Mr. Christmas

Mr. Men #40

by Roger Hargreaves

One day Santa calls Mr. Christmas asking for help. Can he help Santa deliver presents to all of the Mr. Men? Of course he can!

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Holiday, Fantasy, Humor

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Roger Hargreaves was a British cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books. He created the Mr. Men series, Little Miss series and Timbuctoo series, intended for young readers. The simple and humorous stories, with bold, brightly coloured illustrations, have sales of more than 85 million copies worldwide in 20 languages.

Reviews

[Calista]

This is another review I stored from last year at Christmas time. I had too many Christmas books that year and not enough this year. I was living with my niece and nephew and I read this with the nephew so his opinion is in here too:


Mr. Christmas is a Mr. Men living at the South Pole. His uncle, father Christmas called him asking for help this Christmas delivering presents to the Mr. Men community. He needed help. So Mr. Christmas goes to the Giant Wizard Winterbottom and asks for transportation. He comes up with a giant teapot that runs on tea, 3x faster than the speed of sound.

We see Mr. Christmas deliver the gifts and then the Mr. Men characters open their gifts and some of them are very strange. It’s a fine holiday story.

The nephew loved this story. He got to see all his old favorites in a Christmas setting. He was disappointed Mr. Happy and Mr. Tickle (one of his favorites) was not in the book. He gave this 4 stars.

[Ken]

I was sure that I remembered Mr Christmas from my own childhood, but the only information I could find on-line was the story having original been written back in 1984 had an 'official' release in 2002.
I'm now wondering if this was a revised edition by son Adam Hargreaves?
The most noticable difference is the weird first person narration.

It feels like a fitting celebration of not only the festive period but also the 40th title in the series that first started with Adam asking his Dad Roger what a tickle looked like 30 years previously.

It's always fun when other Mr Men characters cameo and there's plenty here as they all receive their perfect gift during the second half of the story.
The final one to open theirs was practically amusing!

[Gerry]

Roger Hargreaves' 'Mr. Christmas' has restored my faith in there being a Father Christmas (not that I ever lost it)!

Mr Christmas receives a telephone call from his uncle, who happens to be Father Christmas, asking for help in delivering presents to all the Mr Men.

Mr Christmas agrees and, in a tiring effort, which just finished in time, he makes it. And to prove that there is a Father Christmas, each of the Mr Men receives a present that is appropriate to their name. I feel sure that wouldn't have happened if Father Christmas was a myth!

The only worrying thing about the book is that Father Christmas' telephone number is given out ... he will be inundated with calls that's for sure!

[Charo Havermans]

Happy december! Happy christmas advent calendar!

[One Code 431]

Nice little book about giving and how much hard work goes for it 🐱

[Cameron]

Reading this is a mildly amusing way to while away the wait for one's breakfast. The flying teapot was thus particularly apt.

(encountered in a Bed and Breakfast in Golspie - I don't just spend every morning waiting around for cooked breakfasts to spontaneously manifest)

[Sarah]

Nah. I like the look and size of the Mr. Men series by Roger Hargreaves but this story illustrates that even good things can be taken too far. The seasonal tale lacks the heart of earlier installations although I suppose young children will still find delight in this book.

[Sophie Crane]

Mr. Men and Little Miss are always good picks to read to young children. They keep kids attention from start to finish.

[Holli]

Why was this one in first person? Every other Mr. Men book was in third person. It made this book very jarring.

[Danielle Palmer]

How I would love a penguin named Percy as my postman!!

[Vivien Parry]

When Mr Christmas receives a letter he has no idea that Father Christmas is going to ask him to help keep Christmas on track! Can he manage to write a list, get the presents, wrap them and get them delivered ready for Christmas Day? Mr Men books are not just for children, they’re for everyone of any age! Always fun to read and definitely full of love

[Samuel Capper]

Mr. Men Little Miss Advent Calendar Storybook Collection - Day 1

4

Silly little Christmas guy!

[Godzilla]

In an early seasonal effort, I was persuaded to purchase this by my daughter. Overall, I think it's disappointing, but at least there are no random walks for the main character to develop the plot!

There's very little that actually happens, and most of teh interest is in the end of the book.

It feels very much like a Christmas cash in, and there's no way that this could ever be anyone's favourite Mr Men book.

Stick to the originals, where there are some unique stories and moments of wonder and joy for small children.

[Alannah Clarke]

I absolutely loved these Mr Men and Little Miss books. I remember getting them from my granny every week. There was so much from these simple characters, I remember filling my little bookshelf with all these books making sure I had got them all in right order. I wish I still had these books but somehow most of them got lost with many house moves or my mum gave the rest away. If I ever have kids, I will make sure they get the chance to experience these wonderful, colourful books.

[Dayna]

Sometimes I think the Little Mr and Ms books should have been left in my good memories of childhood. We have a few of these books as I was looking forward to reading them again with my kids...boy are they a little out there.
Still fun....but out there none the less!

[Wayne Farmer]

I don't really know what was going on with this Mr. Men book - What on earth is with all this "I did this, i did that?" in the writing. A silly change to the classic formula - it just doesn't sit well with the rest of the Mr. Men books. A shame as it would have been ok if not for the writing style.

[τλιϓλ]

Very sweet story, I like the way nephew helped his uncle, it was really nice and very kind of him.
Burst out laughing when Mr. Slow opened his Christmas gift in New Year's Eve XD
Enjoyed the story a lot, this series is really lovely ^_^

[Bree]

Christmas is my favorite holiday, so how can I not love a book about Christmas? The Mr. Men books have been in my life since I was a little girl! I think they will always hold a special place in my heart. I loved the ending of this book I thought it was smartly done and humorous!

[Ben]

Late entry to the series, uniquely in the first person, and illustrated by Hargreaves's son. The later Men books were mostly terrible but Hargreaves managed to return to some kind of form with Mr Christmas, in a book that is nevertheless of a very different style to the rest of the series.

[Sara]

Mr Christmas is the brother of Little Miss Christmas and the nephew of Father Christmas A great read.

[Wilde Sky]

Mr Christmas helps his uncle, Father Christmas, by delivering some presents.

The story and illustrations were reasonable.

[Alex]

I enjoyed this book because I like when it's Christmas. I also enjoyed this book because Mr. Christmas was very Christmasy.

[Calista Lu❤️]

3.5 stars

[Nina]

Cute little book. While it was a present for my dad I couldn't help but read it too. ;)

[Shahrun]

Gorgeous little festive adventure. I really loved Wizard Winterbottom’s transport solution, the sunrise picture and the presents Mr Christmas got for the Mr Men. Too cute!

[Meredith]

Father Christmas enlists the help of his nephew Mr. Christmas to deliver presents to the Mr. Men.

[RJC]

I didn't realise that Mr Hargreaves was still going.

[Michael Gavin]

I was surprised to find that despite the small form factor it was a little longer than some of his previous works, and with that came a refreshing expansion to the storytelling. The set-up, while a little far-fetched upon initial reading, on second thought was a good way to tie in to previous books and (spoiler) allows for some nice cameos from well known characters. There was a time-skip partway through that I felt didn't add much, but following that the story moved at a clip and I was on board to the very satisfying ending. A solid addition to the author's body of work and I look forward to tomorrow's follow up from my 1 year old daughter's Mr. Men & Little Miss Advent calendar.

[Cathy Hodge]

Mr. Christmas is the nephew of Father Christmas. Mr. Christmas lives at the South Pole and is going to help Santa this year. Mr. Christmas is going to deliver all the gifts to all the Mr. Men in the series, (Examples: Mr. Chatterbox, Mr. Silly, Mr. Slow, etc.) I really liked the presents he chose for each one. The art is bold & whimsical. Enjoy

[Claire]

Another book read to my 5 year old nephew! (This time on Christmas Eve). A lot longer than other Mr Men books but we particularly enjoyed learning what the Mr Men got for Christmas when they opened their presents.