Leuk om te lezen met de kerst. Het gaat over een kerstsprookje ( )

Peter and Lotta - whose story began in the picture-books Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender and Aunt Brown's Birthday, and then continued in the delightful Peter and Lotta's Adventure and Uncle Blue's New Boat - return in this fifth and final installment of their series, in which they celebrate a very Swedish Christmas! Surprised when the Christmas Goat appears at dinner (coincidentally, at the same time that Uncle Blue is out of the room) with their gifts, Peter and Lotta believe Aunt Lavender's explanation - that he is really an enchanted prince who lives in the middle of the forest - implicitly. Sure enough, they encounter a dark-haired musician in the forest the next fall - masquerading as a charcoal-burner - and request that he, in his capacity as Christmas goat, deliver their gifts to the aunts. Imagine everyone's surprise, when TWO Christmas goats appear at dinner...

I was surprised to see, from another reviewer's comments, that some people don't like the inclusion of the Christmas goat (rather than Father Christmas), as that was one of the things I liked best, about Peter and Lotta's Christmas! This alternative gift-bringer was fascinating to me - I'd never heard of this tradition before! - and could prove very educational for English-language children. I also appreciated Beskow's sensitivity to the sometimes credulous nature of children, in the form of Peter and Lotta's absolute belief in Aunt Lavender's explanation for the Christmas goat. All in all, this was a delightful little holiday tale, ably accompanied by Beskow's charming artwork, and is highly recommended to any reader looking for Swedish Christmas fare, or who is a fan of the author/artist's work. ( )