My last festive review for the year, but a great one. There’s still time to grab yourself a copy before the big day.

Princess Eliza is an inventor. There’s nothing she likes better than making new gadgets and toys but her parents would rather she was out making new friends.

Eliza tries hard to make new friends but her attempts all seem to fail. How can she ever make friends when her palace is surrounded by a dark and scary forest and mountains of snow.

A wisp of smoke curling in on the beeeze seems to be calling to her to leave the palace and head out for an adventure.  Without hesitiation, the princess sets off, through the glittering forest and towards the unknown…

This is the perfect book if you’re looking for a princess who’s not the stereotypical helpless maiden. I think it’s fantastic that our heroine is a dab hand with a hand saw and has her own tool box – a great role model for budding inventors everywhere.

That said, this is not a book just for girls. My two sons both enjoyed this festive treat and went back to read it themselves independently. I just wish one of them would build me a sock-sorter!

Sarah Warburton’s glorious illustrations just scream Christmas and bring the story to life. Full of hidden details and jokes, the keen-eyes among you will be spotting new things each time you read it.

No reader could possibly be disappointed by this Christmas cracker – snow, reindeer, elves and blueprints!

Merry Christmas – may your stockings be filled with books.

Library Girl

*Manu thanks to Caryl Hart for sending me this beautiful copy to review.*