by Kate Thompson
illustrated by Natelle Quek 
 
It’s Holly (who wears a hearing aid) and her mum’s very first Christmas on Mistletoe Street and, with just three sleeps to go, the hugely diverse community are all-a-bustle with Christmas jobs and cheer. But, Holly worries when she spots one house without any Christmas lights.  Holly leaves a lantern on the step and, later, knocks on the door with the gift of  a gingerbread man with chocolate eyes. Finally, on Christmas Eve, she hand delivers a sparkly homemade card “so even when she’s alone, she knows I’m her friend.” On this occasion, the occupier, an elderly woman called Ivy, invites Holly and her mum in for tea. As they chat, Ivy describes a loneliness brought about by changing circumstances and declining mobility: “It’s lovely to have company. I used to have Christmas parties. But over the years, life got busier for everyone, so the parties stopped and I’ve found it harder to go out”. This moving dialogue is accompanied by a series of vignettes which visualises Ivy’s steady progression in to social isolation. 
 
Holly is determined that Ivy shouldn’t be alone this Christmas and an electricity cut later that very same evening provides the perfect spark to ignite a community’s outreach. The street's residents not only bring the festivities straight to Ivy’s doorstep, they begin a entirely new annual tradition… 
 
While it’s not uncommon for a children's Christmas story to summon up acts of charity, it is unusual for this to be done in a way which eschews sentimentality and deeply connects with a social issue, in this case the social isolation of an elderly person and a community’s ‘unintended’ ignorance transformed by an alert and empathetic child. [Single parent / brown family; very diverse neighbourhood including multi-faith; hearing impaired protagonist and background images of wheelchair user, person with crutch; lovely little touch of person wearing jumper with trans flag stripes].  Age 4-7, Paperback 30pp
 
Themes: Mental Health and Wellbeing Themes: Diverse Families Themes: Disabilities