Holly Holiday LOVES Christmas, everything about it, but especially the Christmas tree!! It's so beautiful and magical, so she is understandably horrified when she sees her parents dragging it out to the trash because ... it's DEAD! Magic shouldn't die. It should grow! Holly puts together a plan, and the following year, her family visits a nursery to bring home a living tree in a pot. It takes some getting used to due to its smaller stature, but it proves to be beautiful and magical, just the same. Not only that, but they can plant it afterward! After several years of this new tradition, Holly has a Christmas forest that she can visit and cherish forever!

Katie Anderson has woven an important message into this seasonal picture book and planted the idea of a wonderful new tradition. How exciting would it be to actually have a special place where you plant your living Christmas trees each year and revisit as your children grow until it is their own family that is adding to and taking over it? I love that we actually get to see Katie grow up as she returns to her Christmas Forest year after year.

The illustrations by Art Mawhinney are fun and vibrant. I particularly love Holly's bedroom that truly shows her love of (obsession with) pine trees. Her lamp, bedspread, and even pillow are adorned with them. I'm only surprised the design of her dog's collar didn't also have them.

Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest is a nice little book for those lovers of real Christmas trees that can't stand the idea that they just die and get tossed out after they've served their purpose.

I received an egalley of this book and have chosen to write this unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this short story but mostly loved the simple fact that the lead character's name is Holly!!,

Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest by Katie Anderson is a wonderful holiday book about a little girl that decided because they had to throw their live tree away in the garbage that they should buy a tree at a nursery so they could plant it afterward. A very cute fast paced holiday book.
Even in my 30s I thought this was endearing and sweet.

Thank you NETGALLEY for the arc in exchange for a review.

Another cute little Christmas read to enjoy, is about a little girl who thinks a little further than everyone else and comes up with a genius environmentally-friendly way to enjoy Christmas as well as preserve all those used trees by turning them into a festive forest. A sweet picture book with some good morals to pass on.

Holly Holiday loves Christmas more than anything else. When she realizes that the magic dies each year with a dead Christmas tree, she then makes a tradition of buying a potted evergreen tree, decorating that, then planting the tree once Christmas is over. Sweet little holiday book

With Christmas coming to an end and I was needing a quick read as I was in a bit of an indecisive mood, I grabbed one of the Netgalley Christmas picture book reads - Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest by Katie Anderson. This cute picture book introduces us to Holly Holiday whose favorite holiday in the world is ---- you guessed it "Christmas". She loves everything about Christmas from wrapping up presents, to carols and decorating the Christmas tree. One morning after Christmas, Holly wakes up to discover her parents getting rid of their tree. She is horrified and upset to learn that it is dead. This gets her thinking about what she could do differently so they aren't always getting rid of dead trees at Christmas time. Eventually, Holly and her family land on the idea of buying a small Christmas tree plant and decorating that, and each year after Christmas is over the family travel out to their patch of land and plant the tree. As each Christmas passes, the family continues this tradition until Holly Holiday and her family have a Christmas Forest of trees. Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest by Katie Anderson is the perfect Christmas picture book for those aged 6-9 years old and a family read that could turn into a family tradition.

My daughter and I really loved this cute, children's Christmas book, which is about a little girl called Holly. At Christmas time, she gets sad when her family have to throw out their Christmas tree, so she decides to plant their Christmas tree every year from then on, until she has a forest of trees, years later. She doesn't want to kill any trees, so she makes this little forest, so that the Christmas trees get reused, and not thrown out at the end of the Christmas season. I think this is a great idea.

We loved the art work in the book, which was very eye catching, and the story was easy to read. This is a lovely, heartwarming book, which I recommend highly.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest is a cute story about the joys of the Christmas Season. Holly loves Christmas but is disappointed to find her Christmas tree being thrown out after the holidays. Holly creates an idea to buy a potted tree and replant it after the Christmas season. The book talks about sustainability and even gives directions on how to plant a tree afterwards. Recommended for ages 4-8

Thank you to Greenleaf Book Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I read this several times with my speech students for the Christmas season and for me personally, I believe it was perfect for them. The plot was simple, the artstyle is beautiful to see and understand what is happening, and there was only one vocabulary word that I taught the students and that was it. There's also an added cookie recipe and a sequence page to show how to plant a tree that was perfect for my students who need to create step by step directions. Overall, if you're looking for a different picture book for the holidays, I would highly recommend this one 4.5 out of 5 stars

This simple book has a fantastic message. Holly holiday loves Christmas and the tree is her favorite part. However, at the end of Christmas when the dead tree is disposed of, Holly gets upset. After some research and a chat with her family they decide to get living trees, and at the end of Christmas every year they plant it and create their own forest. This is a great message that you don’t have to have a plastic tree or a dead tree but that you can actually be green and continue to grow and maintain the traditions that you love in a way that is better for the environment.

This book made myself and my daughters so happy! We love Christmas time so they really enjoyed a heartfelt Christmas magic story. This book showed that the magic of Christmas truly can live forever and not just during the holiday season! I could easily see this book as being read as a yearly tradition to remind our kids that the Christmas magic can live on every day.

This story is such a fun and festive book. I love the idea of preserving Christmas trees so I was very excited to find this book encouraging it. The author did a great job at teaching this fun way of having a real Christmas tree and being environmentally friendly and responsible in a way children can enjoy, appreciate and understand. And the illustrations are beautiful and so well done. This is definitely going to be a Christmas book we read yearly!

I confess that I didn't really know what this book was about, but it was a good surprise.
At a time when as many trees are cut down as at Christmas, this book tells us how we can preserve them, in addition to creating a forest.
Love the "doll" and the drawings!

This book tells about a little girl who loves Christmas, and especially loves Christmas trees. Holly is sad when her parents take down the Christmas tree on Boxing Day, asking why they had to throw it out. She is devastated to learn that her tree is dead. The following Christmas, instead of a tree lot, her family buys a tree from a garden centre that is still in a pot. They decorate it and though it is different than the trees she is use to, Holly loves it the same. Following Christmas, the family then plant the tree in a forest and each year they go back to admire the many trees they planted and saved. I think that the messages about sustainability and future-forward thinking are so great and this book overs a solution that is similar to what people currently do, yet has a more positive impact on the environment. The book concludes with information about planting trees in a safe and responsible way. I would definitely recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 4-8 range who really care about the environment. The font is large and accessible and relatively easy to read, so it would be a good fit for readers in that age range. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

*thank you to Netgalley, Greenleaf Book Group, Greenleaf Book Group Press and Katie Anderson for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

What I liked about this was that the illustrations were really nice, bright and colourful. I know me as a small child would have enjoyed looking at the pictures. There is also a recipe at the end of the book and a step by step 'how to plant a tree' guide.

What I didn't like about this was how the parents took down the Christmas Tree on December 26th and did so because, as they bluntly said, 'its dead'. Maybe this is just because I am a very sensitive person, expecually so as a child, but hearing this be so blunt and having something so special to me, instant taken away only the day after Christmas, (seriously! Who gets rid of the Christmas tree THE DAY AFTER Christmas!?) would be quite traumatic. So for me personally, this didn't sit well at all. Even as an adult who does have PTSD, I felt that part of the book quite deeply. But again, maybe it's just me and the majority of people wouldn't even have the slightest uneasiness over this. But this is my personal thoughts and review on this book so I felt I needed to be completely honest.

All that said though, after that scene the book did come up with a really good solution on how to keep the spirit of Christmas alive for longer and to kept the tree alive and growing. So definitely a thumbs up for that.

Overall, putting aside my personal issue with this, I think it is a good book and a great Christmas story. Hopefully it's one to show and teach small children to take care of trees and sends a positive message about keeping forests and the Christmas spirit, alive.

Thank you NetGalley and Green leaf Book Group Press for a copy of "Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest" in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book has bright colourful illustrations. Holly loves everything about Christmas except that her family throw the tree out the day after Christmas. She feels that magic doesn't end, it should grow. She tells her family that instead of going to a tree lot next Christmas they should go to a nursery and buy a potted, living Christmas tree. They are smaller trees but with lots of love they will be magic. After Christmas instead of throwing the tree out they take the living tree out into nature and plant it. Holly returns year after year to visit her growing Christmas forest.

This book has a couple of bonus activities included. A Chocolate Chip cookie recipe and a guide on how to plant a tree.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley, and then I was also lucky enough to win a copy through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway program as well. This is my honest review.

This is a cute, but super woke story suggesting a more Earth friendly and sustainable way to enjoy have a real Christmas tree every year. Not only would it ultimately result in fewer trees killed for Christmas, but it would also mean more trees planted. Obviously there is some privilege involved in being able to do this, but it is a nice idea.

I liked how bright and colorful the illustrations were. They had almost a coloring book feeling to them, and would honestly probably make a pretty fabulous coloring book for all ages.

Overall I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Holly Holiday is relatable in that I also get very sad when we have to throw out our tree after Christmas. I loved reading about her solution to this problem, and that it taught kids to care about the environment. This is a fun Christmas story with a good message, and I think students younger than mine might really like it.

The art wasn't my favorite. The character designs were cute but didn't stand out. All the pictures were a little too similar, but I liked how the trees were drawn and decorated. If I was little kid, this probably wouldn't matter so it won't stop me from recommending this. Its just something that bothered me a little.

Ultimately this was SO sweet and has a very likable main character. I love how this encourages young readers to care about their planet. Also, I love recipes in the back of books. What a treat!

This is such a unique holiday story! We enjoyed it and the wonderful connection to nature! the illustrations are great as well!

Holly seems a great girl enjoying festival and keeping good mind in saving the environment.

This is a very good story that has been told via pictures as well. Illustrations are amazing and I really liked it very much. Story is so good that I really liked it to tell many others to keep environment in mind while doing any festivities. Even now when I am writing this review on 'World Soil Day', this story will remain in my mind whenever I attend any such celebration.
Normally parents guide their children but sometimes they learn too from their future carriers. Same way Holly decided not to hurt the nature and thought of saving the fresh green trees to be cut in the name of a festival. I don't like such acts at all. Some people even kill animals to celebrate, I do oppose that too. Nature & humanity must be always put top-head.

Overall for me this deserves: 5.0/5.0

Holly Holiday and the Christmas Forest was a lovely holiday read - my 4 year old has asked multiple times to read it. Beautiful illustrations. The premise of the book is a very charming idea, but not necessarily a practical one unless ready for the upkeep and care - definitely a good lesson for preserving trees and for humans to take the time to make conscious decisions to save our planet. The spirit of Christmas should never end, I agree Holly Holiday!

Thank you to Greenleaf Book Group and NetGalley for this ARC!