The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen by Marissa Posada

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Justification: I chose this book because I had not picked a book that dealt with a holiday I already knew about. I wanted to find a good holiday book that would capture the interest of many readers. This is a high interest book since it is dealing with a holiday that a lot of children like. I saw that this book had good reviews on Goodreads with a 3.86 out of five stars. I also flipped through and really enjoyed the art that was inside.

Evaluation: the illustrations establish the mood of this story. It is the middle of the night when Ollie hears the bells. The colors of the whole book establish that it is the night of Christmas Eve when all the magic happens. The colors are limited to white, black, grey and bursts of red to highlight. There are even spots of shiny material as Ollie discovers what the jingles are coming from. The reflective materials is on the snow, collar's bells, and the magic that helps the reindeer fly. All of these elements enhance the magic of the story.

The illustrations in this book also define and develop the characters. The story starts in Ollie's bedroom, which is covered in reindeer. She has reindeer wallpaper, pillow, book ends, art and even pajamas! Obviously Ollie likes reindeer. Ollie has a reindeer doll that she carriers with her everywhere. It even goes on the adventure with the actual reindeer. The illustrations show the reader how much Ollie likes reindeer that the text does not even mention.

This book uses music in language. The book starts out with the sound of "jingle, jingle, jingle," which starts and ends Ollie's adventure. Ollie leaves her house to discover the source of the sound. When she finally finds the source, the sounds change to "crunch, crunch, crunch." After she finds the reindeer, they go on a trip through the sky. The story ends with the "jingle, jingle, jingle," but this time Ollie sleeps through it. Throughout this story are examples of music in language.

Response: This book shows me what could have happened if I stayed awake Christmas Eve. I always went to bed early so morning would come quicker. My opinions were challenged because if I heard a noise in the night, then I would hide under the blankets. I would not investigate a sound in the night especially not if I had to go outside to find the source. The story was alright, but I really enjoyed the illustrations. I was so distracted with the illustrations that I missed a couple of the texts. This wasn't a colorful book, but the art was still very good.

Conclusion: This book had illustrations that established the mood, developed and defined the characters, and text that had music in language. This story was not the best, but good for those learning to improve their reading. I really recommend the illustrations for anyone who likes a Christmas story. This is a good book for those who like fantasy adventures.

APA Citation: Killen, N. (2017). The little reindeer. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.