Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Zelda and Ivy: One Christmas
Fiction Series
For ages 6 to 9
Candlewick, 2006 ISBN: 0763630470
Zelda and Ivy, the fox sisters, are at their neighbor’s house making gingerbread cookies and discussing what they want for Christmas. Ivy knows that she wants a Princess Mimi doll but Zelda needs to look through a catalogue before she finds what she wants, a “dreamy velvet gown” which she can wear to a Christmas Ball. The little foxes and Mrs. Brownlie remember how much fun they had when Mr. Brownlie was around to dance with them. Now that he is gone Mrs. Brownlie is all alone without that very special dancing partner. As they walk home the sisters decide that they are going to make Mrs. Brownlie a Christmas present to “cheer up her Christmas.”
In actual fact they are not the only ones who do the cheering on Christmas day for Mrs. Brownlie manages to give Ivy and Zelda something to cheer about as well.
Young readers will find that this warm little chapter book is a perfect read for the days leading up to Christmas. They will identify with the little fox’s anxieties about their Christmas gifts and they will also see that bringing cheer to Mrs. Brownlie is also a gift, both for the girls and for their neighbor.
