The Christmas Book

by Enid Blyton, Treyer Evans (Illustrator)

Decorative coloured end papers, black and white illustrations throughout.A collection of stories aiming to shed light on the origins of some Christmas traditions. The explanations are linked together around a story of a middle-class English family Christmas. Foreword by Enid Blyton. Coloured, illuistrated dust jacket over a green cloth-board cover stamped with gold holly and mistletoe.

Genres: Christmas

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

See also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)

Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.

Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.

Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.

According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

See also her pen name Mary Pollock

Reviews

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming story of two children who come home from boarding school for the holidays and enjoy the festive period with their family, a clever way of interweaving the story and the children throughout asking questions about the festivities which leads onto the history and customs of Christmas.
Lots of old stories and facts abound throughout as the whole family prepares for a traditional Christmas and where the children sit down with father Christmas for a chat as he passes through to drop off their presents.
Captures all the magic of Enid Blyton's writing.
Really loved this.

[Lisa Daleiden-Brugman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quaint book about the origins of Christmas. Would have been a more pleasant read if Father wasn’t such a pompous ass.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think everyone should read this. It has such a warm feeling to it. I learnt so much from reading it and renewed my acquaintance with others that I did know. This book is well done and a new favorite for me. I read parts aloud with my children and they enjoyed it as well.

[5greenway]

Well, it is Christmas, after all. Never-bettered story-compendium of tradition and fakelore.

[5greenway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas blueprint. Happy memories of reading this every year when I was little. Impossible to read this with anything other than warmth, despite poor old Mother being a constant ignorant foil to clever Daddy (#problematic). Lightness, even at its most didactic.

Amused this year (2016) by seeing a BBC prog shortly after, in which frightfully clever TV historians re-heated many of Blyton's explanations, with barely a tenth of the charm.

[Oz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interminable book. My great-uncle bought it for my grandmother in 1944, and I grew up being told to read it every Christmas. I was so bored every time that I don't think I ever actually finished the thing - and I loved Enid Blyton. Read it aloud to my fiancée, who wanted to hear about British Christmas traditions, and was saddled with doing the voices of four extremely annoying children for more hours than anyone needs. She describes it as "pedagogical", and as proof that overly pedagogical children's books just don't work, because they're too boring to read for anyone to actually learn much from them.

Two stars because I think it did most of what it was trying to do. I just hate it so much.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything that a Christmas book should be. This book has aged well.

[Mai Anh]

Crash course on Christmas customs. Christmas101. 🎄

[Naomi McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming, cozy, and so interesting! I loved getting to know the root of our old customs and it had so many delightful lines to ponder. I want to spend Christmas with an English family.

[Sarah Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I try to read this novel every Christmas time. A lovely tradition about all the Christmas traditions.

[Nedra De Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Christmas book!!

I think this book can be read to someone very little or read by anyone as a book written very well with a wealth of information.