A very sweet Christmas story! The illustrations by Barbara Cooney are gorgeous and cozy.

This is my absolute favorite holiday book. I love the original edition illustrated by Adrienne Adams. It always brings me back to a late night snowstorm in my father's truck while my mother read the book to my brother and I to comfort us! It is a story of wishing and hope that an runaway orphaned girl, Ivy, and a lonely doll in a shop window, Holly, will be together in a happy home for Christmas. It also has an evil owl that spices up the book!

One of my favourite books as a child. It is a Christmas story, as all the action takes place between Christmas Eve and early on Christmas Day, but I enjoyed it--and still do!--year round. Godden understands the child who feels unwanted, left out, left behind--without being maudlin.

Brave little Ivy is going to be sent from her orphanage to the Infants' Home for Christmas because no one wants her for Christmas. All the other kids have been invited to spend the holidays in someone's home but she somehow gets left over, and Miss Shepherd can't take her to her own home as her sister is ill, so like a modern Bo-Peep she puts the child on a train alone to go to the Infants' Home. Only Ivy knows she's not an infant, and only babies cry, so she tells herself she is going to find her grandmother. And here is a slight point...in the edition I read and re-read as a child, her grandmother lived in Aylesbury, a well-known town in England. In the one I just read, the town is now "Appleton." I wonder why re-issues of classics have to be edited. Changing the name of the town didn't do a thing for the story. Aylesbury's still there.

Holly is a Christmas doll that has just arrived at the toyshop on the day before Christmas Eve. All she wants for Christmas is a little girl, and yet nobody seems to want her, either. The story of how Holly and Ivy find each other, and they both find a home, is still one of my favourites after all these years.

Set on Christmas Eve this well told story weaves together three plot strands in a magical tale of hopes, dreams and wishes coming true if you wish hard enough. Although originally published in the 1950s I had missed this gem during my childhood but quite honestly this is a lovely Christmas read for adults too.
Ivy, an orphan, is to be sent to the Infants’ Home for Christmas because “she has no-one”. Six year old Ivy has a quiet determination about her and says she will go to stay with her “grandmother” even though she knows she does not have one. Although she has never had a family to love her Ivy feels deep down that there is a family somewhere for her and once despatched on her journey she sets off alone to find them.

Meanwhile on a busy Christmas Eve the toys in Mr Blossom’s shop know it is their last chance to be sold. Holly, a little doll dressed especially for Christmas, wishes hard for her own special child to come and buy her. But the day ends and Holly is left in the window. In the same village a childless couple are preparing for Christmas. Mrs Jones has decided that they will have a Christmas tree and decorations but she longs for a child to share them with her. She sits and waits for her husband, the village policeman, to return home and wishes.

The way in which Rumer Godden tells these separate stories and then weaves them together is both clever and touching. I enjoyed this very much and think that children will do too. It has everything you could possibly want from a Christmas classic; an orphan, snow, talking toys and a happy ending. This is an absolute delight and I wish I had discovered it earlier.

My copy has the added bonus of illustrations by Christian Birmingham that complement the text perfectly.

I wanted to love this story. The storyline is sweet, the pictures are charming, and the detailed descriptions were delightful. However, despite all of that, it was a bit awkward to read aloud, and the way it jumped from one set of characters to another drove me crazy. I read it with my 6 year old daughter. She liked it okay, but not one she's asked to read again.

Illuminated by Barbara Cooney's gorgeous illustrations, Rumer Godden tells the story of Ivy, the girl in the green coat, and Holly, the doll in the red dress. It is Christmas Eve and three wishes have been made. Will they come true on Christmas Day? Not if Abracadabra the Owl has anything to say about it.
Add this classic tale to your To Do list for the 2022 Holiday Season. You won't be sorry!

Rereading this one in 2024 as part of my deep dive into Barbara Cooney's illustrations. The story of Holly and Ivy is as endearing as the first time. It was definitely a treat to focus on the artful and inviting illustrations by Cooney. The Goodreads book blurb describes them as 'luminous' and that is something I had taken note of before coming here to write my review. This is a book to spread out over several nights, giving time to savor this story about wishing while also admiring the gorgeous pictures provided to go along with it.

I always love Christmas books, for Christmas is the best holiday for me. Christmas season is the happiest part of the year, especially in my country, Philippines, that has a very long Christmas season. Sadly, we don't have any snow to experience but the Christmas spirit is way beyond snowflakes. Christmas Eve is the most exciting day for me, all of us in the family will go home to celebrate and we will go to church together, Christmas decorations are everywhere, Christmas movies to watch, food preparation for Noche Buena, exchanging gifts and seeing the happiness and satisfaction on everyone's face are all about my Christmas.

This book made me feel sad and happy at the same time; sad for being away from my family for the first time this coming Christmas but happy for reading this book. I love how this book tells that every child deserves to have a perfect toy; a perfect toy from Santa AKA our parents, how everyone is busy decorating for their Christmas trees, and how Holly and Ivy found their perfect home on Christmas day. Wishes do come true on Christmas.

A great book to get started on the Christmas reading. Full of a range of characters and enough tension to make you worry about them. First rate.

I used to read this book to my first grade students each December before we went on winter break. I think I'm giving this story the highest compliment possible by saying that after the holidays, the girls and the boys begged me to reread this touching story to them again. Most years we read the story at least three times!


It's an awesome story with delightful illustrations. I have owned a copy of this book for twenty-seven years, and I still read it every holiday season for my own pleasure.

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This lovely story is beautifully served by the illustrations in this edition. It's the perfect book. Strongly recommended as a Christmas gift for any young woman in your life. Now if only I had some middle grade readers that I gave gifts to...

My goodness, this is such a beautiful story. This is a "children's" book but it was originally published as a story in a women's magazine and it is far more dense than many children's books one normally encounters. In fact, unless you had an older or more attentive child, this one may require more than one sitting to get through. All that being said, it is heartwarming and wonderful and a perfect Christmas story. The illustrations are also lovely. I recommend this one highly and I look forward to reading more by this author.

"If Ivy had stopped to think she would have known she could not get her doll. How could she when the shop was locked and the window was in between? Besides, Holly was not Ivy's doll and had not even been sold. A wise person would have known this but sometimes it is better to feel a prickle in the heart than to be wise."

Beautiful illustrations and a lovely story that warms the heart during Christmas time. More than just a simple picture book, this story is well told and well written with great detail that immerses the reader into the story. Abracadabra is a nasty owl who has it out for the doll named Holly and is determined to make sure she gets put back into the storage box by Christmas. Ivy also has a boy in the orphanage who likes to rub in the fact that she was the only orphan not going to a family's house at Christmas. However, everything works out perfect in the end for Holly, Ivy and the Jones' family. Very sweet read to share with your family at Christmas!