Peace On Earth, Good-Will To Dogs

A girl named Flame Nourice bursts through the village post office on Christmas Eve, breathless with the news she's been waiting five wintry weeks to discover: who has taken over the mysterious Rattle-Pane House? With dogs romping through every page and adults conveniently dispatched from the narrative, Abbott lets young hearts run free in this 1915 Christmas gem. The story radiates old-fashioned holiday warmth, glittering tinsel, wrapped presents, the crackle of anticipation, as Flame and her companions follow clues through a frozen village toward something wonderful waiting in that abandoned house. Abbott admits her bias upfront with disarming honesty: she is distinctly pro-dog and pro-Christmas, and she pours every ounce of fir-balsam her typewriter can conjure into these pages. The result is pure seasonal joy, untarnished and sincere, the kind of story that reminds readers what it felt like to believe in Christmas magic when the world still seemed capable of it.