The Christmas Show Rebecca Patterson (Macmillan Children’s Books) Patterson captures the chaotic nature of nursery and infant school nativity plays perfectly in this hilarious picture book. While young readers will rejoice in recognizing the familiar setting of the classroom and school activities, parents and other adults will enjoy this brilliantly observed tale on a different …
It has now become a tradition that each year, I ask an independent children’s bookseller to come up with their own Fabulous Five selection of books that will make wonderful Christmas presents. This year, I am delighted to welcome Laura Main Ellen, who is manager at Under The Greenwood Tree. Under the Greenwood Tree is an …
The story of a little girl’s favourite toy coming to life is one that has enchanted children at Christmas time for over one hundred years. Whether it is in book form or on the stage, this is most definitely a Christmassy story. Here are two new adaptations of the tale, one focuses on the ballet version, one …
Gabrielle Vincent“Ernest et Célestine ont perdu Siméon”, translated by Sam Alexander(Catnip) When Ernest and Celestine go for a walk in the snow, Simeon, Celestine’s stuffed penguin accompanies them. But when he is left behind, Celestine is heartbroken and blames Ernest. He is desperate to make amends but there are no toy penguins anywhere in town, …
Holly Webb(Stripes Publishing) It is a few days before Christmas and Sara is spending a few days with her Grandad while her parents prepare for the arrival of her baby brother. But when it starts snowing hard, Sara’s Grandad is unable to take her back home and they are stuck at his cottage. In an attempt to cheer her …
I am taking a little break from blogging until the new year while I spend some time with my mouselings, Mr Library Mice and my parents who are coming over from France. But before I sign off, I just wanted to share with you a very worthwhile campaign run by the National Literacy Trust. We have not been sending Christmas cards for a few …
David Logan(Quercus) A year ago, Goose had the perfect life: loving parents, Christmas around the corner, a new puppy. But this was all taken away from him suddenly when his parents were killed in a car crash on Christmas Eve. Now, a year on, he lives with his grandmother who is slowing losing to dementia, and is …
Tomi Ungerer(Phaidon) On the day before Christmas Eve, Casimir, Isidor, Felix and Ferdinand Mellop all get the same brilliant idea: to surprise the family with a beautiful Christmas tree. Left with four trees, the brothers must find new homes for them, which turns out not to be so straight-forward. But the brothers are a resourceful bunch …
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 …
