The Christmas Book Flood
by Emily Kilgore, art by Kitty Moss
2022
The Christmas Book Flood was a recommendation from my sister, who's something of a one-woman book flood herself! It's a children's picture book about an Icelandic tradition that, in recent years, has been adopted by booklovers in America. I'd heard of the tradition before (probably from NPR), but didn't know much about it, beyond that it offered a justification for Christmas book-buying.
Emily Kilgore's text spends a lot of time building anticipation, but not much describing what this tradition actually is. We learn that the book flood is coming, people are eagerly awaiting it, they're so excited they can hardly contain it, they make one last trip to the bookstore right beforehand, and then finally exchange books and settle down to read together. I think Kilgore captures the feelings a kid might have before a holiday, but I wish she'd given a bit more information amidst the mood setting.
In Kilgore's author's note at the end, we learn that the tradition dates back to WWII, when the rationing in Iceland was pretty severe, and books were one of the few pleasures people could get ahold of. To save money on printing costs, publishers there did all their printing for the year between October and December, so all the new books for the year came out then. Readers would stock up then, and the book flood became part of the Christmas tradition, staying up late reading on Christmas Eve. I realize that, as an adult, the author's note is addressed to me in a way that the rest of the book isn't, but I found that history way more fascinating than just the assertion that it's winter, so the book flood is coming soon.
Kitty Moss's illustrates the book with jewel-toned pastels, showing a large multiracial extended family making preparations, with the kids getting center-page. As the story continues, more and more elements of each drawing look like book covers or like paper with writing on it, which I thought was a nice effect. Also at the end, we see it's really just the kids who stay up reading, while all the adults fall asleep in the living room with open books in their laps, which is a fun visual treat for the young readers.
Emily Kilgore's text spends a lot of time building anticipation, but not much describing what this tradition actually is. We learn that the book flood is coming, people are eagerly awaiting it, they're so excited they can hardly contain it, they make one last trip to the bookstore right beforehand, and then finally exchange books and settle down to read together. I think Kilgore captures the feelings a kid might have before a holiday, but I wish she'd given a bit more information amidst the mood setting.
In Kilgore's author's note at the end, we learn that the tradition dates back to WWII, when the rationing in Iceland was pretty severe, and books were one of the few pleasures people could get ahold of. To save money on printing costs, publishers there did all their printing for the year between October and December, so all the new books for the year came out then. Readers would stock up then, and the book flood became part of the Christmas tradition, staying up late reading on Christmas Eve. I realize that, as an adult, the author's note is addressed to me in a way that the rest of the book isn't, but I found that history way more fascinating than just the assertion that it's winter, so the book flood is coming soon.
Kitty Moss's illustrates the book with jewel-toned pastels, showing a large multiracial extended family making preparations, with the kids getting center-page. As the story continues, more and more elements of each drawing look like book covers or like paper with writing on it, which I thought was a nice effect. Also at the end, we see it's really just the kids who stay up reading, while all the adults fall asleep in the living room with open books in their laps, which is a fun visual treat for the young readers.
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