Review of The Star That Glows

[ciecheesemeister]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Star That Glows" by Jacqueline Taylor.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Star that Glows is a children’s holiday story written and illustrated by Jacqueline Taylor. The story features a family celebrating Christmas in their living room. There is a clattering sound outside and the door bursts open to reveal Santa Claus standing there with a sleigh filled with gifts outside on the lawn.

The parents are startled because they had hired an actor pretending to be Santa as a surprise for the kids. The mother asks who the man is and what happened to the actor. Santa reveals that the actor is one of his workers and they made the switch to surprise the family. Santa then prompts the mother to recall the time that she met him when she was three years old.

The story is told in rhyme. It is a fun tale that is appropriate for all ages. The illustrations are colorful and attractive. There was nothing that I disliked about the story although I do have a couple of critiques.

My first critique concerns the text. The black text stands out well against the light blue background and is perfectly legible. However, it would be more impactful if a larger font had been chosen. Young children learning to read will be able to see the words more easily if they are presented in a big, bold font.

Regarding the story itself, there is only one error in the text. Unfortunately, it is a major error that means I cannot give the book a four-star rating although it otherwise earns one, as this error causes me to believe that the book was not professionally edited. This is the sort of error that a professional editor would have caught.

The name of the renowned holiday character Santa Claus is spelled without an “e” on the end of the proper name “Claus.” However, the author writes the name as “Santa Clause.” There is a popular holiday movie called “The Santa Clause,” but this is a play on words, a clause being, per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “a distinct article in a formal document.”

In its current form, I can only rate this charming story three out of four stars. If the author were to correct the error and re-release the book, I would give it four stars.

This issue in no way prevents me from recommending the book to those with young children in their lives. It is a fun story that is appropriate for everyone.

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The Star That Glows
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[Emily_Jen]

I think children would like that this story is told in rhymes. Thanks for the review.

[hena9455]

Great story specially for children as the story is full of surprises like santa clause, gifts, celebrations that has always been liked by the kids.

[Ldpuff]

Very well written and descriptive review. I agree with your decision to detract a star for the errors you mentioned. This book does sound cute, though. Who doesn't love a good Christmas book!