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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Twelve Days of Christmas by Britta Teckentrup (view source)
Revision as of 08:17, 23 September 2017
, 08:17, 23 September 2017no edit summary
When I was little, we had the ''Twelve Days of Christmas'' on a set of coasters that came out for the month of December which, while fun, were a little odd as you only ever got one of the days at once for your drink, so never quite got the whole story. It works so much better in a book such as this. The format if familiar and predictable: each day taken in turn, with the list building up until we have the twelfth day and all the goodies. The presentation, on the other hand, is something else. In my many years of reading and almost as many years of reviewing, I’ve never seen something quite like this. It’s like a book meets a doily meets one of those half-hearted snowflakes you cut out from folded over paper.
So much thought has gone into this book, right down to the font size which has to accommodate an ever-increasing list of items in the song. Not only that, but the cut out section in the middle crows grows larger with each turn of the page, revealing the items being sung about, first subtly (French hens, turtle doves and partridges can all quite easily hang out by a pear tree and not look too out of place) and then in more extraordinary fashion. By the end you have a page that is more cut out than it is there, but what fun.
Though the rhyme is suitable for all ages, this is quite a delicate book and it would be a shame to see it ruined through rough handling, as the design is a big part of it, therefore I’d recommend it for those leaving infants or entering junior school, though it could go much older too. It would make a wonderful gift, one to keep in the Christmas books box and bring back out every year.
