The Aussie Christmas is revealed in all its glory in this funny book by Wagner, and illustrated by Jellett giving his wonderfully warm-hearted, family oriented images of Christmas in the suburbs. From the endpapers showing a myriad of Christmas lights, to kids playing instruments for money from passers by, to the community sharing their displays and a meal, all the tropes of Christmas are presented, both in text and illustrations, making it a wonderful source of inspiration for some and a reminder to others of the fun filled days ahead.
Readers will be jumping for joy as the family celebrate Christmas through the eyes of this family. The receiving of the Advent Calendar is the start with the children warned to only open one flap at a time. Then the decorations begin appearing along with Christmas songs sung everywhere. The tree is then put up with the whole family helping with decorating it. Outside, lights festoon the house, and a street party sees all the neighbours coming out to chat and eat together. At night, families walk down local streets to view other people’s light displays. The cousins get together to make a gingerbread house. And this family makes cards and presents for each other, while remembering those who do not get much by putting a present under the Giving Tree. Once the school holidays begin, things start to happen, as the countdown starts. A Father Christmas on the bus gives out candy canes, families go to the park for Christmas Carol singing, and on Christmas Eve, food is put out for Santa while the children struggle to sleep. Christmas Day sees the family rising early and presents unwrapped while everyone gets ready for the traditional Christmas lunch at Nana’s. Crackers are pulled and the lamest of jokes shared, while those no longer there are remembered. A wonderful day is spent by all with family, food and frivolity, and it will all happen again in 12 months.
Jellett’s illustrations always set a family oriented mood to the story and this one is no different: Dad in his thongs dons a Viking helmet, the kids play with each other and their dogs, Mum looks harassed helping to organise them all. I love the look on Mum’s face at the Christmas lunch, cheeks a little red, hair akimbo, looking on as Dad toasts the absent Grandfather. Jellett’s families are wonderful, inclusive, full of life, and fun.
Readers will love the lead up to Christmas reading this family’s journey to Christmas Day. And the readers will recall two other books by the same duo, Why I love footy, and Why I love summer.
Themes Christmas, Family, Fun, Humour.
Fran Knight
Tatty Mouse Christmas by Hilary Robinson. Illus. by Mandy Stanley
New Frontier, 2024. ISBN: 9781922326898. (Age:3+) Recommended.
Tatty Mouse, the little mend-it, make-it mouse is back after the first book in the series, Tatty Mouse Rock Star, to entrall readers with her innovative ways of recycling. This time she is preparing for Christmas. Armed with her tool kit, displayed beautifully on the front cover as well as inside the sturdy board book, Tatty Mouse collects things that she can use while she is making gifts for her friends.
Children will enjoy lifting the flaps as the story is read trying to guess what Tatty is making. What will she use discarded cans for? How will her Christmas decorations turn out? And what big surprise is she planning for her friends?
Tatty is a very clever little mouse and her ideas for making Christmas presents and decorations will give young readers lots of ideas that they can try for themselves. The illustrations are gorgeous and there are many little details that astute children will find and follow thoughout the book.
Tatty Mouse Christmas is a lovely story that emphasises not only the importance of recycling and remaking, but the joy of giving gifts to friends.
Themes Christmas, Gifts, Recycling, Board books.
Pat Pledger
Once upon a silent night by Dawn Casey and Katie Hickey
A retelling of the nativity story is an apt reminder that its core is about love, the love of the family, of the mother for her child, of the animals that helped with the shelter they were given. A family finding no rooms or even beds left at the inn, retire to the stable to await the birth of their child. The cow offers her manger as a bed, the donkey his hay to keep him warm, the doves in the rafters will coo him to sleep, the sheep will give him some wool to keep him warm, even the stones will make a path for people to come and see. All the elements of the environment are there to help bring the baby into the world.
The love that is shown him is overarching, a concentration of support and care that sings with the real meaning of Christmas as people come together to share their love.
This rhyming text will delight younger readers as they predict the rhyming words and learn the line to be able to repeat them as the book is read. The luminous illustrations retell the story with a modern vein, the couple struggling to find a place to stay, their donkey loaded with their possessions, hinting of the journey they are making. The cold, snowy night looms up as the snow covered branches surround the stable, framing it as the angels sing on high. Others come to see the family, children singing and adults bringing light.
A Christmas story, the basis is love, that of the family, and the animals that helped revealing their compassion for this homeless family in need. But it is not only a Christmas story, the story of the nativity impels us to think outside our own family at this time of the year, to reach out to others to offer love and compassion just as the animals have in this tale, offering what they have to the new born child.
Themes Christmas, Love, Animals, Nativity.
Fran Knight
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Don Daily
Running Press Kids, 2024. ISBN: 9780762486700.
On the first day of Christmas...
Beginning on Christmas Day, the twelve days of Christmas traditionally embrace the days following up until January 5, the day before the Epiphany which commemorates the arrival of the Magi and this song marks each of those days. Given that it dates back to at least the late 18th century when it was first published in an illustrated children's book, Mirth Without Mischief, it has evolved over generations with the current version attributed to Frederic Austin in 1909. And with such a long history, it has been published, adapted and presented many, many times so one wonders what could make yet another version stand out.
The answer lies in the illustrations. While the text is that of the familiar song, Daily has interpreted them in his iconic, detailed style that brings a whole new magic.
Its board book format is ideal for small hands as families share this classic and they begin to learn the words of a song that they will hear again and again. The perfect finale to this Christmas Countdown.
Themes Christmas.
Barbara Braxton
The Christmas garden by Caroline Tuohey and Sandra Severigni
Little Pink Dog Books, 2019. ISBN: 9780648256342. (Age:3-8)
There's a garden across from my house that's sublime, as it looks like Christmas there all of the time...
With breathtaking pine trees, a seat the resembles a sleigh, statues of angels and gnomes that could be elves hiding amongst the flowers, it has all the magic and mystery that one could dream of, and to add to the mystique the old fellow who owns it looks just like Santa Claus.
Could this be Santa's hideaway from the North Pole, especially as it takes on a whole new life as Christmas approaches? What secret sorcery happens on Christmas Eve? Well, that's between Mr Dawes and the watcher from across the street, who is not who you imagine.
Lyrical text in rhyme and soft-palette illustrations bring this whimsical story celebrating the power of imagination and wonder to life, making it a unique addition to the Christmas Countdown. Little ones can close their eyes and just imagine the wonderland that is this special place, and as the time draws near and they see the beautiful Christmas gardens that their neighbours create for them, they will not only be drawn into the story but their imaginations will soar.
Themes Christmas, Gardens.
Barbara Braxton
The completely chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby
A low-key family Christmas is in the offering until all the 'rellies' invite themselves to Lottie Brooks’ house. Lottie loves presents and the festive season but will she be disappointed this year? What about the strain it will be on her poor mum – the family workhorse. Will Lottie Brooks’ new diary, Volume 6 in this hilarious epistolary series, prove her mettle?
Like most of Lottie’s close friendship group, the popular tween queen is obliged to hold her entire family in contempt for their corny Christmas traditions like “Elf on the Shelf” and her siblings embarrassing smells and gaffs. When her aunts and uncles arrive with 3yr old cousin, Frankie, exhibiting dark behaviours, she has bigger worries, like what gift to buy her classmate for 'secret santa' or her failure to inform her family that she has inadvertently invited an entire French family to Christmas dinner. Despite the allure of handsome Antoine (her new love interest), she is unable to rescind the Christmas holiday offer due to their language barrier. Does she prefer good old Daniel afterall? What a mess!
Katie Kirby’s final book narrated by Lottie Brooks reads like a multimodal diary including dates, times, text messages, thought balloons, lists - even stick figure embellishments. The negative spaces for easy reading, and the quirky hilarious characters make this a quickly digested chapter book to add to the reading log.
Baby Bella shouting 'BUM' in public and Toby convincing Lottie that she had drunk his wee – thankfully a sibling prank, may take the shine off two weeks of no school! But Christmastime for Lottie is guaranteed her most chaotic and amusing diary to complete the series: The extremely embarrassing life, The catastrophic friendship fails, The mega complicated crushes, The totally disastrous school trip and The majorly awkward BFF dramas. Readers particularly 9-13yrs, anybody with a family really, will find this chaotic Christmas instantly relatable.
Elvin Melvin and Emma Memma are getting ready for Christmas. The pair appears throughout the book, signing significant words for children to learn and practise: Christmas, lights, look, friends and where. Each of these words is displayed in the book, showcasing the customs and rituals of this important time in kids’ lives. So we see a Christmas tree, lights, baubles, reindeer, tree decorations, and this book weaves a story around the tree with Emma and Elvin as they seek out their friends and their displays.
Christmas lights are going up all over the town. Everything is sparkling now that the sun has gone down. Emma and Melvin invite the readers to see what is close by. In the twinkling lights they will be able to find BB Butterfly. They all get into a little colourful car to see what else they can find. They will see many many shapes of different Christmas lights, and amongst them a kangaroo hops along. The Butterfly bus keeps going, and is there to welcome a friend who has arrived from a different town. And Waffles the Wombat greets them as well. Emma asks him where his Christmas lights are.
He looks up into the night sky, and tells them that his lights are there every night for all to see. They all sit together on the hillside, watching the night display, waiting for Christmas.
Younger readers will enjoy this journey through Emma Memma’s town with her friends, searching out the images of Christmas and learning some signs as they read.
Emma Memma’s infectious illustrations will bring joy to the readers, as they too celebrate Christmas and wait impatiently for the day to come around. While each section of the town is decorated, it is a neat ploy to have the group look at the stars, a nightly show of bright twinkling lights.
Waiting for Santa by Lucy Cochran & Heidi McKinnon
Albert Street Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781760526719. (Age:3+) Recommended.
The letters have been written, Ren and Harry have made lists of things they want, Christmas is in the air and Mum and Dad take the children to the store to see Santa. Moloko the cat is in Harry’s backpack. The family joins the queue, and the children see the sign telling them that they have 7000 elf steps to go. The children are dismayed at the length of the queue, wondering if Santa is really there. Harry lets Moloko go in search of Santa. Mayhem is sure to happen.
Moloko leaps through the lattes, crashes through the crockery, and bounds through the books. At last, he makes it to the very top of the store to see Santa arriving in his sleigh. Happily, the children come down the escalator with Santa and find their parents unsure of where they are. All ends happily with Santa having his photo with the family. Another Christmas custom is accomplished.
A charming tale of the magic of Christas and the customs we all participate in at that time for the year, Waiting for Santa underlines the expectations children have in waiting for the special day. It always seems so far away, with weeks to go, with customs to be worked through. Santa is the special person they are waiting for, and again it seems an interminable length of time for him to arrive. In this cute tale Moloko the cat does a spectacular turn in hurrying Santa up.
The image of Santa’s legs sticking out of the chimney will amuse all readers, and the mayhem caused by the cat will tickle their funny bones. All the trappings of Christmas are shown, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Santa and the sleigh, Father Christmas in the store, queueing for Father Christmas, wrapping paper, presents, candy cane, decorations, Christmas letters and lists. Kids will love reiterating the sort of customs their family has for Christmas and rejoice in the way Christmas is celebrated around the world.
Themes Christmas, Family, Christmas customs.
Fran Knight
Flora and Fern: Wonder in the woods by Sarah, Duchess of York. Illus. by Denise Hughes
New Frontier, 2024. ISBN: 9781923145085. (Age:3+) Recommended.
Fern and Flora aim to put on a Christmas party for all their friends. Fern is delighted as he knows Flora is an excellent organiser. They wander together through the woods, calling on friends and neighbours. Large bags are taken to collect the many things they need to make up decorations for their house. They find mistletoe and fir cones to add to their bag. They will drag these back to the house, ready to add to the house but find less in the bag than they thought. They check the bag and find a hole in the bottom. They find berries but some are a little hard to pick, so they carefully tug them from the bush, but waken the hedgehog that lies asleep beneath ht bush. A chase ensues. He chases them away and they race back home. The house is wonderfully decorated. On Christmas Day all their friends come to celebrate the day, marvelling at the decorations in the house. Many presents are shared and Baz brings along a plate of gingerbread biscuits.
A lovely cheery presentation of all the things that Christmas means for us all. Friends get together, food is shared, presents shared, rooms decorated. Looking at the colourful illustrations reveals all the images expected at Christmas: fir trees, decorations, presents, gingerbread biscuits, ivy, mistletoe, stars, and kids will have a great time seeing these on every page.
Being a northern hemisphere book, snow and cold are the order of the day, which younger readers will enjoy looking at each image filled page.
And classes will enjoy making the gingerbread biscuits from the recipe on the last page.
Dear Santa: I don’t need socks by Consuelo Fernandez Ortiz
Five Mile Press, 2023. ISBN: 9781922943477. (Age:3+) Highly recommended.
A wonderfully funny look at Christmas from two perspectives as Koala and his cousin, Olavi in Finland exchange Christmas cards. From there, every page shows how each will celebrate Christmas.
Koala tells us that he lives in a gumtree near Mallacoota, while Olavi lives in Lapland, a cold place of ice and snow.
In Australia Christmas can be spent in your bathers, but in Lapland, you had better rug up. As each page goes by new information is given about the Christmas celebrations in these two very different places. In Australia, Christmas is in summer, but in Lapland it is in mid winter. Other people may tuck into Christmas pudding and gingerbread men but Koala loves his gum leaves, even sharing his recipe for Christmas gum stew.
It is easy for Olavi to write to Santa, as he lives nearby. Koala’s letter asks that he does not leaves socks any more, because he has a collection and they are too warm to wear in Australia. In the north, gnomes help Santa with all the presents, but in Australia, the wombats lend a hand but they are not the best at wrapping presents.
The 24 hour darkness means that Olavi needs a clock to wake up on Christmas Day, whereas Koala wakes with the dawn.
Opening the presents they find that Olavi has been given the flip flops (thongs) and Koala the socks. So they make a decision to visit each other and swap their presents. This lovely book introduces Christmas to young readers, telling them that although people are separated by many miles, they celebrate in the same day with some differencse. Kids will love spotting the differences and wondering how people in another climate cope with Christmas in such a different climate. The illustrations are just wonderful, and young readers will love taking in the detail, laughing at the humour in each page and see how each little animal is coping with the lead up to Christmas.
I particularly love the front cover with the koala writing his letter to Santa by the light from the fireflies, and the headgear of Olavi and the wonderful end papers, with the lines of beautiful knitted socks. Lots of detail beckons the eyes to look further at each page, giving lots to discuss with the audience: a clothesline, the lift on koala’s gum tree, the lovely thin Father Christmas and his team of gnomes and the image of the two getting their mismatched presents.
This lovely different look at Christmas is sure to please.
Themes Christmas, Koalas, Humour, Celebrations.
Fran Knight
Giraffes Can't Dance: Jingle Bells by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
Everyone knows that giraffes can't dance- that is unless you are Gerald!
Gerald was a tall giraffe Whose neck was long and slim, But his knees were awfully bandy And his legs were rather thin.
After being laughed at by the other animals who all seemed to manage their limbs well, in the iconic Giraffes Can't Dance, Gerald had lost his confidence until he had a conversation with a wise cricket who told him that sometimes you 'just need a different song'. And now, here he is, swaying his neck, shaking his tail and kicking his hooves as he grooves along to the cricket playing Jingle Bells on his violin and all the other animals join in.
Jingle Bells would have to be one of the first Christmas songs that many of our little ones learn and so they will delight in following both the text and the pictures in this new adventure for Gerald. Written to the tune of the traditional melody they can join in, predict the rhymes and just generally delight in its playfulness. But best of all, they will be able to join Gerald on the dance floor and move to the beat of their own drum.
Sheer delight.
Themes Christmas, Giraffes, Dancing.
Barbara Braxton
The brightest Christmas star by Laura Motherway. Illus. by Deb Hudson
It’s the star’s best time of the year, Christmas Eve, when it will shine as brightly as it can. It watches over the families doing things together as Australian families do. As each page is turned, we see children around Australia involved in the customs we all hold dear at this time of the year. The children on the farm have set up some storage bales of hay with fairy lights, children play cricket at the beach with their families, all kitted out in Christmas hats ready for a picnic. In the town’s main street, shops have fairy lights and banners, trees have lights festooned in the branches, people are buying their last-minute presents, children sing for passersby. At school, children make wrapping paper, at home, they bake Christmas biscuits, to wrap for presents, some presents are given to those who do not have one, and all the while the star twinkles overhead.
When the day is over, and all are in bed, the star watches, as it has done for generations. It shines brightly now for the passing reindeer and sleigh, as children dream of what tomorrow may being.
The illustrations show an array of Christmas customs and experiences. Bells, stars, presents, a Christmas tree, wrapping paper, Christmas lights, Christmas stockings, Christmas bon bons and so on, encouraging readers to share those things their family does at Christmas.
This is a happy verse story about the night sky in Australia at Christmas time which encourages children to predict rhyming words and say the lines along with the reader.
Themes Christmas, Family, Stars, Verse.
Fran Knight
On the hunt for Santa by Lesley Gibbes and Stephen Michael King
Working Title Press, 2024. ISBN: 9781922033109. (Age:3+)
One snowy day, three friends set out for the North Pole. Hare has a honey pot, Cat a candy cane and Pig has a plum pudding. They begin their perilous journey, tramping through ice and snow and over the crystal lake. They come to the Chasm Bridge guarded by a troll. But do they give up? No, they keep on going, Hare with the honey pot, Cat with a candy cane and Pig with a plum pudding. They bravely keep on their path, despite the sounds of the wolves they can hear in the snow.
Where could they be going questions the text, asking readers to think about the focus of their brave journey. They finally get to their destination, passing a sleigh with an empty sack, and a group of reindeer, quietly chewing their grass.
Readers by now will have worked out where the trio is headed and receive the news gladly. The very idea of Father Christmas is enough for kids to get excited, and in reading this story, they will think of another aspect of Father Christmas, the quiet time after the rush of delivering all the presents.
A wonderful sequel to Scary night sees three intrepid friends, setting out to deliver a happy Christmas Day to Santa after his work on Christmas Eve. Vibrant illustrations will keep eyes glued to the pages as they see the trek the animals make, disregarding their own safety to wish Santa a Happy Christmas.
Themes Father Christmas, Christmas, Animals, Journeys, Humour.
Fran Knight
Socks: A kid's Christmas Lament by JD McPherson Anika Orrock
Walker Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781536237023. (Age:3+)
Christmas morning has dawned and while the family is still asleep, a little boy sneaks downstairs to peek at what is under the tree. He picks up a gift from his mother to his and gives it a shake, and, unable to resist, opens it. But...
This is the worst gift I ever got! It doesn't beep or buzz or bop or rattle in the box! Why'd they waste the paper on a lousy pair of SOCKS?
Where is the haunted pirate schooner? The pool-size trampoline? The laser sword, the Action Man, the bathtub submarine? Despite having been extra good and kind, even bribing Santa with money stapled to their Christmas letter, it seems socks are all that is under the tree this year!
This is definitely a Christmas story with a difference - both in theme and presentation - a print version of the song of the same name, and includes a QR code that allows the reader to listen as they read. But rather than just the audio of the original, this has visual interest with illustrations that depict the boy's frustrations perfectly, with a variety of techniques used that express his frustration and add depth to the words. Unlike the song though, this takes the story a few steps further and there is a happier ending than a grumpy, ungrateful kid.
It's Christmas and it's time to decorate the tree. But where is the star for the tip-top ? As they search, Spot himself goes missing. Where can he be?
It's over 45 years since English author Eric Hill noticed his toddler son was fascinated by lifting up a paper and peeking at the picture underneath and thus conceived this series of stories about a puppy in a lift-the-flap format, first published in 1980. Even though it is 10 years since his death in 2014, his stories are still being published and republished as their simplicity and interactivity continue to fascinate new waves of little people, because just as I introduced my little one to the stories way back then, so he did for his girls and now it won't be long before they share it with their children. Such is the power of stories that invite the reader to not only be an active participant in their reading but also be able to retell themselves the story without adult help.
If we draw on our knowledge of Cambourne's Conditions of Learning, then we know that one of the prime motivators of being a reader is the expectation that we will succeed and thus being able to tell yourself a story without adult intervention is very powerful. So as our little ones draw on what they already know about Christmas and put it together with the simple text, clear illustrations and the fun of discovery this one is a winner for sharing in these days as the anticipation grows.
