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I am like a big kid when it comes to Christmas.
I have always loved the season and one of my favourite things is reading as many Christmassy books as I can get my hands on; these guys they are more adult in tone and style but my inner can’t-sleep-on Christmas-Eve inner child still loves the light and escapist joy of books aimed solely at children.
They capture the look and feel and meaning of the season so perfectly and take me back to a time when school was over, the bullies were at bay for six weeks and all I had to do was curl up, read books and get ready for the wonder and merriment of the most wonderful time of the year …
Jim’s Spectacular Christmas by Emma Thompson and Axel Scheffler
(courtesy Penguin Random House UK)
The first of two Emma Thompson books in this post – coincidence only but a happy one; I love the warm, rich cadence of her writing and her playfulness of tone – Jim’s Spectacular Christmas, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, tells the story of a real scruffy 19th century London mongrel who had the good fortune, via an unusual entry point, to become the devoted pooch of Sir Henry Cole, the first director of what was in the 1870s the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum. Cole and Jim were devoted to each other, and it was common to see the two inspecting the sites of various museums then under construction, which Cole oversaw as the inaugural General Superintendent of the Department of Practical Art. Thompson has taken quite a few poetic liberties with what we know about Jim but the result is a charming book about a dog of integrity, faithfulness and devotion who, in this tale at least, gets a Christmas present from Queen Victoria which is exciting in itself but which makes his already charmed life even better and elevates an already memorable Christmas to legendary status.
Jim’s Spectacular Christmas is published through Puffin Books, Penguin Random House UK
Mr Santa by Jarvis
(courtesy Walker Books)
I adored reading Mr Santa by Jarvis. It captures the joy and excitement of Christmas that kids feel and how thrilling it would be to meet Santa Claus himself. You’d be so excited that you’d fangirl like crazy which is exactly what the protagonist child in this book does, asking questions at a million miles an hour. So contagious is her giddy enthusiasm that it reminds me of when I was a kid in the lead-up to Christmas, making paper decorations, practising “We Three Kings” on the piano – I was not a gifted student but relearning this song each year was one of the touchstones of my festive celebrations – and watching all my favourite Christmas specials on the TV (this was way before streaming, and even VHS!). The excitement only ratcheted further come Christmas Eve when I genuinely found it near impossible to sleep and I can only imagine how out of my skin excited I would have been to meet Santa. This book is a delightful festive joy and should be required reading for everyone’s inner child with the gorgeous illustrations only adding to its considerable appeal.
Mr Santa is published by Walker Books.
When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree by Jackie Hosking and Nathaniel Eckstrom
(courtesy Walker Books)
I needed to add a quintessential Aussie kids’ book into the mix even though I do adore beyond words how cosy and lovely the British ones make me feel. The pick in this instance is When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree which is goofy, full of Aussie humour and sweetly earnest too as a group of native animals including a wombat, a koala, a bilby (which are being popularised at Easter as a replacement for the feral bunny), cockatoo and an emu try to get Santa off the branch where he’s caught and on his way back to delivering presents to the kids of Australia, and of course, since we’re early on in the delivery schedule thanks to our placement on the International Date Line, all the other children of the world. That they succeed isn’t in doubt because it’s Christmas but the rhyming poetry that tells their story is so much fun, imbuing the season with a distinctly Aussie flavour that will make you smile no matter where you are.
When Santa Got Stuck in a Gum Tree is published by Walker Books.
(courtesy Walker Books)
The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit by Emma Thompson
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia)
A new Peter Rabbit tale? Yes, please? According to the book’s foreword, Emma Thompson was approached in 2010 to write a brand-new Peter Rabbit tale (The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit) which she followed up with this wonderful Christmas story, The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit, illustrated by Eleanor Taylor, who naturally took inspiration from Beatrix Potter’s own drawings. (There’s also a third book in the series, The Spectacular Tale of Peter Rabbit.) Peter, as you might expect is as mischievous as ever, but also being the kindhearted soul that he is, and even if it means getting in trouble with his mother because he didn’t go to aunt’s to get some much-needed suet, he joins forces with his cousin Benjamin Bunny to save an initially pompous William the Turkey from being eaten on Christmas Day by Mr McGregor and his wife. It’s a story that’s fun, full of gorgeously written storytelling and full of so much heart you’ll well and truly feel Christmassy by the end, even if it means all you have for Christmas lunch is boiled potatoes and winter cabbage!
The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit is published through FREDERICK WARNE via the Penguin Group.
Gingerbread Fred by Steve Smallman and Clair Rossiter
(courtesy Jellycat)
How much fun is Gingerbread Fred? Awakening on Christmas Eve with rather ill-timed sentience – he’s been baked to be eaten as Santa’s snack and comes to life just in time for the star on top of the Christmas tree to let him know his fate – he decides to make merry, playing cricket with carrots and sprouts, splattering custard on the top of the Christmas pudding, shaking icing sugar everywhere and tangling tinsel and unrolling ribbon before swinging from the tree “like a gingerbread gibbon”. He makes quite the mess but cleans it up just in time at the star’s urging, so the room is ship-shape and tidy for Santa who doesn’t eat him but gives a wonderful gift (and presumably stops him decaying because they both seem to expect to see each other next Christmas!). It’s cosy and sweet and points to the capacity of Christmas season to make all our dreams come true and for life to be forever different afterwards.
Gingerbread Fred is published by London-based Jellycat.
(courtesy Jellycat)