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Click to Purchase The Christmas PigJ. K. Rowling’s The Christmas Pig is a Holiday Must-Read!
Review by Robin Sneed
The Christmas Pig (2021)
Written by J. K. Rowling
Illustrated by Jim Field
The Christmas Pig is a magical adventure of a little boy named Jack, who has lost his beloved toy, Dur Pig, aka DP. Luckily for Jack, he lost DP on Christmas Eve, which is a “night for miracles and lost causes.” His family tries to buy Jack a replacement pig, but Jack doesn’t want some new pig. He wants DP—the only one who truly understands Jack. DP was there for Jack when mum and dad divorced. He was there when dad moved away, and he was there when mum started dating Brendan. DP understood everything Jack felt, without Jack having to say a word, when mom married Brendan and Holly became his stepsister.
“Whatever happened to Jack, DP was there, understanding and forgiving, and carrying with him that comforting smell of home, which always came back, no matter how often Mum washed it off.”
J.K. Rowling, The Christmas Pig
Misunderstandings
Jack loves Holly, but he hates her for throwing DP out of the window. Jack doesn’t care that Holly’s been crying or that she spent her own money to buy him a new pig. Grandpa tries to smooth things over with Jack, telling him it’s a Christmas Pig. They don’t understand that this pig isn’t DP. He doesn’t understand Jack like DP does, and Jack can’t explain it to them. Instead, he cries and screams and tries to rip The Christmas Pig’s head off.
Later that night, as Jack is waiting for the house to grow quiet so that he can sneak out undetected and go find DP, Jack hears people talking in his room. The Christmas Pig is alive and moving, and so are his other toys. Things that normally don’t have eyes and mouths are blinking and talking. The Christmas Pig explains to Jack that the only way to get DP back is to journey to the Land of the Lost, if he’s brave enough. Tonight, Christmas Eve night, is the only night that it can be done!
“The Night for Miracles and Lost Causes”
When Jack agrees to do anything to get DP back, he magically shrinks down to the size of an action figure. Together, Jack and the Christmas Pig set out on an adventure to the Land of the Lost to rescue DP. However, they are racing against time to bring him home, because when the clock strikes midnight, the “night for miracles and lost causes” will be over, and they’ll all be stuck in the Land of the Lost forever.
I have to admit that I doubt I would have picked up this book for my grandkids if J. K. Rowling’s name hadn’t been at the top of the cover. I discovered in this novel, however, an epic fantasy adventure that was brilliantly written. I rather enjoyed the characters and clever puns throughout the story. (“‘No,’ Scissors snapped from the bar.”) The wadded up poem who can only speak in rhymes and annoys the pretentious address book, who calls herself Addi.
The Land of the Living
Like Harry Potter, Rowling’s most famous hero, Jack starts out in the real world, facing the same kind of real problems that boys and girls of eight face. Jack’s mum and dad divorce, and he pretends to be okay with it because he senses that they need him to be okay with it. Jack’s dad moves away, and then Jack and mum move away. He starts a new school, has to make new friends, and has to be okay with mum holding hands with someone who isn’t his dad.
The only constant in his life is DP. He never has to pretend with DP, his oldest and dearest friend.
Jack is the only living being among the Things in the Land of the Lost. The living are not allowed in the Land of the Lost, so Jack and the Christmas Pig are breaking the law. Those who break the law are eaten by the dreaded Loser, who rules over this Underworld. The Loser even outranks Santa down here.
The Land of the Lost
It’s no Hogwarts, but it is a rather imaginative world. First things spend an hour in “Mislaid,” hoping that they will be found before they have to be “adjusted.” When their hour is up, they move on to either Disposable, Bother-It’s-Gone, or The City of the Missed. Unless, that is, the adjusters determine that they are surplus, in which case they’re sent straight to the Wastes of the Unlamented. As one character puts it, it’s best not to know what happens to the Things on the Wastes.
Disposable and Bother-It’s-Gone
Disposable is an older land with a saloon, straight out of the wild west. The Things that are sent here to live stay in rooms above the saloon and have to share rooms. It’s the most dreary town of all.
Bother-It’s-Gone, on the other hand, reminds me of modern-day suburbs, complete with a mayor. Each Thing gets a home of their own, and Jack can just see DP living here, until he finds out that there are more than two cities in the Land of the Lost. Bother-It’s-Gone is the first place that we meet an anthropomorphised emotion: Pretense.
The City of the Missed
Grander still is The City of the Missed, complete with a palace, a king, and his court. On the way to and dwelling within this land, we meet more anthropomorphized emotions: Bad Habits, Principles, Ambition, and Power the King. My favorites, though, are Happiness who shines so brightly and reflects that her owner may not find her for some time because she’s looking for her in all the wrong places, and Hope, who has wings.
The imagery of Hope flying away at one point in the book (I won’t spoil it!) nearly brought tears to my eyes. However, Jack could still see Hope, and he knew to go in the direction she went!
“I may not shine as brightly as my friend Happiness, but my flame is harder to extinguish.”
Hope from J. K. Rowling’s The Christmas Pig
Scholars may be put off by the deus-ex-machina ending, but of course, The Christmas Pig isn’t written for scholars. It’s written for children who still believe in Santa. However, those who love the children who still believe in Santa will also love The Christmas Pig. Children will love that Jack that Santa promises to try to help Jack.
Their parents and grandparents will love that this adventure deals with themes of love, loss, sacrifice, and empathy in a way that little kids can understand.
Like Rowling’s Harry Potter series, The Christmas Pig features a boy as the protagonist. As a grandmother of five girls who are currently arguing over who gets to read the copy from me that they unwrapped two days ago, I can confidently assert that girls will also enjoy it. Their parents have just borrowed my personal copy, so I can also confidently say that adults can find it enjoyable as well!
Click to Purchase The Christmas PigThe Christmas Pig by J. K. Rowling audiobook from Audible
With my copy loaned out, I used one of my Audible Credits to download The Christmas Pig Audiobook.
Oh my gosh! This audiobook features a cast of actors portraying the characters and quality sound effects.
I can’t recommend it enough!
The Christmas Pig is narrated by Amaka Okafor, Rocco Padden, Gerran Howell, Tom Alexander, Rachel Atkins, Annette Badland, Karen Bartke, Nicholas Boulton, Saffron Coomber, Clare Corbett, Sandra Gayer, Gerard McDermott, Yasmin Mwanza, Jemima Penny, and Summer Rose.
It is 5 hours and 37 minutes long. It currently has a 4.7 star rating, with 2,940 ratings at the time of this posting.
J. K. Rowling is also the beloved author of the Harry Potter series!
Review by Robin Sneed at Keeping Christmas 365.
Page last updated: April 16, 2023
