Christmas book bonanza
The last months of the year are undoubtably the busiest in the publishing and bookselling world. The big blockbusters for holiday reading, the gifts for under the Christmas tree, the beautiful recipe books for those who harbour fond hopes of cooking a lot while on their summer break.
And thankfully, there is also a plethora of books for children hitting the shelves. Books make the best Christmas gifts and matching the book to the right young reader is a special pleasure.
Here are four picture books to choose from, for those little readers in your life.
The Christmas Tree Catastrophe by Emma Bowd and Matt Shanks is a funny, light-hearted story of a crooked Christmas tree, bickering baubles, a grumpy nutcracker and a cat-and-mouse chase that goes terribly wrong. With a nod to the classic ‘The Night Before Christmas’, this rollicking poem positions a clever little gingerbread man and some nifty geometry as rescuers, restoring everything to its rightful place before Santa’s arrival.
Published by HarperCollins Children’s books.
This is an Elf by Beck & Matt Stanton is absolutely a book that begs to be read aloud. It posits nonsense ‘facts’ which are humorously contradicted by the bright, simple illustrations.
Kids will adore shouting ‘NO!!!’ as pages ask them to agree that a candle is a Christmas tree and a reindeer an elf. It’s a fun scramble through Christmas icons, turning each of them on their head.
Published by ABC Kids, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books.
A Barney and Gumnut Christmas explores different Christmas experiences as the koala, Barney, is asked by his furry and feathered friends ‘What does Christmas actually mean?’
Is it celebrating with friends, getting and giving presents, swimming in the creek, games and naps, Christmas food, decorations, camping and making wishes on a shooting star? Perhaps it can be any or all of those things. The four friends find their own ways to share their Christmas ideas together.
This one is a large format books, which allows the gentle, detailed illustrations to really shine.
Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books
A Song for the King is a gentle re-telling of the nativity story, but told through the experience of three young animals who love to sing: a donkey, a lamb and a camel.
Sent away because their voices sound raucous and loud to the villagers, they learn to keep quiet – until they witness the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem and come together once more to give voice to their feelings of joy, love and peace.
This one is written by Katrina Nannestad and illustrated by Freya Blackwood, both of whom number amongst my most-admired in the Australian children’s book world.
It was published by ABC Kids, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books.All of these titles were published in August and September 2025. My thanks to the publishers for review copies.
Simply wonderful: the work of author/illustrator Freya Blackwood
A few years ago I was fortunate to see an exhibition of works by award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Freya Blackwood. She has illustrated books by such leading authors as Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Nick Bland, Jan Ormerod, Danny Parker and Mem Fox. See more about Freya and her work here.
If you follow my blog posts, you’ll know that I adore children’s literature and in particular, picture books. There is something magical about the combination of carefully chosen words and intuitive illustrations that bring a story to full, vivid life. Each component are integral, essential: one does not work without the other.
With The Garden of Broken Things, Ms Blackwood has created both words and pictures. It tells of little Sadie, who investigates the garden of Number 9 Ardent Street, an old house avoided by the other children because it has
windows like sad eyes, and
Thick like cobwebs,
The Garden of Broken Things
the tangled vines concealed
things from another time,
revealed things twisted and bent,
seized and rusted;
things that had come to a final halt.Sadie discovers an old woman there, sitting slumped on a garden bench. Rather than running away, Sadie stays to chat, telling the woman about her friends, her school lessons, her pets. By the time she has to go home, she has made a new friend, and the garden of broken things becomes, once again, a wild and beautiful playground for the local children.
It’s a simple, sweet story about stopping to look and to listen, and how friends can appear in the most unlikely places. The soft evocative illustrations add so much to the book’s beauty and depth.
The Garden of Broken Things is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in May 2024.
My thanks to the publishers for a review copy.The richness of imagination: ‘The Unwilling Twin’ by Freya Blackwood
Several years ago I was lucky enough to see an exhibition of Freya Blackwood’s award winning work at a NSW regional gallery. She is such a talent, one of the many wonderful picture book creators and illustrators in Australia.
The Unwilling Twin is her latest picture book. It’s a quirky take on the rich imaginative world of young children.
It features Jules and her ‘identical twin’ George. They do everything together as twins often do: get dressed, eat breakfast, play, read books, and go to the beach.
It’s on the beach that their difference emerges. Jules loves to build sand castles while George loves to sleep on (or in) the warm sand. Each is an unwilling participant in the other’s preferred activity. Occasionally they argue but always make up over ice creams.
Oh, and George is… a pig!
Freya Blackwood’s pencil and pastel illustrations add a gentle humour to the narrative. I especially enjoyed the framed ‘photograph’ of Jules and George in their matching ballet tutus, and the picture of them doing their daily yoga together.
The Unwilling Twin is a humorous homage to early childhood, families, and imagination.
It is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books on 29 October 2020.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy to review.
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