There’s almost an embarrassment of riches in Aussie Christmas books this year and here’s another one. Reminiscent of the bestselling The Jolly Postman, this book is a collection of letters, but this time to Santa Claus. A small envelope on every double-page spread contains a letter from an animal. Every letter is from a different country and the language of the letter reflects that. Each animal asks Santa for something that will make their Christmas perfect. This is a clever idea and it provides a fun trip around the world for young readers, even to the surprise on the last page. The postage stamps give a further clue to the origin of each letter. The illustrations are simple, uncluttered and fun, but it is the novelty appeal of the letters and the collection of stamps on the endpapers, which, for me, add real interest to this book. One small quibble-the letters cannot be fully pulled out of the envelopes. This is good, as it protects against loss of the letters, but unfortunately the last line of some of the letters is not visible, so I predict they’ll be ripped out before the end of Christmas Day!

Margaret Hamilton is a former children’s publisher. She now provides freelance publishing services and reviews

Tags: andrew daddo