North for the Winter
Bobby Podesta
First Second
Published September 2, 2025

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About North for the Winter

From Pixar star animator Bobby Podesta comes a middle-grade classic holiday story about Virginia, a girl who must help one of Santa’s reindeer back to the North Pole before Christmas.

What would you think if you saw a reindeer fly? When this happens to Virginia, she isn’t sure what to do – she’s just lost her mom, she’s in a new city, and everything seems so hard. But when she reluctantly confesses what she saw to her neighbor, Benny, he’s convinced that flying reindeer can only mean one thing: this is Santa business.

In this stunning graphic novel debut from Pixar director Bobby Podesta, two kids and a lost reindeer go up against obsessive hunters, suspiciously convincing department store elves, and radar operators for the Continental Air Defense Command Center. No matter the odds, Virginia’s going to get Christmas back on track!

My Review

This sweet Christmas story begins with a girl and her father on a move from Arizona to Colorado. They’re moving in with Virginia’s aunt, her dad’s sister, to give them both some time to recover from her mom’s death in a car accident. On the way, they encounter a lost reindeer, who seems to form a special bond with Virginia.

Though the reindeer doesn’t ever speak, it licks Virginia’s nose and nods at her in answer to questions. She rides Donner into the sky to escape a trapper, something she finds terrifying at first, and then exhilarating.

Virginia’s relationship with Donner allows her to blossom. She invests in his return to Santa’s team and learns to depend on others and form a new community, too.

The inclusion of the military characters adds a funny note. They’re mystified by the presence of eight flight paths that appear to come from Canada every Christmas Eve.

If you’re looking for a snowy, feel-good Christmas story, put this one on your list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Vague references to an adult swearing. One time this is represented by symbols in a speech bubble. A second time it’s just dashes and exclamation points.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains flying reindeer, elves, and Santa Claus delivering presents on Christmas.

Violent Content
A trapper pursues Donner, trying to catch him with a net. He fires the net from a launcher that looks a little bit like a gun. One perspective follows military personnel who track unidentified aircraft and send planes to investigate/potentially shoot down anything deemed dangerous.

Drug Content
An elf gives Virginia a powder that puts someone to sleep instantly. She uses this to incapacitate someone during a rescue mission.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.