Die erste Hälfte etwa hat mir sehr gut gefallen, am Ende reicht es dann aber doch nur für 3 Sterne... ( )

*All reviews are from online reviews*

On the last day of November, young Joakim, shopping for Christmas with his father, sees an advent calendar in a bookstore with its 24 windows to open, one by one, every day in December until Christmas Eve. But this will turn out to be a magical calendar... Instead of the figures that these calendars usually contain, every day little pieces of paper fall out that tell the story of Elisabet, a girl who has been lost. From here on, the story will take us on a trip through Europe in the company of a group that a new character joins every day. It is a trip in Time, backwards, until reaching the very portal of Bethlehem. As always happens in Jostein Gaarder's books, this one contains mystery and stories within stories, like little boxes that we open. In this case, each calendar window will be...

What a lovely book! Travelling back in time from 20th century Norway to the birth of Christ with angels, shepherds and magi! ( )

Very enjoyable, very childlike, simple but satisfying. I actually tried not to read it too quickly so I could savor it a bit more. ( )

What a lovely little book - a reminder of what Christmas is (or should be) all about.

This book is centred around two stories: a child opening the doors in an advent calendar and the disappearance of a young girl many years earlier.

A small boy buys an old advent calendar - each day, another door is opened and a little more of the story is told. It can hardly be a surprise that we follow the Christmas story each day, but we also work through the mystery of a child (Elisabet) who vanished years earlier and follow her story also. Each chapter is another day, another door, another instalment of the Christmas story and another instalment of Elizabet's story.

I read it, just like that - each day I read the appropriate chapter, turning the book into my advent calendar. I'm not particularly religious, but I found it quite a nice way to lead into Christmas, to look at the story behind it rather than just the commercial gift giving frenzy.

It's a magical little book and could easily be read to a child as part of the lead up to Christmas, it is obviously religious, but not in a doctrinal manner, more about truth, hope and joy and what should be the Christian message. ( )

A bit early to read Christmas stories, but I wanted to have read this book before sending it out on a journey again through BookCrossing.
I loved it. The Christmas story, a bit of magic, some Christian thoughts, all packed in an interesting story. One day in the Advent period means one part of the whole story. That is difficult for Joachim, trying to hide the story from his parents. How the story goes, both in present and in the story from the calendar, well that's something you'll have to read for yourself.

I liked it a lot, even though it may be 'only' a children's story. ( )

This is an odd one to review, because... well, nothing Gaarder writes is ever simple, is it? It's a story within a story, an advent calendar within an advent calendar. A little boy called Joachim finds a handmade advent calendar in an old bookshop and takes it home. Every day when he opens the next door a folded piece of paper falls out, slowly telling the story of a little girl called Elisabet who runs away from a department store in the late 40s and ends up on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem. Each day the pilgrims, including shepherds, angels, sheep and the three Kings of Orient, run across countries - and across time - adding new figures to their ranks as they go, with the aim of reaching Bethlehem at the time of Jesus's birth. At the same time, there's an ongoing mystery about a grown-up Elisabet who's ALSO missing... Suffice to say that in classic Gaarder style, all is sort-of cleared up by the end, with a whopping side helping of BUT MAYBE...??

As you may know, I'm not remotely religious, but my Decembers at school as a kid were filled with nativity scenes and carols and colouring in pictures of the Three Wise Men, just like every other child, so I was mostly able to overlook the occasional heavy-handed religious moment and focus on the themes of peace and goodwill and general festivity. The arrival of an exuberant and rather unorthodox cherub called Impuriel definitely helped, as well as the fact that the chapters are short - about 7-11 pages - so it never got overwhelming. It became a lovely morning ritual throughout December, reading that day's chapter over breakfast, opening my own advent calendar at the same time as Joachim opened his! ( )

While shopping for an Advent calendar in a Norwegian town, a young boy and his father discover a one-of-a-kind calendar in a bookshop. Joachim looks forward to opening each day's door to learn more about a little girl, Elisabet, and her companions who are on a journey across Europe and backwards through time to be present at Christ's birth in Bethlehem.

I easily read this book in a single day, but I think it would be more pleasurable to read a chapter a day throughout December leading up to Christmas. Some of the chapters become repetitive, a useful feature if you're reading the book over a 3 ½ week period but a flaw if you're reading it in a short period of time. Besides its obvious use for religious instruction during Advent, this book could also be used to introduce children to some of the events and key figures in European history. ( )

This book is best read as an Advent calendar: start it on December 1st and enjoy a chapter of this journey through "a stack of pancakes" one day at a time. ( )

Told in 24 short chapters which are each assigned a date from 1st – 24th December, this book was apparently designed to be read like an advent calendar, with the appropriate chapter being read on the specific date.

On 1st December, a young boy named Joachim is given an unusual advent calendar, and behind each door contains a chapter of a story. As the story unfolds, Joachim (and his parents) learn about a young girl named Elisabet who disappeared from Norway years earlier, and a pilgrimage of angels, shepherds and wise men who travel across land and time, to be present when Jesus was born.

Unfortunately, I did not particularly enjoy this book. Although I am not religious, I can enjoy reading books about religion, but I felt that this particular story was preachy and sanctimonious. Also, while it might be considered a magical tale of a pilgrimage, it could equally be seen as the story of a young girl who was tempted away from her mother by a cute animal, and led away with an angel who promised to look after her, but instead took her away from her home, and left her mother wondering for years about what had happened to her daughter. (Which to me anyway, sounds a bit sinister.)

I do think the idea was quite a good one, because it could be a useful tool for learning about the history of certain places, but I just couldn’t connect with it at all. There was no characterisation – I didn’t know Joachim or his parents any better by the last page than I did on the first page, and I felt the same way about Elisabet. The writing just seemed too simplistic, and the story was also somewhat repetitive, and the ending was – possibly deliberately – a bit unclear.

I should add that I have only read one other book by this author, and I didn’t enjoy that either. Plenty of reviewers have loved this book, so it may just be that I am not the right reader for Jostein Gaarder. I wanted to enjoy this, particularly reading it at Christmas time, but sadly, was just not able to. ( )

Finished the last chapter on Christmas Eve. A story of a lyoung girl who goes back in time to see the Christ child born in Bethlehem and the young boy who follows her adventures via a magical Advent Calander. ( )

This is a book translated from Norwegian -- a story that travels through space and time from modern times to Norway in 1948 to Bethlehem in the year zero, the year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. While relating the story of a "magic" advent calendar, found in a dusty bookshop in modern times, the book is also an advent calendar of its own with twenty-four short chapters. It tells of angels and shepherds and a journey of destiny and celebration.

Though I was raised in a Christian religion, I no longer subscribe to any particular faith. Still, I found this book to be thought-provoking and reverent and a perfect companion to the holiday. It travels to the heart of the season with a message of love and tolerance. I am very happy to have received this gift and to have saved it to read at this time.

http://webereading.com/2012/12/the-christmas-mystery-by-jostein-gaarder.html ( )

When Joachim and his father go looking for an Advent calendar on the last day of November, they end up with one that a mysterious flower seller has left in a local bookshop.

The book is divided into 24 chapters, one for each window of the Advent Calendar, so if you are going to read it during Advent, you can read each chapter on the right day! ( )

Joachim buys a strange Advent calendar which provides clues to the mystery of a young girl who disappeared just before Christmas in 1948.

Very touching story. I'm glad I resisted temptation and only read one chapter per day through Advent. ( )

This is a very sweet Christmas tale, a twist on the Christian nativity story by the author of Sophie's World. It would be a fun read-aloud book for young school-age children, especially if you read a chapter every day of December, like the family in the story does. That said, this is purely a fun Christmas lark. It doesn't live up to Sophie's World, or even The Solitaire Mystery, especially for adults. ( )

The Christmas Mystery begins in Norway on 30th November when a boy named Joachim discovers a hand-made Advent calendar in a book shop. The next day, when Joachim opens the first door, he finds a tiny piece of paper telling the story of a little girl called Elisabet who spots a lamb in a department store. The lamb begins to run away, but Elisabet is determined to stroke it and chases after it. The lamb leads her outside and into the woods where she meets the angel Ephiriel, who explains to her that she is now part of a very special pilgrimage to Bethlehem - not only will they be travelling across land, they will also be travelling back through time to the day when Jesus was born.

As Elisabet, Ephiriel and the lamb move closer to Bethlehem and further back in time, they are joined by an assortment of other Biblical characters including shepherds and Wise Men. A little more of their story is revealed every day through the pieces of paper hidden in Joachim's advent calendar, but as the tale of Elisabet's journey unfolds, Joachim and his parents become involved in another mystery: the mystery of John, the mysterious flower-seller who made the magic Advent calendar and the real-life Elisabet who disappeared on Christmas Eve in 1948.

The book is divided into 24 chapters, with each chapter representing one door on the Advent calendar. If you have children, the structure of the book would make it perfect for reading aloud, one chapter per day in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This is not really a 'children's book' though - it's one of those books that can be enjoyed on different levels by people of all ages. As with all of Jostein Gaarder's books the story introduces us to a large number of philosophical ideas. We also learn some interesting historical and geographical facts about the countries Elisabet passes through on her way to Bethlehem.

Although this is not as good as some of Gaarder's other books such as Sophie's World or The Solitaire Mystery, it has to be one of the most unusual and imaginative Christmas stories I've ever read. ( )

"Christmas is the world's biggest birthday party, for everybody in the world is invited to join in. That's why the party has lasted for so many years."

Fifty years ago a girl disappeared from her home in Norway. She ran after a lamb and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2,000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. There Elisabet met angels (Ephiriel, Impuriel, Seraphiel, Cherubiel and Evangeliel), shepherds (Joshua, Jacob, Isaac and Daniel), wise men (Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior) and other biblical characters (Quirinius, the Governor of Syria and Augustus, Emperor of the Roman Empire) who joined her on her pilgrimage. "We'll also welcome the baby Jesus into the world. He was called God's lamb, because He was just as kind and innocent as the little lamb's fleece is soft. We have to travel two thousand years backwards in time to the moment when Jesus was born."

In present-day Norway, a boy acquires a strange old Advent calendar. Hidden in each of the windows is a tiny piece of paper. Little by little these pieces unfold the girl's story and as we learn what happened to her, another story is revealed - that of the strange old man who made the calendar. Indeed this is a novel way of re-introducing Christmas in one's reading list not only because of the season but because it is creative, entertaining and informative.

Gaarder tells the most famous story in the world freshly, every chapter containing his characteristic twists and turns. Like "Sophie's World" it's a children's book that can be read by adults, and it could even be read together through the advent period, day by day. "There are two ways of becoming wise. One is to travel out into the world and see as much as possible of God's creation. The other is to put down roots in one spot and to study everything that happens there in as much detail as you can. The trouble is that it's impossible to do both at the same time."

Book Details:

Title The Christmas Mystery
Author Jostein Gaarder
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

This book has the same elegant concept and structure as Sophie's World, but unfortunately it's more preachy than educational and thought provoking. It's still beautifully written but the religious plot didn't interest me at all. ( )

Saw this in the newly opened local bookshop and ordered it from the library. Again this is a new genre for me – I’m trying to broaden my reading. All I knew about the writer was that the book covers are appealing and have I caught my eye. The story unfolds with the opening of an advent calendar so the novel is split into the days leading up to Christmas – I read each section on the appropriate day, so that it was like a literary advent calendar. I didn’t finish this in the end even in bit size pieces fantasy is not my genre but I tried. ( )

This is a charming, easy read, but it doesn't match up to Gaarder's previous standard. It's much more light-hearted than some of his other books, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I personally love Gaarder's writing best when he's tying your brain in knots with mind-boggling concepts.

This book doesn't have that aspect to the same degree, but it's still a sweet book which makes perfect Christmas reading. ( )

I like reading this book instead of using an advent calendar,as each of the chapters are a day in December. Nice, mystical tale that captures Christmas. ( )

This book inspired us to talk about Christmas and how it makes us feel. The difference between a child's view of Christmas and and adult's. Some of us found the story, especially the time travel element to be a little strange, our comments were that it was a touch repetitive and that the mystery ending resolution was a little unclear. But we did like the concept and could really imagine it as a cartoon. The book would have been great with a map in it, showing the route that the party travelled. A Norwegian book in translation may have been one of the reasons that we found some of it hard to latch on to. But there was magic in it, especially in the angels. ( )

but for all ages. read one chapter a day the month before Christmas. magical.

A beautiful telling of the Nativity. It is also suitable for reading to children. Treat it like the Advent calendar it refers to by reading a chapter a day in the run up to Christmas.

No valid German National Library records retrieved.