Home from vacation and picked up a stack of books at the library that included Merry Christmas Zoo! What a fun read. I love the idea of the zookeepers and the animals celebrating. I'm patiently awaiting The Box of Delights and Santa's First Christmas.
I'm not kidding when I say that those two books are probably our all-time favorite -- which is really saying something, if you knew how many children's books we own. They are, in my opinion, absolutely perfect in every way.
Love these ❤️ I’ve read The Box of Delights pretty much every year since I was a child and recently upgraded my copy to a gorgeous Folio Society edition to make it even more special. I also got Santa’s First Christmas out of the library for my 3 year old the other day and love it so much I think I’ll have to get our own copy…the bit where Santa opens his 10 identical fishing rods and says “I love all of them” nearly made me weep! Just adorable
Here are a few Australian Christmas books I or my kids have liked.
First two special mentions:
Cyclone by Jackie French is a children's book about Cyclone Tracy that destroyed 80% of Darwin (the capital city of the Northern Territory) on Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning 1974. It doesn't feature the usual themes of Christmas but it does have people coming together to help one another.
Vegemite Meets Santa Claus by Andrew Davies. Objectively this has no redeeming features. From what I can tell it is some weird marketing gimmick by the Vegemite brand about a dog named Vegemite who wakes up when Santa Claus comes into the house on Christmas Night and meets all of the elves. But for some reason my kids absolutely love it. I have no idea why.
Now on to some more normal things. What makes something an "Australian Christmas" book? The main thing to keep in mind is that Christmas in Australia occurs in the middle of summer. It is hot. People go to the beach. Kids are on their 2-month long summer break so they've just said goodbye to all their school friends. There is definitely no snow. The food can be different: having a seafood Christmas lunch is pretty common, English style puddings are common. The days are long, so kids can't even see Christmas lights unless they stay up until it gets dark at 8:30pm. The best (IMHO) Australian Christmas books capture this kind of thing.
Ayla's Christmas Wish by Pamela Jones. Ayla wishes for a snowman to make Christmas perfect. Her family comes up with a clever solution by painting some hay white to and stacking it to look like a snowman.
Christmas Wonder Down Under by Vikki Conley. A series of typical Australian Christmas vignettes. Picnic in the park listening to carols. My kids (aged 3.5) liked seeing all the things they recognised. The poetry is semi-passable for a kids book, too.
Christmas Days in the Sunshine by Byll & Beth Stephen. A group of kids experiencing all the things around Christmas: the days being long, mosquitos, the heat, running through sprinklers, the last day of school, going on a road trip for a family holiday, etc.
Christmas Always Comes by Jackie French. A tearjerker about a poor family in 1932 who doesn't have enough to celebrate Christmas for their kids is driving cattle across the country. They run into a grumpy widower who tells them to get off his property. In the end both sides get to celebrate their first proper Christmas in years.
There are also a bunch that follow the theme of "Australian animals do Christmas things" like an Aussie Christmas Gum Tree by where koalas and quokkas and so on get together to decorate a gum tree in the bush that I've been less enthused by because it feels a bit contrived to make it "Australian". I don't think people write French Christmas books about French animals doing things just to make it "French". Also my kids are in a very literal phase and they mostly just get confused about why a kangaroo is decorating a Christmas tree.
I promised myself I wouldn’t buy anymore Christmas books this year but now I have to 😂
You do. You really do 😉
Thank you for this edition!! 🎅🏼 Just placed a hold at the library for “Santa’s First Christmas” per your rec! I’m sure my family will love it.
This is SUCH a fun list — a great reminder to me to put in my hold requests at the library. Thanks for introducing me to a few new ones ❤️
I'm so glad!
Same - library requests in for Christmas. Fa la la!
Home from vacation and picked up a stack of books at the library that included Merry Christmas Zoo! What a fun read. I love the idea of the zookeepers and the animals celebrating. I'm patiently awaiting The Box of Delights and Santa's First Christmas.
Ordering the Box of Delights…for myself…🎄
I love it!
😆 📕
These are just lovely! I'm going to be seeking out Grimes poetry to begin... Thank you!
It's so, so lovely -- hope you enjoy!
These all look simply magical. And I totally agree about Mac Barnett hehe.
Your timing was perfect! I could still get some snapped up at the library!
That's what I was aiming for!
We've absolutely loved Feast For 10 getting ready for Thanksgiving, so I will be acquiring Christmas for 10 next :)
I'm not kidding when I say that those two books are probably our all-time favorite -- which is really saying something, if you knew how many children's books we own. They are, in my opinion, absolutely perfect in every way.
This is perfect timing, just working on our Christmas wishlists and library requests!
Yay!
Love these ❤️ I’ve read The Box of Delights pretty much every year since I was a child and recently upgraded my copy to a gorgeous Folio Society edition to make it even more special. I also got Santa’s First Christmas out of the library for my 3 year old the other day and love it so much I think I’ll have to get our own copy…the bit where Santa opens his 10 identical fishing rods and says “I love all of them” nearly made me weep! Just adorable
Agreed — it’s so sweet and touching.
Here are a few Australian Christmas books I or my kids have liked.
First two special mentions:
Cyclone by Jackie French is a children's book about Cyclone Tracy that destroyed 80% of Darwin (the capital city of the Northern Territory) on Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning 1974. It doesn't feature the usual themes of Christmas but it does have people coming together to help one another.
Vegemite Meets Santa Claus by Andrew Davies. Objectively this has no redeeming features. From what I can tell it is some weird marketing gimmick by the Vegemite brand about a dog named Vegemite who wakes up when Santa Claus comes into the house on Christmas Night and meets all of the elves. But for some reason my kids absolutely love it. I have no idea why.
Now on to some more normal things. What makes something an "Australian Christmas" book? The main thing to keep in mind is that Christmas in Australia occurs in the middle of summer. It is hot. People go to the beach. Kids are on their 2-month long summer break so they've just said goodbye to all their school friends. There is definitely no snow. The food can be different: having a seafood Christmas lunch is pretty common, English style puddings are common. The days are long, so kids can't even see Christmas lights unless they stay up until it gets dark at 8:30pm. The best (IMHO) Australian Christmas books capture this kind of thing.
Ayla's Christmas Wish by Pamela Jones. Ayla wishes for a snowman to make Christmas perfect. Her family comes up with a clever solution by painting some hay white to and stacking it to look like a snowman.
Christmas Wonder Down Under by Vikki Conley. A series of typical Australian Christmas vignettes. Picnic in the park listening to carols. My kids (aged 3.5) liked seeing all the things they recognised. The poetry is semi-passable for a kids book, too.
Christmas Days in the Sunshine by Byll & Beth Stephen. A group of kids experiencing all the things around Christmas: the days being long, mosquitos, the heat, running through sprinklers, the last day of school, going on a road trip for a family holiday, etc.
Christmas Always Comes by Jackie French. A tearjerker about a poor family in 1932 who doesn't have enough to celebrate Christmas for their kids is driving cattle across the country. They run into a grumpy widower who tells them to get off his property. In the end both sides get to celebrate their first proper Christmas in years.
There are also a bunch that follow the theme of "Australian animals do Christmas things" like an Aussie Christmas Gum Tree by where koalas and quokkas and so on get together to decorate a gum tree in the bush that I've been less enthused by because it feels a bit contrived to make it "Australian". I don't think people write French Christmas books about French animals doing things just to make it "French". Also my kids are in a very literal phase and they mostly just get confused about why a kangaroo is decorating a Christmas tree.
This is amazing — thank you so much for taking the time to recommend these!