Christmas is going to be a bit different for Buffy By and her brother Bobby. This Advent, their mum Lillie is recovering from a brain tumour, but she’s still sick. When Grandma Olava goes back home to Northern Norway, Dad, Jimmy – an incorrigible small-time crook and liar – turns up and fills their flat with mysterious boxes.

Buffy doesn’t know quite what to make of it all. Of course it would be nice to have a proper family Christmas, but she knows Jimmy will vanish as soon as he has offloaded the “presents.” And he isn’t exactly a Dad worth having – or relying on.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the school Nativity play in which Buffy is going to play the Baby Jesus – who will be born onstage.

This is the fourth book in Ingeborg Arvola’s critically acclaimed series about Buffy By. Although it isn’t an Advent calendar, we follow Buffy, Bobby and all the other characters from December 1 to 24, in a book that is funny, dramatic and utterly charming.