Emily Kilgore

The Icelandic Christmas Eve book-giving tradition, known as Jólabókaflóðið, or the Christmas Book Flood, is given the picture book treatment in this new seasonal title from American author Emily Kilgore and Irish illustrator Kitty Moss. As the text describes the coming of winter and the various stages of this annual cultural observance—shopping for the perfect bibliophilic gifts, wrapping them, giving and receiving them, and then curling up with some hot chocolate to read them—the lovely artwork depicts a diverse range of people engaged in those activities...

As a dedicated bibliophile myself, one who greatly admires the Icelandic custom of Jólabókaflóðið, as well as Icelandic history and language in general—as an undergraduate, I took private readings in Old Icelandic, as it wasn't offered as an official course at my college—I was absolutely delighted to discover the existence of The Christmas Book Flood, published last year (2022) and recommended to me by a friend. There are so few representations of Iceland and Icelandic culture, in mainstream American children's literature, that I was especially glad to see that this book had been published. Unfortunately, while it has undeniably good qualities—a friendly, heartwarming narrative, and gorgeous illustrations, when judged in isolation—I found myself more than a little dismayed and distracted by the artificial diversity of the human figures in the artwork here. I don't usually have this reaction—in fact, usually I welcome a more diverse cast of characters, particularly in contemporary picture books—but here it felt forced and bordering on disrespectful. Iceland is a fairly homogenous nation, ethnically and racially speaking, and (in case it needed saying) that's OK. If Irish illustrator Kitty Moss wished to include a more diverse cast, in order to acknowledge the very small number of non-European immigrants to that country, that too would have been OK. But here the majority of the human figures were not European at all, which is contrary to reality, and which also serves (whether intentionally or not) to write Icelanders out of their own country and tradition. This seems especially notable in a book about a traditional Icelandic custom, that is one of the few American children's books set in Iceland to be published in the last few decades.

Looking at this artwork, I wanted to like it, because it was so pretty, and had so many magical flourishes, but in the end I found it somewhat repellant. It would be like looking at a book about a traditional cultural celebration from a different part of the world—perhaps an Obon story, set in Japan—and seeing that almost everyone depicted was not from that culture. Perhaps this was a deliberate choice, made to emphasize that more and more people outside of Iceland are embracing the idea of Jólabókaflóðið? Or perhaps the implication is that there's something wrong with a European cultural celebration being dominated by Europeans. I have no idea, but in the end, I found it a very unfortunate choice, and despite its other good qualities (the reason I won't go below three stars in my rating), I was not enchanted by this book.… (plus d'informations)

I love this book. It’s absolutely magical. I love the tradition; one I’d never heard of until I read Kathryn’s review of this book. I love the storytelling style. I adore the illustrations. There are so many details to view on every page. They’re really special. I appreciate the author’s note at the end. This book would make a perfect Christmas gift. Even better maybe a winter solstice gift to give time for everyone to buy some just right, perfect books to give as gifts for Christmas Eve reading. This is a lovely, gorgeous, emotionally moving, and overall great picture book. A perfect book for anyone who loves reading. A perfect book for anyone who celebrates Christmas. I like it as much as I like [author:Patricia Polacco|46688]'s picture books and that is high praise.… (plus d'informations)