Review of Cold Toes At Christmas

If John Lewis wrote Children's Christmas books............

I know that's a bit of a bold statement, but the latest book from one of 2018's newest authors, Jo Fitzgerald, will leave you with a lump in your throat if you don't actually shed a tear with the emotion from this book.

About Cold Toes At Christmas.

Families come in all shapes and sizes.  Holidays are often times when we try to be together, but it's not always possible.  In this story, Grandma tells her little ones about a Christmas she remembers, when she was very young, in her home far away.

It's a magical story of love, wonder, imagination, hope, and Santa as you've never seen him before!

What I thought of Cold Toes at Christmas - Contains Spoilers

I read this before I read it to my 7-year-old son, and it hit me with emotion!   It's like when you watch one of the Christmas adverts at the moment and you come over all emotional!

The story starts with three grandchildren wanting to hear a story from their grandma's past of how she spent Christmas.  The old lady doesn't tell them of a happy sugar-coated story of seeing Santa flying through the sky, feeding Ruldoph and having presents on Christmas morning.

No, she tells of a story of how she doesn't have her daddy around for Christmas, how she cries herself to sleep but silently so her mummy doesn't hear her, how she only wishes for one thing on Christmas morning and that's the present of having her daddy there.

Reading this with my son raised questions or more like statements from him.  He commented on the little girl not getting any presents, or rather waking up to an empty stocking, which was her daddy's big sock.  And the fact that Santa looked a little different to the one we see in the Grotto, but he also realised that not all families spend Christmas together.

About the Author

Jo FitzGerald is an experienced teacher, mum, blogger and parent advisor. She has had many articles published in the media. Jo has worked extensively in the UK and the Middle East, with her young children, where she lived through many scary events - including a military coup. Jo also lived through and was affected by, the era of the IRA bombings in the UK. She is now ready for the zombie apocalypse – and always has a plan.

Jo specialises in helping parents of Early Years children turn their child on to learning. She also has a strong focus on helping parents foster resilience skills and emotional well-being for their very young children.

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