, schießt dabei aber über das Ziel hinaus bzw. kann die Wirkungen nicht richtig einschätzen.
Daria bekommt eine Chance, zu zeigen, dass sie etwas kann … ob sie sie nutzen kann?
Dieses Weihnachtsbuch für Kinder ab 7 Jahren eignet sich sowohl zum Vorlesen als auch zum selber Lesen. Zahlreiche, humorvolle Schwarz-Weiß-Illustrationen unterstützen das Leseverständnis, genau wie der doppelte Zeilenabstand.
Wunderschön ist auch der Umschlag. Neben den Weihnachtsfarben Rot und Grün, strahlt das weiße Rentier umgeben von golden glitzernden Sternen vom Titelbild.
Fazit: Eine humorvolle und gleichzeitig warmherzige Geschichte, die auch ein magisches Abenteuer erzählt für alle, die in den Weihnachtsmodus wechseln wollen.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a novel that I came upon in a free library and thought that maybe my young niece would probably enjoy it. There have been a series of books that she was reading that had some sort of magical animals and this one seemed to offer the same type of read.

I am up in the air with this particular book and I think it is just since of my age plus the great fantasy books that I was used to reading when I was a child, especially as this one also includes a magical realm. What takes away from the book for me is that it is definitely formulaic, very simplistic and Sue Bentley keeps on reminding you of Starshine's warm chocolate brown eyes. Furthermore even though I am Christian the book is a bit confusing since a public school is putting together a Nativity play for its Christmas play.

Otherwise the author has great imagination at times and I do enjoy the adorable deer cover illustration, which is also a part of the reason I picked it for my niece. If I had been much younger and possibly also used to the anemic-style writing that is out there now I could see myself as possibly having enjoyed this book instead of being on the fence.

So as a result I cannot say that I particularly recommend or not recommend this book but just that I don't know anyone in the group who may enjoy it.

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Starshine the reindeer helps new girl Marie to fit in at school and find a friend despite the girl in class who picks on her and makes her feel sad and out of place being Polish too.



The pair help each other as Marie finds a friend and Starshine gets to find his way home too with a lot of fun and help from Marie!



This was a super sweet fun book all about the joy of friendship and bonding with animals and new friends while navigating new life challenges. Starshine was a loving character and helped Marie so much to feel confident and comfortable at her school, a joy of a book to experience and kids will take away a positive message from.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie is a new student at her new school. She is shy and is afraid she won't make any friends. One of the students picks on her the very first day making it even more difficult for her.

Starshine is a magical, crystal adolescent reindeer who gets himself in trouble when he doesn't listen to his family and gets himself lost from his herd.

Starshine falls from the sky and is found by Marie. They help each other throughout the book.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my students requested that I read this book as a read aloud the week before winter break. Since we didn’t have time to get into a long chapter book, I agreed. It ended up being a very sweet book that touched on bullying, misjudging others, and self-confidence. I’m really glad he brought it to me!

[Raine Villanueva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marie, a new girl who came from Poland, has troubles in School. She almost quit attending school and wants to homeschool instead, until she met Starshine, a Magic Reindeer who helps her face challenges, friendship, and the upcoming Christmas Play in school. It's a Christmas Must-Read.

[Anna Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

When lonely Marie moves from Poland to a new school, all she wants to do is make a friend. So when Starshine, a fluffy little reindeer, appears, it seems that Marie’s biggest Christmas wish really could come true

[Michaela Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is really good

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this one with Theo.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute middle grade Christmas story.

[jess (bibliophilicjester)]

Christmas bookssssss 😁🦌🎄🎅🏻✨

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud to River

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 days till christmas!!!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed a quick read so grabbed one of the books my 9 yr old got for Christmas and said I should read. It was cute. She loves this author.

[Amanda Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good.

[Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book about a magic reindeer that runs away from home.an adventure is about to begin!!!!!

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought it for my oldest niece since she has mentioned that she loves the Magic Animals books. It was a quick, cute read. I hope she enjoys it.

[Kelly Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read w/Gwyneth. She declared it was worthy of 4 stars but she could have used a little more back story about the family and the reindeer.