View source for Fancy Dress Christmas by Nick Sharratt

{{infobox2
|title=Fancy Dress Christmas
|author=Nick Sharratt
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1407115894
|pages=32
|publisher=Alison Green Books
|date=September 2012
|aznuk=1407115898
|aznus=1407115898
|cover=1407115898
|website=http://nicksharratt.com/
|video=
|summary=A fun, seasonal lift-the-flap book with lots of animal noise opportunities and large flaps for little fingers!
}}
Who is who at the Christmas party?  All the animals have come in fancy dress, so can you guess who is inside each costume?  Someone is dressed as a snowman, someone is dressed as an angel.  Someone is even dressed as a candle!  Can you tell who each one is?  Lift the flap and see...

This is one of those lovely, easy to follow books that's perfect for older babies and young toddlers.  Each page follows the format of asking who is dressed in a particular costume, and when you turn the flap the animal underneath is revealed.  We go through the book, hearing about the party and guessing each guest until, finally, we see everyone at the party together and Santa has arrived with presents for everyone.  On this last page you can lift each present up to see what gift they've received.

My impossibly gangly six year old is now a bit too old for these books so instead I read this one with her baby brother who is six months old.  He's already a big fan of books (how could he not be, living in this house?!) and he really enjoyed this one, seeing all the animals and watching me lift up the flaps as well as trying to help out a few times!  There are lots of cute animals here, a cat and a budgie and a dog, so there's lots of opportunities for making silly animal noises.  His favourite page was the Owl dressed up as a Christmas tree, I think because the owl's eyes are enormous!

It's a nice quick read, so good for babies who don't have much patience.  Obviously you have to be a bit careful with the flaps but they are fairly sturdy.  I liked that there are the bigger flaps to reveal the animals but then also some little ones, to satisfy older toddlers, at the end to reveal the presents.

The colours are all very vibrant and appealing to little ones, and it certainly makes you feel Christmassy so would make a lovely story to share in the run up to Christmas, or a nice gift for the day itself.  Nick Sharratt's illustrations are always very cute and clear and I really liked the simple design of this book.  Fast to read and fun to share, a lovely book to borrow or buy.

For more Nick Sharratt fun try his wonderful pop-up book [[What's In The Witch's Kitchen? by Nick Sharratt|What's In The Witch's Kitchen?]]

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