4 Stars
Seymour's Christmas Wish
Jane Matyger
Javier Duarte
Mirror Publishing
28 Pages    Ages: 3 +
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Back Cover: Seymour, a tiny, tiny mouse, lives at the North Pole. Each Christmas Eve, he shines Rudolph’s red nose before Santa’s big trip. This year Seymour has a special wish . . . a wish that can only come true on Christmas Eve when snowflakes fall. With Santa’s help, Seymour gets his wish.

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In Santa’s village, way up north, much farther north than even Canada, lives a teeny, tiny mouse named Seymour. Seymour likes to see the colorful lights shining red, blue, and yellow among the green trees. Oh, and the cookies baking in the near distance are heavenly.

Seymour is on his way to Santa’s workshop. He likes to watch the elves do their magic spinning bikes and scooters, dolls, and teddy bears out of wood, metal, paper, and other raw materials. But today, today is Christmas Eve, the most important day of the year for Seymour.

After the elves have loaded up Santa’s sleigh and harnessed the reindeer in the correct order, it was time for Seymour. Without Seymour, Santa could not make Christmas extra special for good boys and girls.  His most important task done, Seymour climbs back down the sleigh, but with a tear in his eye. Seymour looks up at the falling snowflakes and says,

“I wish . . . I wish . . . well . . . maybe next year.”

Santa asks Seymour why he is upset and Seymour tells Santa his wish. Santa, in his jolly red suit, tells Seymour,

” . . . a Christmas wish at the North Pole can come true even for a tiny mouse.”

Seymour’s Christmas Wish is a cute addition to traditional Christmas tales of the big guy up north.  Seymour’s story will help keep the spirit alive in young and old alike.  Seymour is a good addition to Rudolph, Santa, and the elves.

The illustrations are well done. Using the traditional colors associated with Christmas, the artist has drawn cartoon style characters children will love. In many ways, this looks like a coloring book expertly colored in by the artist. The characters remind me of those huge three-foot coloring books that arrive on the scene each year. Children will be enamored.

Seymour is nearly angelic in spirit. Kids will find him a treat. Rudolph looks older than I’d like, but maybe that is experience and wisdom from years of delivering Christmas that I see in his blue eyes. In any case, he has the shiniest red nose ever seen on a reindeer anywhere.

Seymour’s Christmas Wish has a couple of surprises I doubt anyone has heard. One is Seymour’s Christmas Eve job. This one task is the reason he lives at the North Pole and gets to enjoy Christmas all year long. Without this teeniest of mice, Santa could not stop at every house on earth in one night.

The other surprise is something I did not know Santa could do. I knew magic existed at the North Pole, and I knew the red-cheeked guy had a trick or two up his sleeve, but this? It is something many will try, once they see, but only Santa can do this.

I like Seymour’s Christmas Wish. It is a wonderfully spirited story with equally wonderful illustrations. No worry of contradicting stories as the author as kept this in line with tradition. I know boys and girls will love this little mouse. Seymour’s Christmas Wish is a new tradition just waiting to be read. Maybe one day, if I stay up all night, I will catch a glimpse of Seymour. This year it is best to leave out milk, cookies . . ., and cheese

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This was Jane Metyger’s debut children’s book. For a review of her second, The Spaghetti is Missing, go HERE!

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Seymour’s Christmas Wish

Author: Jane Matyger website facebook   bio
Illustrator: Javier Duarte  books  picture
Publisher: Mirror Publishing   website
Release Date: October 13, 2010
ISBN:  978-1-936352-77-7
Number of Pages:  28
Ages:  3 and up

Copyright ©2012 Javier Duarte, Jane Matyger, used with permission.