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| Image: Candlewick Press |
Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever by Matt Tavares. unpgd. Candlewick Press, November, 2019. 9781536201376. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)
Oh! How I just love me a great origin story. Truth be told, I never thought much about Santa's reindeer. They just were. In Matt Tavares' quietly gorgeous new holiday book, Dasher, Santa's original sleigh puller was a horse named Silverbell. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
A family of reindeer are the main attraction in J.P. Finnegan's Traveling Circus. They spent long, hot days being stared at and long nights pulling the wagons to the next stop. To pass the time, Mama reindeer tells stories. Dasher's favorite is about a magical land in the frozen north. Dasher's dearest wish is to follow the North Star to this place. She gets her opportunity on windy night. She follows the North Star but never seems to get closer to it. She is lost.
Dasher spies a man in a red suit with his horse, who is unable to pull his sleigh filled with presents. Dasher steps forward to help and has a thrilling night helping Santa deliver presents. When he returns to the North Pole, Dasher's happiness is tinged with regret over leaving her family behind. Santa remedies that.
It's a warm and lovely story, sparely told and illustrated with glorious single- and double-page spreads. You and your little ones should stop and spend some time in each one. I'm picky about what goes into my personal holiday collection. Dasher is magical and one I will look forward to reading again and again.
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