Oscar and Molly live in Middlesbrough with their parents but are spending Christmas in Chipping-Bottom in Hampshire at their father's family home. You see their father is part of the Cuthbert-Andersons who own a rather large family estate where his parents, Lord and Lady Cuthbert-Anderson, still live. Christmas is a big event there and includes the family performing a nativity play for the rest of the village. Oscar and Molly's parents have managed to find ways of avoiding Christmases here for the past few years, but this year, as Lord Cuthbert-Anderson is rather ill, they feel they have to go.
On their first night, whilst trying to sleep in the nursery, Oscar and Molly see a bright light in the sky and Molly convinces Oscar that they have to investigate. Whatever they thought they would find, it certainly wasn't a rather dazed Angel Gabriel who has managed to knock Christmas off course and needs their help to get things back on track before Christmas Day or Christmas will no longer exist. Sounds easy? Not if you also need to locate a shepherd, a wise man, a donkey, oh, and Mary and Joseph.
Can I just say now that Operation Nativity is a gloriously funny celebration of Christmas with all its traditions and I thoroughly adored every minute of it. I loved the small details and humour that will be as funny for adults as for children - funnier perhaps - and I can absolutely imagine this being a brilliant book to read aloud as a family (or to a class) in the run-up to the festive season.
Every family has their own particular Christmas traditions but the Cuthbert-Anderson's nativity is quite the organised event involving every member of the family, whether they want to be part of it or not. Old traditions meet with the exuberance of youth as Lady Cuthbert-Anderson organises the carol singing and the play rehearsals, with hilarious results.
The characterisation within the book is really rather wonderful. I very much enjoyed the Angel Gabriel, Balthazar and Steve: their mannerisms and the way they spoke made me chuckle. However, it was Molly who stole the show for me. Her knack for telling the truth and being completely honest is a joy to read and her outfits always unique (she may become my new style icon). After Molly, never again shall I hear 'Joy To The World' in quite the same way again.
Oscar, although very different to his younger sister, is a wonderful young man who takes the weight of the world on his shoulders but does so with immense style. I loved his approach to everything (including stealing his dad's clothes). His love for his grandfather is evident and I found this very touching.
As well as the belly laughs (this book had me laughing out loud on a train from Venice to Florence - great for me, not so good for my embarrassed teenage son who was sat next to me), there are some very important messages about love and family within the book (I recommend having a tissue handy). Love and celebrate your family (in whatever form your family takes), embrace them for who they are and enjoy those times together for they are the memories you make and hold dear. I am reminded of the fact that my dad constantly tells my son and I to 'make memories' and I feel that Oscar's grandfather would approve - he is a wonderful character with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and the perfect balance to his wife.
Operation Nativity will make the perfect addition to your Christmas book collection and will be a book you will want to read again and again.
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour:
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