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Old Father Christmas

Berlie Doherty - Author

Maria Teresa Meloni - Author

A snowy Christmas Eve meeting leads two children to hope for a tree like the one in their picture book. The story follows the tree’s appearance at home, where candles and gifts make the scene especially wondrous.

More about this book

One Christmas Eve, as two young children are walking through the snow-covered countryside, they come across a man who looks just like the Old Father Christmas in their picture book at home. They dream that he will bring them a Christmas tree, like the one he carries in the book, but when it appears in their living room, covered in candles and gifts, it is more wonderful than any picture they have ever seen. This charming story now features a stunning new cover, evoking all the warmth and tradition that surrounds this special time of year. Based on a story by Julia Horatia Ewing.

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Book Analysis

At a Glance

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Imagination· ExplainedChristmasPicture books· Explained

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

imaginationChristmaspicture booksmemorysiblings

FictionIllustrated book

Themes in Context

From picture-book image to Christmas wonder

The children meet a man who resembles the Father Christmas in their picture book, then hope for a tree like the one they have seen there.Exploratory / explanatory

How the book presents it: The story connects an image the children know from a book with a festive encounter and its imagined possibilities.

Talk about: What details in the picture book might have helped the children recognise the man?

A remembered Christmas

Godfather Garbel tells how, when he was eight, he and his younger sister met the man they took to be Father Christmas and had a memorable Christmas.Provisional reading

Talk about: How does hearing the story as a memory affect the way it feels?

Why It May Be Worth Reading

The contrast between the Father Christmas in a picture book and the man the children meet gives the tale a playful, imaginative premise, while the Christmas tree and gifts bring the story towards a festive homecoming.

What Deserves Attention

The story includes a walk through snowy countryside on Christmas Eve and a man who resembles Father Christmas.

A Conversation Worth Having

What makes the man seem like the Father Christmas in the children’s book, and how does seeing him shape what the children hope for?

Reading Approach

Enjoy the pictures together and invite your child to notice how the children’s hopes compare with the Christmas tree and presents at home. Let them decide what feels most surprising or special.

Confidence & Basis

Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.

What remains unconfirmed

From picture-book image to Christmas wonder: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
A remembered Christmas: The relationship between the remembered events and the story’s Christmas-magic elements is unclear.

Old Father Christmas - Berlie Doherty, Juliana Horatia Ewing - Google Books

Limited information

Checked: 1 October 2026.

Relevant to: A remembered Christmas

Old Father Christmas by Berlie Doherty | Open Library