This book and the experience of reading it is the perfect companion for the pre-Christmas time. It helps create a holiday atmosphere, inviting you with its stunning cover, enveloping you in interesting stories, as well as beautiful illustrations by Ukrainian artists. Even though the focus is set on Ukraine, it’s generally extremely informative about all customs around Christmas, such as where the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree came from, where Santa Claus actually got his name from or why and since when children write letters to him. A foreword to the English translation is included, which also puts the recent events in Ukraine into context:

The book you are holding in your hands was published in Ukraine a year before the onset of the full-scale-Russia-Ukraine war. This war has been described in different ways, but here is the definition we offer: the country where Christmas is one of the most significant holidays of the year and is celebrated twice, honoring both Eastern and Western traditions, was attacked by the country where Christmas has lost all meaning.

p. 9

I can see this book being of interest to both Ukrainians, to better understand the historical intricacies behind one of the most important holidays of the year, as well as to people from other countries. If you ever heard about the fact that Orthodox Christmas wasn’t celebrated on the same day as the Catholic one or wondered why the New Year’s celebration is such a big deal in the countries that were previously a part of the Soviet Union – all this and much more will be covered within the 8 different chapters.

In the Soviet Union, Christmas was strictly forbidden, firstly, as a religious holiday, and secondly, as a public holiday (public holidays in the USSR could only be official). Carollers who walked door-to-door […] were caught by the police and their parents were fined.

p. 74

The only reason why I deduced one point from the rating was because I felt like there was a little something that was missing. What I read out from some other reviews was that the original Ukrainian version of the book had some parts that weren’t included in the translation. This might be a reason for that sensation. Nevertheless, I was generally very positively surprised. If you’re generally not a religious person (like I am), there are still little charming bits and pieces of information that you can take along from the reading experience.

Another attribute of Christmas – and the Christmas tree – is light. […] But festive candlesticks were deliberately not put in some churches in order to encourage parishioners to come with their lamps, thereby reminding them that they are the light for the world; that the light does not remain locked in the church building, but must be with them wherever they go, especially in their homes.

p. 78 and 80

From the beginning and up until the very end, the book was informative and well thought out, so that even a little commentary on the cover design and the writing process can be found wrapping everything up on the last pages. This book could both be a beautiful gift for someone special but also a unique little treat for yourself!

★★★★☆ (4/5)

_{Edition: ISBN 978-1-4087-2841-3
Sphere, 2022 (first published in Ukrainian in 2022)}