Nicholas Oldland’s One Wild Christmas is a cute and easy-to-read holiday book. I love the story’s simple but impactful messages as well as Oldland’s adorably quirky and playful illustrations!

Bear, Moose, and Beaver are animal best friends who absolutely love Christmas! On Christmas Eve, the friends are busy preparing for the big day when they realize that they’ve forgotten the most important thing of all: the Christmas tree! The three animals race through the snowy forest in search of the perfect tree. However, when they find their dream tree, Bear thinks that it’s too perfect to be cut down. Moose and Beaver disagree. Will these friends be able to resolve their differences and have their wonderful Christmas after all?

I really enjoyed this quick and funny read! Oldland’s language is super simple and easy-to-follow. I actually really like that he wrote the story in simple prose instead of rhymes. I love the full-page and full-colour illustrations! The nature scenes are simple but so whimsically and prettily presented. I especially love the expressiveness and funniness of the animal characters! They’ve got such distinct and hilarious facial expressions and kids will definitely enjoy looking (and giggling) at them too. I particularly love the funny little red bird who lives in the tree and joins Bear’s fight to save it. I loved looking for him in the pages!

I also appreciate the book’s many messages like friendship, family, compromise, honouring traditions, and the appreciation and preservation of nature. Oldland manages to communicate all these things so concisely and effectively without being preachy. I particularly like that although the animals experience a conflict, they manage to find a peaceful compromise. I know people aren’t pleased about the physical (but funny!) fight between the animals. But, I think that this would be a great opportunity for adults to intervene to educate their own children.



🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 out of 5 Christmas trees!

One Wild Christmas is the latest in the Life in the Wild children's series. These are the stories of Moose, Beaver and Bear, who are great friends. This is their Christmas story. They are busy getting ready for Christmas, when they realize they don't have a tree. Off they go with their toboggan to find and bring back the perfect tree. They finally find the one they all like, but they encounter a problem. Bear and the little red bird that is also in these books, do not want them to cut down the tree. Now this is the one part of the book I am not happy with as bear uses physical strength to stop his friends who disagree with him. Of course they come up with a great compromise at the end. This is a great story about the environment, friendship and compromise. The illustrations are very simple, yet colourful and cute. My youngest grandson (5 YO) loved this story. He thought it was funny, and that the animals were wonderful. My granddaughter is now old enough to understand the ecological impact of cutting down the trees, but the little one just liked that they decorated the tree while it was still alive. This is still a wonderful book for families libraries whether you purchase the board book or the regular hard copy.

A sweet book about the best place to decorate a Christmas tree. ☺️ Thank you NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the ARC of this book!

A big 'thank you!' to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for an advanced read copy of this adorable holiday book by Nicholas Oldland!
In One Wild Christmas, forest friends, Moose, Bear and Beaver enjoy getting ready for the holiday season. All is going well until they realize that no one remembered to get the Christmas tree. The friends search together for their tree. Once they found it, Bear could not bring himself to allow his friends to chop down the perfect living tree. After a brief spat, the friends decide to take Christmas to the tree instead!

One Wild Christmas is a heartwarming holiday tale of friendship, the love of nature, and problem solving together! This book would make a great addition to a classroom library or a wonderful holiday gift for a young reader!

One Wild Christmas is about 3 animal friends on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. When they find one, two want to cut it down, while the other wants to come up with a different plan. How will these friends decide to use the tree? The story is short and the illustrations are cute. This is the perfect length for a wintery bedtime read.

Thanks to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.

I thought this book was a cute idea, but the message falls flat. I love that the bear is a tree hugger and wants to keep the tree alive, but tying up his friends with no resolution seems like a poor message for kids. I do like how the illustrations are different, and even though they're not my typical taste, they could appeal to an audience.

Overall, I would have loved to see a bigger message about friendship and forgiveness.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an amazing book. These three friends are so excited about the holiday season, the almost forget the most important thing. They head out together to find a tree, but once the perfect one is found someone refuses to let it be cut down. This causes a bit of tension for these old friends, but it also helps them all learn a lesson. Fans of the previous books in this series will definitely want to check this one out.

This cute Christmas picture book has more to it than the silly funny story. It has themes of friendship and compromise and an ecological message. Bear, Moose and Beaver are almost ready for Christmas when they realize that they don't have a tree. The couple pages with the attempt to find just the right tree made me giggle as it was humorously reminiscent of Goldilocks. But the conflict in the story is that tree hugger bear, does not want beaver to gnaw down the perfect Christmas tree. Unfortunately the three get in a physical fight that ends with Moose and Beaver tied to the tree to prevent them from cutting it down. kids will find the illustrations funny, but I think that this part of the story sends the wrong message to little ones. It makes fighting ok. The author does end the story with the perfect solution. Bear thinks of a compromise and they decorate the tree where it stands. The story is cute and so are the illustrations. I just wish the friends had fought with words and and not with fists. I would have liked the story better, if the solution had been peaceful to begin with. As long as a parent discusses these issues, than the story has a lot going for it.

Super cute book. It’s a quicker read and simple to understand text for younger kiddos. Fun and festive. Nice artwork. Thanks NetGalley for the copy to review.

One Wild Christmas is a beautifully illustrated children’s book. It shows the holiday traditions we are very familiar with but also shows the importance of nature and how you don’t have to cut down a tree just to decorate it. You can enjoy its beauty outdoors and decorate it there while spending time with family and friends making lasting memories.

The only thing that was a bit much for me was the bear tying up his friends the moose and beaver to the tree and running away to get all of the decorations without telling them.

Overall, is a cute story for the little ones.

Moose, Bear, and Beaver set out to find the perfect Christmas tree, but when they do, Bear is too softhearted to cut it down. Will Christmas be ruined, or can they find a new way of celebrating?

This was adorable. The illustrations are bright and simple, and there is humor aplenty. Beaver's teeth made me giggle. I'd love to read this one every December.

One Wild Christmas is a beautifully illustrated Christmas story which celebrates familiar traditions and the joy of nature – moose, bear and beaver style!

On Christmas Eve a bear, a moose and a beaver are busy preparing for Christmas. But they’ve forgotten to get a tree! They go out and find several trees that aren’t quite right but then they find the perfect pine. As the beaver starts to chop the tree the bear races to protect it. A fight ensues and bear ties his friends to the tree. But then he has a wonderful idea!

Christmas is the bear, the moose and the beaver’s favourite time of year and they celebrate many universal traditions including hanging stockings, baking, wrapping presents and putting up decorations. But they also love the great outdoors – making snowmen, sledging and having snowball fights.

We love the playful colourful illustrations that accompany the simple text, our favourite is the final one which encompasses the spirit of Christmas and friendship..

Another cute story from Nicholas Oldland.
One Wild Christmas is an easy read for young readers. My 7 year old would enjoy the story and be able to read on his own.
I like that there are only a few sentences per page. The illustrations are simplistic, but effective and add to the humor of the story.

Bear, Moose, and Beaver are friends and at Christmas time they divide up all the chores and to do list so that they- can ensure the best Christmas ever. This year they forgot the tree! They all run out into the woods to find the perfect tree but there are some that are too big, some too small, and some that are not the right type. When they come to the perfect Christmas tree though, Bear is very unhappy about chopping it down. They have to change plans.

This was a cute story. I liked that it was about preserving nature in its natural enviornment. It was also a quick, fun holiday read. I think that kids will like the animals and the fighting that ensues over the tree chopping. I enjoyed this one for its heart and concern for nature and it will be a great children's book to add to the collection.

This seems cute, and for the most part it is. It follows three besties, a moose, a bear, and a beaver, who set out to get a Christmas tree after realizing they forgot one on Christmas Eve. This is when things get kind of weird. We find out that Bear actually loves nature and can't stand the thought of cutting a tree down, so he fights his friends and ties them up. I found this to be a little much for a kids' book. I agree that we should love and care about nature, but I don't think the messaging of tying up your friends and then continuing to celebrate the holiday is ideal, and I think the librarians I work with would agree.

Despite its flaws, this had some good parts. The illustrations are goofy and fun, and I do like the messaging of friendship and nature around the holidays. The execution fell flat for me, but some kids may like this! I just hope an adult is around to explain why we shouldn't treat our friends like this!

Cute story. Love the twist to the tree but not the tie up the characters part. Seems a little extreme.

It's Christmastime and Bear, Moose, and Beaver are super excited to bake, wrap presents, and decorate. Then they discover something is missing and some slight chaos ensues as they try and rectify it all.

Very cute story [with some very timely advice] with fantastic illustrations. I highly recommend this as this years new holiday book for littles.

Very well done!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicholas Oldland, and Kids Can Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨Book Review✨
🤪🐻🫎🦫🎄One Wild Christmas 🎄🦫🫎🐻🤪

My thoughts:
🤔 Although this book has several glowing reviews, it is a “No” for me. I didn’t love that the bear, moose, and beaver got into a physical fight, and then the bear tied the moose and beaver to the tree. I thought the violence was a little much, especially considering this is a board book intended for very young children.
🤔 I will grant that the illustrations are super-cute!
🤔 The text is easy to follow, and I did like how it ended.

🥰Thank you to Kids Can Press and @NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had to grab the cute Christmasy read because it’s almost that time of the year, and I like seasonal readings ahha. This one was adorable and funny. The illustrations were perfect for the story. I loved that these friends forgot the “most important thing” about Christmas but it actually brought them even more together.
I would recommend this read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kids Can press for the review copy.

Book Review: One Wild Christmas by Nicholas Oldland

Rating: 4 Stars

Hey there! I just finished reading One Wild Christmas by Nicholas Oldland, and it was such a delightful little adventure that I couldn’t help but share my thoughts.

So, the story revolves around three best pals: a bear, a moose, and a beaver. They’re all super excited about Christmas and have been busy preparing for the holiday season. However, in all their hustle and bustle, they completely forget to find the most essential decoration—yep, you guessed it—a Christmas tree! So they set off into the snowy forest, eager to find the perfect tree. After rejecting several options, they finally stumble upon this stunning pine tree that’s just the right size, smells amazing, and has the softest needles. It’s basically a Christmas miracle!

But here’s where things get interesting. Just as the beaver is about to chop it down for their holiday celebrations, the bear steps in to save the day. He can’t bear (pun totally intended) the thought of harming such a beautiful tree! The moose and the beaver are not on the same page, though; they think they should go ahead and take it. This leads to a heartwarming debate about what really makes Christmas special. Will they manage to celebrate without cutting down their perfect tree? You’ll have to read it to find out!

Honestly, this book is just a heartwarming and funny Christmas story that captures the essence of friendship and the true spirit of the holiday season. The illustrations are adorable and really bring the characters to life, adding to the overall charm of the story. I think it would make a perfect addition to any child's holiday reading list.

In short, if you're looking for something that’s both entertaining and meaningful this Christmas, you definitely need to check out One Wild Christmas. It’s a joy to read and will definitely put you in the festive spirit! 🎄✨

⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️