Christmas Picture Books

Christmas Picture Books for Young Readers:

A Kiwi Jingle Bells Yvonne Morrison, ill. Deborah Hinde, Scholastic, 30pp, board book, NZ$13.50

My Alfie Collection Shirley Hughes, Bodley Head/Random House, boxed set of four hbs, NZ$19.99

Marmaduke Duck and Bernadette Bear Juliette McIver & Sarah Davis, Scholastic, 32 pp, pb, $NZ19.50

Baa Baa Smart Sheep Mark Sommerset, ill. Rowan Sommerset, Dreamboat Books, , 24 pp, hb, $29.99

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth by Don Gardner, ill. Katz Cowley, CD by Craig Smith, 24 pages, pb, NZ $26 [inc. CD]

Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig and the Christmas Baby by Diana Neild, ill. Philip Webb, Scholastic, 32pp, pb, NZ$19.50

Kiwi Corkers: The Elves and the Cloakmaker by Chris Gurney, ill. John Bennett, Scholastic, 24 pp, hb, NZ$18.50



I have always argued that books make the best Christmas present because they are easy to wrap. (A cynic would say it’s because they are easy to exchange.) The best books for Christmas giving are ones that will be read and treasured; kept and enjoyed down the generations.

Each of this month’s volumes is a treasure, ideal for Christmas purchase by parents or grandparents, who will then have the added pleasure of sharing in their gift’s enjoyment. Reading aloud is not only desirable; at this season it is compulsory.

A Kiwi Jingle Bells has been re-issued as a board book, to give babies something to get their teeth into over Christmas. Yvonne Morrison has converted James Pierpont’s much-loved song into a celebration of the Kiwi Christmas holiday while Deborah Hinde provides pictures of camping holidays, family picnics and beach barbecues. Baby won’t be able to read the words, which will give the whole family an excuse to sing:
“Christmas in New Zealand on a sunny summer’s day, ay.”

Shirley Hughes not only paints pictures of children who look like real children – wispy hair, rumpled clothes and a tendency towards chaos – but she also writes stories about children who behave like real children. Her four Alfie picture books – now brought together in a boxed set as My Alfie Collection – follow the adventures of a very recognisable three-year old. Alfie is the one who puts his new boots on the wrong feet, takes his security blanket to a friend’s birthday party and knows why his baby sister is crying. Best of all – in the classic Alfie Gets in First – it is irrepressible Alfie who gets locked on the wrong side of the front door, with everyone else locked out. These four warm, funny books may be 30 years old but Alfie’s exploits, and the emotions they generate, are as up-to-date as a new child. This is a set to treasure.

The most dramatic scene in Marmaduke Duck and Bernadette Bear shows an enraged bull rampaging in a honey shop. In the Marmaduke Duck picture book series, Sarah Davis has shown that she can paint any animal but she has never done better than her illustrations of the heart-broken Bernadette Bear looking at her smashed honey jars. (A Christchurch artist, Davis has dedicated this book to the memory of Johnson Brothers’ grocery shop in Colombo St – a quake victim.) Fortunately Marmaduke Duck is not only skilled at making marmalade but also at repairing friendships and restoring business confidence. Juliette MacIver’s cheerful rhymes and bouncy rhythms keep the sticky story light-hearted, making this a perfect book to read aloud.

Everyone should own an improper book, and Baa Baa Smart Sheep is a gleefully improper fable that won the Children’s Choice at the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards. Mark Sommerset’s picture book about a shrewd sheep and a gullible turkey has a cover warning: ‘Contains Mischief.’

Adults of a certain age will flinch at the memory of sentimental recordings of All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth but fear not. Craig ‘Wonky Donkey’ Smith has recorded an unsentimental version of Don Gardner’s lyrics that children can sing along to. There is also a monkey version, with ‘ook-ook’ sounds replacing the lyrics. This CD ties in nicely to the accompanying picture book, in which Katz Cowley has created the world’s cutest monkey - minus, of course, its two front incisors. Young readers will enjoy joining the Tooth Police in their search for the missing choppers and sharing in the happy ending of the final picture. Craig’s CD also includes a lively performance of Craig’s own dental-care ballad, Toothless, with its unforgettable lyrics: ‘It’s good to brush your teeth; it’s bad to shave your cat.’ Percussion by Craig’s teeth.

Picture books have two ways of approaching Christmas; one is to treat it as a secular festival, the other is to acknowledge its Christian significance (like Piggitty below). Lindy Kelly’s Christmas in the Bush follows the former template. Like so many children, Josh has parents who have separated. Spending Christmas with Dad on his back-country farm worries Josh; there is no sign of presents or Santa, and Dad keeps handing out tasks. Then, while he’s picking peaches, Josh spots a note, ‘If of surprises you are fond, you will find one in the pond.’ A series of notes take Josh into the bush, gathering little gifts – barley sugar, pocket knife, compass – until finally he discovers that his father has arranged the perfect Christmas present. This is a delightful story where Josh’s tensions are built up then quietly released as he realises just how much his father loves him. Lyn Kriegler’s illustrations of the bush setting have never been more brilliantly coloured.

Diana Nield’s bouncy verse tales of the Jig pig family from Karori have become an annual event; her sense of rhythm makes them a delight to read aloud. The fifth instalment, Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig and the Christmas Baby, has the family staging a Christmas nativity play. Bossy sister Emma is the director and young Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity is naïve enough to believe her promise of acting glory:
‘“Piggity, you have the leadity-role!”
She announced in a manner exuding control.’
Dreaming of being a prince or a pirate, Piggity is appalled to find that as baby Jesus, he will be wrapped in swaddling clothes and stuffed into his old baby cot (with holes drilled in the footboard for his hocks). Theatrical disasters, familiar to directors of nativity plays, ensue but – since this is Christmas – there’s a happy ending, captured in Philip Webb’s splendid water colour illustrations.
‘Then accolades poured with a standing ovation
For nine special pigs, and their fine adaptation.’

There are now 12 titles in the Kiwi Corker series of re-told classics, with their popular motto of ‘Hardbacks at paperback prices.’ Chris Gurney has re-cast the Brothers Grimm tale of the poor cobbler as The Elves and the Cloakmaker, as a New Zealand tale told in verse tale. A pair of over-worked Maori cloak-weavers is visited late at night by a helpful band of patupaiarehe – the fairy folk of Maori legend – who finish some incomplete cloaks, ‘weaving in feathers of red, green and blue.’ John Bennett’s colourful illustrations match the fun and help give a modern twist to the old tale. Finally the happy (and now prosperous) couple reciprocate with gifts of tiny clothes.
‘Gifts were given, good deeds done.

Merry Christmas, everyone!’

- Trevor Agnew, Nov 2011


[This review was first published in The Press, Christchurch for Christmas 2011.]

FULL PUBLISHING DETAILS:

A Kiwi Jingle Bells Yvonne Morrison, ill. Deborah Hinde, Scholastic, 30pp, board book, NZ$13.50
ISBN 978-1-77543-045-2

My Alfie Collection Shirley Hughes, Bodley Head/Random House, boxed set of four hbs, NZ$19.99
ISBN 978-0-370-33209-3

Marmaduke Duck and Bernadette Bear Juliette McIver & Sarah Davis, Scholastic, 32 pp, pb, $NZ19.50
ISBN 978-1-77543-033-9

Baa Baa Smart Sheep Mark Sommerset, ill. Rowan Sommerset, Dreamboat Books, PO Box 700, Onerua, Waiheke Island, 24 pp, hb, $29.99
ISBN 978-9864668-1-6

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth, by Don Gardner, ill. Katz Cowley, CD by Craig Smith, 24 pages, pb, NZ $26 [inc. CD]
ISBN 978-1-77543-058-2

Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig and the Christmas Baby, by Diana Neild, ill. Philip Webb, Scholastic, 32pp, pb, NZ$19.50
ISBN 978-1-77543-038-4

Kiwi Corkers: The Elves and the Cloakmaker, by Chris Gurney, ill. John Bennett, Scholastic, 24 pp, hb, NZ$18.50
ISBN 978-1-77543-004-9