Title: Peaches and Jake Celebrate Christmas
Author: Paula Bailey
Publisher: 1derfulife Publishing
ISBN: 979-8893958270
Pages: 46
Genre: Children’s Books
Reviewer: Liz Konkel

Read Book Review

Jake and Peaches are best friends who are excited to wake up on Christmas morning to discover that Santa left them presents. The charming story focuses on the toys that the two receive: a special moose nicknamed Moosie for Jake and a loveable fox for Peaches. The best part of the day is celebrating with their human mom Paula, who ensures they have the best holiday ever by providing them with love and cheer. The story is aimed at children ages three to seven with real photography and a genuine tale about how important friendship is. These themes make the story perfect for children to share with their families at any time of the year.

This charming picture book is a real story about Author Paula Bailey’s rescue dogs Peaches and Jake, with events taking place in 2018. The structure pairs short paragraphs with photographs, which gives the story a quick flow that can easily maintain children’s attention. This gives the story a reflective quality as the writing gives you the impression of Bailey looking back with fondness at this memory. There is a lot of love felt between her and the two dogs, which is aided by the use of real photographs. This choice for visuals supports the real aspects of the story by giving it an aesthetic of a family album and making it feel more personal. Despite focusing on a specific holiday, this sweet memory is good for any time of the year as it carries themes of friendship and family. These themes are easy for children to comprehend through simple details that make them easily distinct from each other. The real story aspect is further established by the inclusion of photography that takes you back to this family moment and allows you to connect with Peaches and Jake.

The story does a great job of engaging children with the characters through vibrant personalities that make the two dogs easily distinguishable. Bailey uses short and subtle details to do this with photographs, adding supporting visuals for children to see these personalities. For example, Peaches has to encourage Jake, who is too lazy to get out of bed, to go see what presents they received. These details will help children to understand character differences as Bailey cleverly uses the choice of toy as lovely and humorous representations of their personalities. Through this, you can feel the love that Bailey has for them as she insists that Moosie is just ‘losing weight’ when she finds stuffing. Moments such as this will be touching for adults reading with their children, while younger readers will find them funny. These are moments that express a genuine family dynamic and put heart into the story. Friendship is an important aspect of the story with Jake loving Moosie even when it’s merely a ‘shell,’ which is an endearing message that children can apply to their dynamics with others and touches upon how many have favorite toys.

There is a lightheartedness that is ideal for a picture book with the dogs behaving as dogs typically do – destroying and playing with toys. This is where the primary humor that Bailey incorporates stems from, such as Peaches not knowing what to do with her toy. These moments are delightfully paired with photographs so you can see for yourself their actions and expressions. This humor ensures that the tone stays wholesome and charming throughout, making it a feel-good story that will bring smiles to the whole family and create something entirely genuine to enjoy.

Peaches and Jake Celebrate Christmas is a charming children’s book that incorporates real photos, Christmas, and two adorable dogs in a heartwarming story about friendship and family.