In 1957 Dr. Seuss was enjoying what Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys would describe as his ‘imperial phase’. The Cat in the Hat had just changed how children learn to read forever, and another masterpiece, Green Eggs and Ham was to follow. In between came his Christmas book, and it was every bit … Continue reading
It’s the ‘Happy Birthday’ of children’s literature, a poem constructed from iron girders and designed to stay standing even as the ground shifts beneath it and the holiday it represents changes out of all recognition. The Night Before Christmas is the original and perhaps even the best Christmas book. It’s been interpreted by countless artists … Continue reading
How did Father Christmas come to be? It’s a blindingly obvious question but one that’s rarely been answered. Author Matt Haig seized on the brilliant idea after his son asked him “What was Father Christmas like as a boy?” A Boy Called Christmas is a rip roaring adventure in the style of all you … Continue reading
If Anne Booth and Sam Usher’s Refuge is the most important new Christmas book of 2015 then Emily Sutton and Delia Huddy’s The Christmas Eve Tree is easily the most heartwarming. It’s the story of a little fir tree that finds itself unsold at Christmas time, and is rescued from the department store’s bin … Continue reading
In previous years we’ve seen a modern update and a tactile app version, but this folksy 1980 edition takes us about as close as it is possible to the mid 19th century America of its author Clement Moore’s imagination. Tomie dePaola, author of the magic pasta pot adventures of Strega Nona, sets his version of … Continue reading
William Walace Denslow’s Saint Nicholas comes dressed in blue furs, a Rip Van Winkle hat and pipe gripped permanently between his teeth. ‘He looked just like a pedller opening his pack.’ I’d forgotten just how much of the Night Before Christmas was given over to describing the slightly alarming appearance of its protagonist, before reassuring … Continue reading
