CHRISTMAS IS COMING AND THE GEESE ARE GETTING FAT


And the stores are full of 2010 diaries..............
Three months this Friday it will be Christmas Day. Yikes.
And today in the mail two children's picture books on Christmas arrived in the mail from Scholastic NZ. And they are two gorgeous books both written and illustrated by talented New Zealanders.


THE 12 DAYS OF HOLIDAYS
Yvonne Morrison & Jenny Cooper
$18.99

Following the format of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, this book begins when the school holidays begin, and each day Mum gets more and more frustrated with a child who keeps watching TV, while the house gets more and more messy. In the end, Mum decides to ship the child off to Grandma’s!
The words can be sung to the tune of the famous Christmas song.


Yvonne Morrison - Best-selling author of A Kiwi Night Before Christmas and several other Scholastic titles, Yvonne and her husband recently moved back to Napier after a time living in Auckland where they had been training as zoo keepers.

Jenny Cooper - Jenny’s work includes Shut the Gate which sold internationally, the junior novel The Mad Tadpole Adventure (shortlisted for 2008 NZ Post awards) and ella and ob, to name but a few. Her style is warm and friendly, using a watercolour wash and a lovely sense of humour.


A RIGHT ROYAL CHRISTMAS
Lucy Davey and Donovan Bixley
$18.99

She dreamed of a Christmas with no need to share;
a Christmas with only her parents there.
Yes, Christmas for three was sure to be great –
mountains of marvellous food by the crate,
and no nibbling nellies,
or ravenous rellies,
to pinch at the portions on Princess Claire’s plate.

But as misfortunes befall other people’s Christmas dinners, they all arrive to share Princess Claire’s table – much to her annoyance.
However when a young couple expecting a baby arrive as well, Princess Claire finally experiences the real joy of Christmas
A ‘modern’ nativity story in rollicking rhyme

Lucy Davey - Lucy is currently based at home in Auckland with her three young children who provide her with first-hand knowledge of the current preferences and interests of young readers (and their parents).

Donovan Bixley - Taupo illustrator, Donovan Bixley, is a talented artist with a range of styles. He was the illustrator of the original Wacko Kakapo, first released in 2007 and the current Kiwi Corkers version. His work is bright and energetic.

Scholastic seemed to have largely cornered the market for NZ children's Christmas stories in recent years adding new titles each year to their backlist. Some of their others include:

A Kiwi Night Before Christmas - various editions

Kiwi Jingle Bells

Santa's Kiwi Holiday

Brian the Big Brained Romney

The Christmas Caravan

Plus various activity/sticker books: