The Christmas Wish

Evert and Breiehagen’s first children’s book is a family affair, with the story built around photographs of their daughter, Anja. Set “in a place so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens,” the tale follows Anja as she ventures through ice and snow on skis and aided by several animals to find Santa Claus before Christmas. Dressed in a plaid jumper, Fair Isle sweater, and an elfin red cap, rosy-cheeked Anja looks like she’s stepped out of a fairy tale, and Breiehagen’s delicious (and, necessarily, digitally altered) photographs of her riding on the back of a polar bear and meeting Santa amid the snowy pines of the North Pole create the sense that magic is very real. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)