The Last Christmas discussion group discussion

Hi Everyone

I'm happy to talk about anything to do with this book for primary school kids. Such as the characters, the adventures, the villains, and the background to it – that global warming is melting the ice at the North Pole and where can Santa, his elves and the reindeer go. Here's the website, http://www.thelastchristmasbook.com

And here's a snippet from the first page:

Chapter 1
Why is Our Ice Breaking Up?



Crack, crack, crack.
It sounded like gunshots in the still night – but a thousand times louder. Then the ice at the North Pole shook so violently that Vixen dropped her snow-moss ice cream cone.
‘Dasher,’ she cried, ‘what’s happening?’ She was the smallest of Santa’s reindeer, but quick and graceful. Her golden eyes had black, secret centres and her silky fur rippled in the wind as though she was flying.
‘I don’t know,’ said her friend, Dasher, a tall, handsome but worried-looking reindeer.
Crack-crack, crack-craaaaaack!
The ice split in two at Vixen’s feet and jerked apart. Within seconds the gap was ten feet wide. Then twelve feet. Then fifteen, and the moving ice carried her ice cream away with it.
‘I’ll get it!’ said Dasher.
‘No,’ Vixen yelled. ‘It’s too far!’
Dasher, who was both reckless and clumsy, tried to leap the gap but landed hard on the edge of the ice. It cracked under him and he fell backwards into the freezing sea. Huge lumps of ice broke off all around him; one just missed his head.
Vixen gasped. ‘Are you all right?’
The ear-piercing screech of splitting ice suddenly stopped. For a few seconds there was silence, broken only by Dasher’s heavy breathing. Then she heard a terrifying smashing sound. The crack in the polar ice, which ran as far as she could see, was starting to close.
Dasher swam back and forth, looking for a way out, but the sides were like cliffs and sharp pieces of ice kept crashing into him.
‘Ow, ow!’ he yelled. ‘Vixen, where are you?’
‘Over here!’ She leaned down as far as she could. ‘Grab my antlers.’
‘I’m too heavy; I’d pull you in.’
Crunch, crunch. The ice jerked wildly and she started to panic. ‘Dasher, you’ve got to get out.’
‘I – can’t!’

This is on my reading list for Christmas '16