The Reader’s festive trail around Calderstones Park is back this Christmas

Families – and their dogs – are invited to take the lead and join The Reader’s annual festive Trail bringing to life Rob Biddulph’s An Odd Dog Christmas – ‘a gloriously illustrated story about the real meaning of Christmas’.

The Christmas Story Trail around Liverpool’s historic Calderstones Park is back for a fifth year due to popular demand.

Families – including their furry friends – are invited to take the lead and join thenew self-led festive trail based on children’s picture book, An Odd Dog’s Christmas, by the best-selling and award-winning author/ illustrator Rob Biddulph, as part of The Reader’s festive programme for 2024.

Martyna Puciato, co-manager of The Reader’s magical playspace, The Storybarn, said:

“This Christmas we’re excited to continue the tradition of our much-loved interactive Christmas Story Trail in close collaboration with publishers Harper Collins.

“We chose this joyful, beautifully illustrated festive story by Rob Biddulph as the Storybarn team all absolutely love the first book in the series, Odd Dog Out, which is all about celebrating difference. So, when we read An Odd Dog Christmas, we couldn’t resist the story’s message that the best Christmas presents come from the heart. 

“We also love the wonderful winter wonderland he creates through his illustrations and felt it would be ‘paw-fect’ for Calderstones Park. We know that families from across the North West will love the outdoor trail and enjoy reading the book together for many Christmases to come.”

The story, about a sausage dog in search of the perfect Christmas gift for a friend, was famously read aloud by film star Tom Hardy on a CBeebies Christmas Eve special in 2021, the same year the book was published.

The Christmas Story Trail will run every weekend from Saturday November 23 until Christmas Eve (Tuesday 24 December) from 10am to 2.30pm, with bookable 30-minute slots, and walk-up tickets available. 

Families are encouraged to bring along their pet pooch and join the ‘Odd Dog’ on a festive journey on the imaginary ‘Paw-lar Express’ in her search for a gift, and perhaps save Christmas along the way.

The fully accessible trail combines Rob Biddulph’s stunning illustrations and warmhearted humour with plenty of fun Storybarn touches to bring the story to life.

By following 14 clues on their trail maps, children will search for supersize pages from the book and complete activities, including listening out for outdoor disco tunes and having a festive boogie en route. The trail starts and ends at The Reader’s Ice Cream Parlour archway.    

New for 2024, the Liverpool-based charity will also be adding a special guided Christmas Story Trail for pre-schoolers, aged one to four on Fridays. They will be led by a Storyhunter from The Storybarn, and start at 10am – 11.30am.

More than 3,500 families have participated in the trail since it was first launched during the pandemic in Christmas 2019.

Groups are welcome to book the Green Room inside The Mansion House to meet up with friends and family before or after the trail during this period. The Reader’s catering team will take orders for breakfast, brunch or lunch from the on-site cafe. Exclusive room hire for an hour is £15.

The trail is £15 per family in advance or £17 on the day and includes a copy of An Odd Dog Christmas, as well as a trail map and pencil for every child. The trail will go ahead come rain, shine, or even snow and is perfect for all ages.

Hot chocolate with all the trimmings can also be ordered in advance and collected from The Reader’s Bookshop Cafe afterwards. ‘Puppy-cinos’ will also be added to the menu for children and their four-legged friends.

All proceeds will help The Reader to continue to support those who need it most through its Shared Reading groups across Liverpool and the UK. 

Further information and tickets for the festive trail around Calderstones Park are available here.

Find out what else is happening over the festive period here.

*Illustrations by Rob Biddulph, from ‘An Odd Dog Christmas’ written by Rob Biddulph published by Harper Collins Press, 2021