The Christmas Extravaganza Hotel

The Christmas Extravaganza Hotel is a heartwarming story about kindness, enjoying simple things together and appreciating the wonder of nature. Bear and Frog's friendship is adorable, and the illustrations are fantastic.

I fell I love with this, it’s now one of my go-to annual Christmas stories.The quiet Christmas that Bear has planned is interrupted by Frog, who has got lost while searching for his gaudy and flashy hotel experience (whoops! Wrong side of the world!). Despondent, Frog is delighted when the kind Bear offers him his home and company for the season, and determines to give him as close to his wished-for Christmas as he can.But where is the all-you-can-eat breakfast bar? The singing tree? The promised sleigh ride? The lights?Well, what Bear offers soon begins to enchant Frog, and his more sedate but naturally wonderful alternatives capture his heart. And mine. The more simple, quiet and internally calming traditions will also raise smiles with your little ones, as they did mine.Enchanting and with the best morals at its heart, loved Neal’s illustrations too as he gently gives us Bear’s happy world as compared to Frog’s flashy fantasies.For ages 2-7.

Bear is just snuggling down for a nice, cosy, peaceful evening at home when there’s a knock on the door. A poor little frog has been map-reading upside down and thinks he’s just arrived at a very special hotel that promises to deliver a Christmas Extravaganza.Instead of turfing him out and sending him on his way Bear offers the frog somewhere to sleep and then sets about finding ways to make this Christmas the best one Frog has ever had.Tracey Corderoy has such a warm way with words and this story felt as cosy and inviting as the fire-lit sitting room we find Bear in as the story begins.As the story moves along and the two experience how much fun Christmas can be when you look for the fun in simple things their friendship blossoms in a really charming way.  Bear’s gentle calmness and Frog’s excited enthusiasm bounce off each other fantastically and the reader knows for sure that this is the beginning of something special.

Beautiful story and the most comical and breathtaking illustrations. A must have Christmas story for children and adults alike. Definitely recommend!

Bear is all set for a nice, calm Christmas when he is disturbed by a festive loving frog who has accidentally travelled to the wrong side of the world in search of a Christmas Extravaganza. He’s expecting singing trees, supersonic sleigh rides and an all-you-can-eat North Pole breakfast bar and instead he’s met by bear who lives in an ordinary cabin not a fabulous hotel. Determined not to disappoint the devastated frog, bear sets out to show him that a Christmas can be just as happy without all the extravagant trimmings. In a world that has gone completely commercial with Christmas, this is a timely reminder that it can be a time to remember to pause and enjoy the simple things in life. Gloriously told with lively and funny illustrations, this story is as warm and comforting as a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows – a real Christmas treat.