Clara’s Verdict
Tom Fletcher’s transition from musician to children’s novelist was watched with genuine interest – and some scepticism – by those of us who review books for a living. He was already beloved by a generation of children through his McFly career and his picture books, but picture books and novels are different arts, and the question was whether the longer form would hold. The Christmasaurus, his debut novel and the first in its series, answers that question with considerable confidence. It is a proper Christmas book: warm without being cloying, genuinely inventive in its mythology, emotionally generous in the way the best children’s fiction always is. Rated 4.8 from listeners, it has more than justified the expectation.
What struck me on listening was how carefully constructed the emotional logic is. This is not a book that simply lines up Christmas elements and hopes the cumulative warmth carries it. Fletcher earns his emotional beats, and the result is a story that holds adult attention alongside children’s – which is, ultimately, the only test that matters for family audio.
About the Audiobook
Book 1 of The Christmasaurus series, published by Puffin in October 2016, follows William Trundle – a ten-year-old wheelchair user with a passionate obsession with dinosaurs – and his encounter with the Christmasaurus, a creature from the North Pole who is, improbably and wonderfully, exactly what William has always hoped for. The story takes in Santa’s workshop, singing elves, flying reindeer, and all the expected elements of North Pole mythology, but Fletcher weaves through all of this a story about friendship and families, about loss and longing, and about the specific magic of discovering that what your heart most wants is not, in the end, beyond reach.
The decision to make William a wheelchair user is handled with genuine care. His disability is part of who he is without being the story’s subject – he is a child with his own inner world, his own humour, his own fears, and his own desires, and the wheelchair is simply part of the reality he inhabits. It is worth noting, because too much children’s fiction with disabled protagonists centres the disability as the story’s problem to be solved, and Fletcher is smarter than that.
At five hours and thirty-eight minutes, this is an audiobook that works beautifully for family listening: long enough to carry across several car journeys or several nights’ bedtimes, short enough to complete comfortably in the run-up to Christmas. The prose is described by readers as “easy to read, descriptive and funny,” and the plot has enough invention and genuine surprise to hold adult attention alongside younger listeners’.
The Narration
Paul Shelley narrates, and he brings the warmth the material requires without tipping into saccharine. His voice has the quality of someone who is genuinely telling you a story rather than performing one – a slightly heightened register that signals to children that something special is being offered – and the characters are differentiated clearly enough for younger listeners to follow without effort. The elves’ musical sequences and the more active adventure passages benefit from his commitment and energy. For family audio, the narrator’s handling of the emotional high points is crucial, and Shelley delivers reliably where it matters most.
What Readers Say
The response across more than a decade of readers has been consistently enthusiastic across a wider age range than the cover might suggest. One reader picked it up specifically for its wheelchair-using protagonist and found the representation “not disappointing” – which sounds faint until you consider how routinely such representation is handled badly elsewhere. Another read it as a family over Christmas and subsequently bought additional copies as gifts the following year, which is the most reliable indicator of genuine affection a book can earn. The recurring note across reviews is that the book is funny, exciting, and crafted in ways that hold up for adult readers, and multiple readers have listened to it more than once. A reviewer described it as capturing “the magic of Christmas” while engaging honestly with “more serious topics” without losing its warmth – an accurate and useful summary.
Who Should Listen?
Perfect for families with children aged roughly six to twelve, and genuinely enjoyable for adult listeners who approach it on its own terms. Ideal as Christmas-season listening – the North Pole setting and the festive mythology make it most atmospheric in November and December, though it stands on its own at any time of year. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in children’s fiction that handles disability representation thoughtfully without making it the story’s entire focus. For a long family drive, a sequence of shared bedtimes, or a cosy December evening, this earns its reputation entirely.
Listen to The Christmasaurus on Audible UK – also available on Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel.
