The Snowy Reindeer

Paula Harrison's The Snowy Reindeer is a cosy winter animal story for 6 year olds about a princess who finds a baby reindeer stuck in a log pile.

What happens

Princess Bea has never seen proper snow. It's always hot and sunny at home in Savara. So a holiday at Great-Aunt Sylvia's castle in the frozen north, for her baby cousin Leo's first birthday, is about the most exciting thing ever.

Great-Aunt Sylvia has purple hair and plays rock-and-roll very loudly. She also has no pets at all. (Bea asks before she's even through the front door.)

Then, after a snowball fight, Bea spots a flash of ginger fur by the garden shed. It's an enormous grumpy cat, hissing at something hidden between the logs. Peering into the gap, Bea finds a pair of scared brown eyes, two velvety ears and a tiny pair of antlers.

The baby reindeer's hoof is stuck. Bea frees him, tucks him inside her coat and sneaks him upstairs.

Her little brother Alfie names him Marshmallow, because his tail is exactly the size of one. Three-year-old Annie is sure he's magic and keeps waiting for him to fly. And Marshmallow eats everything he can reach, from the flowers in the guest room to the wrapping paper on Leo's birthday presents.

Keeping a reindeer secret in a busy castle is very tricky indeed! Especially with the grumpy cat sneaking about and Natasha, Bea's bossy big sister, put in charge of everyone's good behaviour.

That's one of the nicest threads in the book, actually. Natasha starts off cross and worried about getting into trouble. By the time the two of them are following hoof prints through a moonlit wood in the snow, she's quietly on Bea's side.

It's a gentle, wintry read with plenty of giggles and hot chocolate, and nothing very scary at all. Perfect for a chilly evening, or for any child who's ever wished for snow.

What to read next

If they want another of Bea's rescues back home in the sunshine, The Lonely Pony has her finding a little pony all alone on the beach. She hides her in the palace orchard on the night before a royal garden party, which goes about as well as you'd expect.