The Greco-Aiden family arrives in the City of R. three days before Christmas hoping to find safety and community. Instead only one little girl named Oliva will sneakily say “hello” to them. What is going on? Then a letter arrives from Santa Claus asking for one wee little favor….

Elves on the Fifth Floor is adorable. Reading a book written in 2021 about a family being threatened by homophobia seems pretty appropriate right now. Once again, I did not read the blurb (maybe everyone should just assume this from now on (chuckle)). It does have a sad premise where the kids know that they are escaping to R for safety.

I do have to say that I would wonder who the heck does the marking for R because I would be talking to them! (chuckle) I don’t want to give a lot away, but the family doesn’t get the reception they were hoping for. Instead they get something very different in the form of a letter from Santa Claus. He asks for their help and of course they agree.

Francesca Cavallo gives us a story of diversity and a story of class systems. It’s rare that I read a book that isn’t intended to talk about economics to have this layer built in. I applaud it as having to struggle should be normalized because unfortunately this is reality. Fear is reality. Cavallo makes it all palatable. The story of kids coming together to lead the way. The hope in a future generation in a holiday tale is what Elves on the Fifth Floor is. I am all here for it.

I love the color illustrations by Verena Wugeditsch. I do wonder if there is a hidden meaning of the elves and the adults alone having two-tone design versus the kids or the whole family being full color.

Here is an interesting tidbit about this book. If you speak/read Spanish, this book is available in all formats on Amazon. It is only available in English in Hardcover. It is also available in other languages. I had to straight type it in to find it in English because when you click on the Goodreads Amazon link it takes you to everybook with this title but the English version.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for arc.

I wonderful holiday read, very wholesome and fun. Would recommend.

A perfect holiday story of community building. We read with a group of 10-12 yr olds and they had many opinions on what they would do but all agreed that the story is great.

“For all the children who disobey; and, in doing so, change the world.”


Elves on the Fifth Floor is a wonderful Christmas story that filled me with joy at the prominence of LGBTQIA characters in the forefront of the tale as the Greco-Aiden children have two wonderful Mummies. I thought it was carefully done when the family are forced to leave their original home town due to the same-sex couple. It’s long overdue that there are children's books that feature LGBTQIA characters and same-sex couples as parents so that there is more representation and to teach younger children that family setups such as the Greco-Aidens are normal.

The story itself is very warming and perfect for a cold night’s bedtime story filled with the love of family and the wonder of Christmas, Santa Claus and his amazing and talented elves especially the ten that arrive needing the help of the three children and one of their parents with the abundance of presents. Magic and wonder are imperative throughout your life, and I always feel sad when you see the dulling of wonder in a person’s eyes I promise you that if you're a parent reading this to your excited children before bed with Father Christmas’s visit around the corner? That magic will come back.

Alongside this heartwarming story with wonderful characters and a story that captures the heart of whoever reads it, there is stunning artwork that perfectly compliments the arrival of the Greco-Aiden family to the City of R, and their coming to the assistance of a very busy Father Christmas. Each scene that has been drawn shines with that same sense of warmth and I feel it truly helps bring more life and magic to the story.

From a grown-up’s point of view, I have to compliment the author on how they handle some of the harder aspects of life that people face from forced migration, police harassment, and neighbours who shun the unknown alongside the reality of being new to a place of residence or employment. Each of these subject matters is woven so well into the story, and as a result, you could have conversations with your child over subject matters that sadly many face and all should know about.

Elves on the Fifth floor by Francesca Cavallo is an amazingly cute and beautifully illustrated story about the Greco-Aidens: a recently immigrated family after a newly elected president forced them to move due to hate towards their kind of family. They move to the city of R. where the only one who welcomes them is Olivia due to all the adults not wanting to open their door to any of the newcomers or talk to them.
I thought this was a wonderful book and I would recommend this.

This book is so much fun! It's full of magic and holiday spirit. Are the new neighbors elves in disguise?

This was a fun book! I wasn't expecting a chapter book when I requested it, I thought it would be a picture book. It is perfect for younger chapter book readers.

I read this one over Christmas break with my 8 year old daughter and we both enjoyed it. It was a cute and magical little Christmas story. The illustrations were beautiful also. I think the characters could have benefited from a bit more depth but that’s an adult perspective on a children’s story. All in all we enjoyed it.

Super cute!! I loved the storyline and characters. Great representation too. Loved the holiday vibes.

Another great Christmas book! I've made it my mission to include more Christmas middle grade novels in my library, and this one is an absolute delight.

This was an adorable Christmas book. I highly recommend it for children. It exposes little ones to the beautiful wonderful families that are out there. Also gets kids thinking about bigger issues in life but in a cute way. Loved it.

this is a really heart-warming and happy children's book, perfect for the christmas season :') it also has diversity- a family with two mothers as the protagonists, a family with two fathers, characters that are poc!!

This is a wonderful and inclusive short holiday tale perfect for bed time reading at this time of year. The lgbtq and minority representation is so refreshing in a holiday story. This is sure to become a yearly tradition in our house. Highly recommended!

Finally, a Christmas read for kids that features prominent LGBT characters and topics that need to be talked about.

Firstly this is a really warming Christmas read, the sense of family and the presence of the elves throughout makes it a particularly strong holiday read. The overall theme is strength of family, and the power of helping and growing. The fact the children had two mothers made my heart warm, as a sapphic myself it’s something you rarely see handled in children’s books; and something we need to see far more often.

The illustrations are seriously stunning, down to the colour pallets and quirky features like the holiday themed driving plates you can spot throughout.

I also thoroughly loved the street names and nods to the season throughout that would make a child laugh.

The author handles topics throughout such as immigration, police harassment and neighbours falsely calling police. The topics are handled brilliantly and are completely age relevant, and honestly is something that made me want to buy this book even more. Whilst the subjects are handled in a light and Christmas themed way they are there nonetheless to get younger kids thinking, and are a great means to open conversations about these subjects.

I personally had mixed reviews for this. Namely, I felt the age group was slightly off, I would recommend this to readers a year or two younger perhaps partially due to the language used and the stylisation. I don’t know if the age group was brought up because of the topics handled but personally I feel like a younger child is entirely capable of taking on and learning about these things, and this book would also be great to help a child who has been through similar issues to process them.

The other thing I wasn’t amazed by was the ending simply because it felt a little rushed.

Other than that I really enjoyed this read, and would gladly buy it for family members.

ARC provided by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

<i>Elves on the Fifth Floor</i> is about the Greco-Aidens: a family of two moms and three kids who move to the city of R. after a newly elected president forced them to move due to hate towards their kind of family. The Greco-Aidens didn't get what they expected after arriving in the city of R. where people are scared of strangers. No one wants to open their door to any of the newcomers or talk to them. The only one open to the Greco-Aidens is a young inventor Olivia. As Christmas draws nearer, the family gets an offer from the North Pole: Santa Claus wants <i>their</i> help getting presents ready for the children of the city of R. The Greco-Aiden family accepts and the next day they welcome ten elves into their home but that's just the beginning of an eventful Christmas.

This was a short and fun middle-grade story. I really enjoyed the story and the dynamics as well as it being a Christmas tale featuring a family with two moms, which we NEED to see more of! The only critique I have for the book is that it felt a bit rushed, which I understand is due to it being less than 150 pages AND a middle-grade. All in all, a very enjoyable read, and I couldn't stop reading it!

That was such a nice reading and the illustrations are so cute too! I need to admit that I took too long to finish this book (and that may have affected my enjoyment a tiny bit) but I'll blame college for that!!
Elves on the Fifth Floor was one of the cutest books I've ever read and I wish I had a book like that when I was a child, a book that shows that it's ok to be queer, that queer people are allowed to not just exist but have a family. It was nice seeing that, though the last few chapters seemed a little bit too fast-paced and confusing, that doesn't change the good feeling that I felt reading this lovely story.
So, yes, I think that this is the kind of book that everyone should read not only as a child but as an adult too. It was a lovely ride and, since Christmas is so close, I hope lots of people consider giving a chance to this heartwarming adventure!!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was really fun and cute, a perfect christmas story for younger kids that is filled with diversity. It's really important to show queer families in books aimed towards the younger demographic and the fact that more and more are getting published every year makes me really happy.

This was really short and really cute! We have two moms and their kids trying to start a new life in a new town, a town where adults ignore strangers and don't let the kids talk to them, but then something magical happens and adventures start for these kids. It's a really adorable Christmas story to read no matter how old you are. I may not be the target audience specifically, but who doesn't love a Christmas story with elves, presents, magic and Santa? I know I do!

This was a sweet holiday story that brings together a town that is usually very separated. The new family in town gets notice that Santa needs their help, but they need to recruit help from a couple friends to.... but that is hard when you're not supposed to talk to each other.

This is a cute children’s book about an LBGTQIA couple who move to the town of R with their three children because lesbian led families are not accepted in their old country. Nothing bad every happens in R because everyone keeps to themselves. The family is asked to help Santa’s elves prepare gifts for Christmas for some of the children of the world. This would make a nice read-aloud to small children. I like the inclusiveness of the story but some of the fantasy elements were a bit much for me.