I’m ready for Christmas ~ Christmas book review

Published 7 November, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

I’m ready for Christmas cover of I'm ready for Christmas

by Jedda Robaard
Penguin Books, Australia, 2019

Age group: 1 to 4 year olds
Format: 14 page board book

Published just last month, this is a gorgeous Australian Christmas book that I found whilst looking for a gift for an almost one year old – I’m sure she’s going to love it!

The story

A young koala is enjoying the start of summer and preparing for her favourite time of year, Christmas.

My review

This is a lovely book on so many levels – it is Australian, about Christmas, is positive and is based in real life so kids can relate to it.

Our lead character is involved in fun things like decorating the Christmas tree and playing in a park, and more mundane tasks like cleaning, cooking and rearranging furniture! Young children will spot things that are happening in their own homes, which is both comforting and educational for them.

I also noted and loved that she wrote a letter to Santa, too!

koala writing a letter to Santa illustration

The pictures are much of the story of course, and are well worth spending time on. They are beautifully drawn and include lots of detail without being cluttered or overwhelming. Illustration is Robaard’s background, from learning graphic design to teaching children’s art, and it shows in this beautiful book. Inner pages of I'm ready for Christmas

Overall, the book is positive but I particularly like some of the little touches like our Koala thinking ‘about my friends and family and their favourite things too’ and making their gifts. Decorating the tree makes things look magic and the Christmas pudding recipe has been handed down through the generations.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! This is perfect for any baby or toddler, through to pre-schoolers and maybe a little older.

 

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A Christmas smile

Published 3 November, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

“It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last a lifetime.” – Steve Maraboli

Boy in Christmas elf costume

Making someone smile makes you feel good too

“A smile costs nothing but gives much.It enriches those who receive
without making poorer those who give.
It takes by a moment,
but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.”
Unknown poet

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” – William Arthur Ward

Giving smiles

I love the philosophy of If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours. It truly is a simple ting to give away but can have a huge impact on others – I know there are times when a smile from a stranger as I go for a walk has made me feel great so I try to give smiles to ‘pay it forward’.

The happier human has collected some quotes about smiles and reminds us of some smiling benefits (like lower blood pressure, strengthen relationships and reduce stress. Smiling is good!

For me, Christmas brings smiles. Not just for the fun and beauty of Christmas trees, Christmas lights and decorations, not even for the smiles on faces as people open lovely gifts, but for the spirit that often brings out the warmth and generosity of people around Christmas.

Busy people in crowded shops sometimes forget to smile, but I think this is the time we need to focus on sharing smiles and helping ease another’s day.

And maybe if the day is just too tough for you to manage a good deed Santa would be proud of, perhaps sharing a smile or two is manageable. Or maybe just getting yourself to smile will make your day a bit brighter.

This week’s smile

I have just come across a blog that has a weekly smile section. Basically, each week, people share something that has made them smile. The resulting blog post is therefore positive and encouraging, and hopefully brings more smiles. It started form a desire to find more kind, compassionate, loving and beautiful things and behaviours, which is something I admire and can fully support.The weekly smile icon

So I’d love to share smile inspiring things here – what has made you smile recently? What have you done to make others smile this week? Please let us know in the comments below, or share your Christmas story directly onto the Love Santa blog.

As for me, a few things have made me smile this week – seeing my daughter calmly prepare for exams, catching up with an old friend, working on some Christmas blog posts, and ticking off some overdue tasks. But the biggest smile this week has been from pride of watching my nine year old work on a project to help others – she has made over 30 get well cards for sick children and is contacting a local hospital to deliver the cards, some money she has fund raised and to offer the services of herself and her friends for an afternoon at the hospital.

Wishing you many smiles today and always!

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Lego and Christmas

Published 11 October, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Last week I saw a 2018 Lego set of a winter village fire station at Christmas, and it got me thinking of how Lego is very much a part of many Christmases.

collage of images of Lego village fire station at Christmas

Not a key part of Brickman Cities, but a Christmas set couldn’t be missed!

Sometimes, it is used for major city displays, like the massive Christmas tree in Melbourne for Christmas 2015, Santa in his sleigh in Cardiff in 2018, the Christmas train in Cardiff this year, Brickman’s Christmas tree in Sydney in 2014 and the massive Santa in New York.

Lego Chirstmas display in Melbourne, 2015

The Lego tree in Fed Square 2015 was amazing – and very Australian!

And some people have giant Lego displays, themselves – like the 8 foot Lego advent calendar!

Lego itself produces Christmas themed Lego sets. I assume these are mostly for people keen on Christmas and Christmas displays, but lots of kids would also enjoy finding Christmas Lego under the tree on Christmas morning!

collage of Lego Christmas set images

From a Christmas village to Santa and trains, Lego has a range of Christmas kits…

Many Christmas trees around the world have Lego decorations on them, too. Whether made from generic bits of Lego, done through last year’s advent calendar or buy a specific Lego kit for an ornament.

And of course, there are the Lego advent calendars, for City, Friends, Star Wars and Harry Potter, which have given many kids pleasure and excitement throughout December.

So what’s the connection between Lego and Christmas?

We could be a little cynical and just say a corporation is commercially savvy and being part of a huge retail season, although city displays are not generally managed by Lego themselves. But maybe it’s developed over time from all those Lego boxes and sets being opened as Christmas gifts since Lego was started in 1932…

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Five at the office Christmas party – Christmas book review

Published 10 August, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Five at the office Christmas party
(Enid Blyton for grown ups)

by Bruno Vincent
Quercus, UK, Oct 2017

Age group: adult book cover of Five at the office Christmas party
Format: 112 page paperback

I grew up reading the Famous Five, Secret Seven and other Enid Blyton books so it was exciting to see a Christmas book involving the Famous Five!

The story

Now grown up, the four cousins are working together for their cousin (I don’t recall him from the original books) who is potentially a bit dodgy. The four are tasked with planning the company Christmas party on a budget.

My review

So, this book is obviously not written by Enid Blyton and is not aimed at children, so there is adult content (namely alcohol and undesirable character traits) and a different feel to the original Famous Five. And it’s not a mystery. If you’re after a rehash of Blyton’s series, you will be disappointed.

I found some of the characters irritating – Dick being irresponsible and lazy was not as far form the original as Julian being whiny and unreliable, for instance. Anne was the closest to the original, trying to get the others ready for work and so forth, but still not fully recognisable.

I also found it quite  weird to have pictures form the original books in this book with a caption suiting the surrounding text – the children five images don’t fit the story!

Inner pages of the book Five at the office Christmas party

Apparently there are a few of these adult ‘Famous Five’ books, starting with Five on Brexit Island, and they are described as hilarious spoofs of the original series.

Would I recommend it? Frankly, no I can neither recommend it or find much about it to enjoy. It was very disappointing to read and not find something that respected the books so many of us enjoyed as children.

 

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Holly’s Christmas

Published 21 July, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Tonight I watched a movie called Holly’s Christmas.

It was on general commercial Australia TV – I was checking what was on TV tonight and was surprised to find at least 4 Christmas shows in a row on a standard channel.

So this is a Hallmark movie, known as Christmas with Holly in the USA and based on a novel by Lisa Kleypas called “Christmas Eve at Friday Harbour. Christmas Eve At Friday Harbour: Number 1 in series (Friday Harbor)

The movie…

In short, a young man (Mark, played by Sean Faris) has become guardian of his six-year-old niece after his sister’s death. A selective mute, the  girl is being returned to an earlier school year so Mark takes her back to the island he grew up on and was living up to three month ago.

As they caught the ferry, a young woman (Maggie, played by Eloise Mumford) is heading to the island to start her dram toy shop. Instantly, we knew she would become the love interest and probably help Holly (played by Josie Gallina) talk again. Our children, on the other hand, followed the story and didn’t see it coming!

The movie does end at Christmas and has some special Christmas elements (beautiful lights on boats and the harbour, a special Christmas gift for Holly and Holly asking about her mum). However, it otherwise is mostly just a feel good story about a young girl and her uncle’s romance.

For me, it was a nice light movie to watch on a Sunday evening and we enjoyed it.

The movie has some nice water views, a lovely side story of fairies watching a toy store, lovely people, nothing nasty, and a happy ending.

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A Christmas homecoming – Christmas book review

Published 10 June, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

A Christmas homecoming Front cover a A Christmas Homecoming

by Anne Perry
Headline Publishing Group, UK, 2011

Age group: teen to adult
Format: 224 page paperback

Following on from A Christmas Message, I was intrigued about one author having 13 Christmas books, so I grabbed another from the library to see how she does it!

The story

A theatre group preparing to perform Dracula in 1897 is interrupted by a murder…

My review

After finishing A Christmas Message, I was very unsure about how this book would be. I’m very glad to say it was more like my expectations of A Christmas Message and I enjoyed reading this book.

One thing that I had wondered about Perry writing 13 stories (based on the same characters was my initial incorrect thought) was how she managed that over time – surely there can’t be multiple mysteries solved around any particular Christmas by a single character! As it turns out, Perry’s festive series covers many years – one goes back as far as 1847 and A Christmas Message is set in 1900 – so that makes it more feasible!

I really enjoyed this book and the charterers, and it was interesting to think of Dracula as a ‘new craze’ and of dubious value and longevity! There are many reminders in this book of how things have changed, too – no phone to call for help, wood fires as the only source of warmth, no movies/TVs , less exposure to ‘scary’ effects so more sensitive to fear settings, and less general knowledge of investigations and forensics.

The key character, Caroline Fielding was also interesting. An older women (in her late 50s to 60s is my guess) who has been widowed and now remarried to a man 20 years younger and of a lower station, she has depth and experience that I liked. She is depicted as intelligent, resourceful and strong, but also a bit lonely at times so not overly perfect! Caroline’s son-in-law (present in many Perry books I gather) is policeman so she was able to preserve evidence and work on the case.

Much of the book revolves around the development of the play to be performed on Boxing Day – the murder doesn’t occur until over half way through the book! So it seems that Perry’s style is to have a story and work a mystery into it, rather than have the mystery as the key focus – different to what is common but not in a bad way.

I hadn’t realised that Bram Stoker’s Dracula centres around Dracula washing ashore near Whitby in York, but this book is set there which was an appropriate setting for their play, obviously.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I do both as an easy-to-read mystery and as an interesting reminder of how things used to be.

 

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A little Christmas in space!

Published 19 May, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Have you been to a space museum or centre?

I’ve been to one near Canberra and it was interesting. As expected, there was information about space exploration and how planets, stars and galaxies work. There wasn’t much connection to Christmas though!

However, a good friend is currently in the USA and she visited the Kennedy Space Centre on Merritt Island in Florida. And she found the unexpected – Christmas display in a space centre! Ok, it was mostly Christmas ornaments (which make nice souvenirs!) in the gift shop, and being close to Disney World the Mickey Mouse theme makes sense, but here are the photos she shared with us.

Display of Christmas ornaments at Kennedy Space Centre

 

 

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A Christmas message – Christmas book review

Published 24 February, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

A Christmas message from cover of A Christmas Message

by Anne Perry
Headline Book Publishing, United Kingdom, 2017

Age group: teen to adult
Format: 176 page hard cover

Does ‘Christmas mystery’ mean a crime story set at Christmas, or a story about the unknown and Christian faith? This book has them both covered…

The story

A couple travel from Turkey to Jerusalem in 1900 and find carrying a message is more complex than it seemed.

My review

I am starting this review despite only have read a few pages as the writing style is so enticing that I already like the characters and want to know more – so a great start to this book which is set (so far anyway) just before Christmas in Jaffa, Turkey.

Actually, this is Perry’s 14th novella in her festive series! I am intrigued as to how she can write so many books all about mysteries/crimes involving Christmas so watch out for future reviews of her books to find out!

After finishing the book…

A Christmas message is set in 1900 with newly weds Victor and Vespasia travelling by train from Jaffa in Turkey to Jerusalem. Both characters have appeared in a number of Perry’s earlier books so there is a progression but I didn’t find this hindered my reading of this book.

The book starts with the couple meeting an older man and receiving from him a message to deliver to a ‘House of Bread’ in Jerusalem. There is intrigue and mystery as to who the man was, what the message is (our heroes can’t read it as it was not in a language they recognised), and how they will manage the delivery. Along they way, they meet a strange character they called Benedict and are threatened by The Watcher. All of that was interesting and somewhat as expected.

However, there is an increasing level of religious and spiritual discussion in the story as it progresses. There are pages and pages of these discussions rather than focusing on the mystery of the message – from thoughts about redemption to the star within (as distinct from the wise men following a real star to Bethlehem). It was not as expected and fits an entirely different genre to a mystery book.

It is a modern book (Perry published this in 2017) so uses contemporary writing but works in the 1900 atmosphere nicely. Even to the point that Vespasia is having these religious epiphanies but can’t mention them to her husband as ‘one doesn’t bring up such things’!

I would have liked a bit more about Jerusalem as it was and certainly more focus on the mystery (although the philosophy sections finally connected with the mystery, it was unnecessary and over the top for me).

 

Would I recommend it? Hard to say really – it is easy to read, has some interesting things in it (like the train from Jaffa to Jerusalem as that line only existed between 1891 and 1948), and I like the characters. The religious thoughts and underlying message was a bit much for me – both in it being religious but also it was based on metaphors and a deeper level of thought than the book enticed me to.
If you already know Perry’s character, I dare say this is a great read for giving them a happy ending; if you like theology and mysteries together, you will love this book; if you just want a simple mystery without the morals and religion, find another story!

 

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Another little Christmas murder – Christmas book review

Published 9 January, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Another little Christmas murder

Front cover of Another Little Christmas Murder

Front cover

 

by Lorna Nicholl Morgon
Sphere, London 1947

Age group: teen to adult
Format: 256 page paperback

A mystery read with no real connection to Christmas…

The story

Therese Brown unexpectedly plays host to 8 extra people due to a blizzard on treacherous roads beside her house on the same night that her ill husband dies – but not all goes as one would expect.

My review

This story takes place over a few days in December along a deserted road in Yorkshire. At the end, two characters drive off to a family Christmas gathering. Unfortunately, that is the entire Christmas connection for this book.  Apparently, this is a publisher effect as the original version was actually called Another little murder.

Being written in 1947, the remote house is truly remote without mobile phones or even a landline, and the house doesn’t even have electric lighting to add further atmosphere. It is a simpler plot and less gruesome than many modern crime books, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment of it.

The motive behind the crimes was a complete surprise, which is unusual in the crime genre, but clues and the culprits are present throughout. It is a bit ‘secret seven’ like with people bumbling around at night but that feels like the period.

It was a bit strange to have so many people turn up at Wintry Wold – why were so many people on this remote road so far into a storm? – but it kept the story moving and the plot hidden.

Would I recommend it? As a Christmas book, obviously not! And as a serious crime book with a plot to get engrossed in, no not really. As a pleasant read in front of a winter fire, yes I would so maybe you can pop it in someone’s Christmas stocking this year!

 

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Dear Santa – Christmas adult book review

Published 4 January, 2019 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Dear Santacover of Dear Santa from Samuel Johnson

edited by Samuel Johnson OAM
Hachette Australia, Sydney, 2018

Age group: teen to adult
Format: 148 page paperback

A compilation of letters to Santa, written by Australian celebrities as adults.

The story

Not a story as such, but the book was thought of and executed by Samuel Johnson (unicycle rider, TV celebrity, brother who founded Love Your Sister) as a fund raiser in the fight against cancer. All of the letters have been written without the celebrities receiving any payment for their contribution to the book.

My review

Obviously this is a collection so there is a lot of variation from page to page – some letters are nostalgic, some are funny and some are a bit political (such as wanting refugee children out of detention on Nauru). There is also variation from a few lines to a few pages – either way, giving you space to read it slowly over time or easily read it as a single entity.

inside the book, Dear Santa

I found it interesting that the people I was most drawn to read were not always the letters I most enjoyed reading. A couple of letters felt like they were trying too hard – trying to be clever or impressive rather than getting into the spirit of writing to Santa (to me, that is genuine and heart felt) but the range of topics and styles was interesting and thought provoking, too.

It is nice to have it adult centric – I mean, it could have been letters of what they imagined they wrote as children, or some other child centric model.

Celebrities included…

There are 68 letters to Santa in the book, written by a range of Australians, including:

  • Gus Luenig, artist
  • Shane Jacobson, Chief Scout (Vic), actor
  • Deborah Mailman, actor
  • Leigh Sales, ABC presenter
  • Rove McManus, TV personality
  • Hildegrad Hinton, prison guard
  • Stuart Coupe, band manager of old, broadcaster
  • Paris Mitchell, public speaker
  • Helen Garner, writer
  • Ian Smith, political lobbyist, married to Natasha Stott Despojer
  • Peter FitzSimmons, ex rugby player, presenter

Would I recommend it? How can I not? Raising money to fight cancer is such a worthy cause – cancer causes so much pain and suffering. Add in it is about letters to Santa and it has my vote!

But seriously, it is an interesting book and has some letters well worth reading. Sure, some of the letters I didn’t like much and others didn’t add a lot of value, but overall the letters are good. It is an easy read given you can read just a page or two at a sitting, so I think it makes a great Christmas gift.

 

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Last day of advent calendars!

Published 24 December, 2018 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Yes, it is Christmas Eve, Santa is almost here and our Christmas count downs are just about done!

Ornament calendar

Given it is Christmas Eve, finding Santa behind the flap is perfect! This is one of my favourite ornaments from this set – it just works really well with the two pieces giving the impression of Santa’s rotund body and cheeriness!

The cute image underneath of Santa racing down a hill on a sled is fun, too.

Press out decoration Santa on the Christmas tree

 

Lego City

Like the press-out calendar, the Lego City calendar left Santa until Christmas Eve! It was not unexpected (Santa was also on day 24 in 2015, 2016 and 2017) but still fun to find and build Santa carrying his sack!

This is what Santa looked like before we put him together.

Santa and his sack, with the Christmas tree and presents behind.

 

Lego Friends

Unlike the other two advent calendars, Lego Friends did not finish with Santa or even a Christmas tree. Instead we made a lovely little train pulling a trailer carrying a letter (to Santa perhaps?)

Lego Friends train

Christmas book

Of course, we had to save The night before Christmas to read tonight in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. Hopefully it will help put everyone to sleep nice and early…

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Tinkles shrunk the food!

Published 24 December, 2018 | By Santa's Letter Elf

Tinkles is much smaller than us so it seems fair that she prefers smaller food portions than us…

CHristmas elf's food shrinking machine with the elf and lollies

Apparently, Tinkles created a food shrinking machine overnight and proceeded to make herself some elf-sized marshmallow and freckles treats! This is something of a highlight of Tinkles’ behaviour over the month as far as my kids are concerned – they loved looking at the machine and tiny food portions.

CHristmas lying besdie her food shrinking machine and lollies

My son determined she used an empty Lindt box (maybe that’s her excuse for eating our chocolates? LOL!) to create her machine and that the tab designed for closing the box is what pushes down on the large food to force it into the smaller size (I love how he investigated the box carefully to decide this, all without touching the box or Tinkles!) The family decision is that Lindt boxes are a bit magic already so Tinkles was clever to use that box when making her machine – although we started wondering if Lindt balls start much larger in the Lindt factory…

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