In my wildest dreams, I own a children’s bookshop and it looks a lot like the wonderful Tales on Moon Lane. Not that I have ever entered its magical realms, but I have admired it from afar, via its lovely website . The Tales on Moon Lane was founded by Tamara Macfarlane, and here is …
Christmas
PICTURE BOOK CAROUSEL: The True Meaning of Christmas
The two books I am reviewing today stood out amongst the huge offering of new Christmas books for their more unusual, and yet all the more important, Christmas message. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse Helen Ward(Templar) Helen Ward’s retelling of the famous Aesop’s Fable is not strictly a Christmas story, but it is 1930s …
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Jane Ray(Orchard Books) The Twelve Days of Christmas, my all-time favourite Christmas song, is beautifully brought to life in this new picture book by Jane Ray, who manages to convey the joyfulness and slight eccentricity of the classic tune. The colour scheme used is what I noticed to begin with when I first came across the book. The warm …
The Santa Trap
Jonathan Emmett (text) & Poly Bernatene (illustrations)(Macmillan Children’s Books) Bradley is a bad, spoilt rich little boy who gets whatever he wants (and more) from his terrified long-suffering parents and still is never satisfied. Particularly by Santa’s presents. Despite writing ginormous lists every year, all Bradley gets from Santa is a pair of socks. See, Santa knows Bradley …
Smudger the Dog Saves Christmas
Lissa Evans (text) & Holly Surplice (illustrations)(Red Fox) It’s Christmas Eve and Smudger the Dog finds himself thrown out of the house after taking an unwelcome interest in the preparations. While investigating the garden in his own special way, he makes a rather unusual encounter when unexpected guests drop in the garden. Forced to step in for …
Christmas Carols
Sandy Nightingale (illustrations)(Macmillan Children’s Books) Rather than a christmas story, this is actually an anthology of traditional Christmas Carols and Songs. From We Wish You a Merry Christmas to I Saw Three Ships, a double-spread is dedicated to each song and includes the words, the musical score as well as beautiful, timeless and festive silhouette illustrations by Sandy Nightingale. There …
The Night Before Christmas
Clement C. Moore (text) & Eric Puybaret (illustrations)(Macmillan Children’s Books) The Night Before Christmas was first published, anonymously, in 1823 in a New York newspaper under the title A Visit from St Nicholas, and was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. The cultural significance of this poem cannot be underestimated; it is largely responsible for …
Mice Mayhem at Christmas!!!
Today I am focusing on a few picture books books involving mice and Christmas. Odd combination I’ll hear you say, but one that is nonetheless recurrent!The first two have been favourites in the Library Mice household since my children were little. The third one is another great Little Tiger Press offering for toddlers and the …
The Christmas Eve Ghost
Shirley Hughes(Walker Books) Bronwen and Dylan have just moved to Liverpool from the Welsh countryside. Their father has died in a mining accident and their mother has uprooted them to the city so she can find work to support the family. She takes on laundry to wash soon after and often has to leave the children home-alone while she pushes …