The Aussie 12 days of Christmas by Brentos

Using the classic Christmas carol, Twelve Days of Christmas as its template, this fun book counts from the first to the twelfth day on each double page. Each of the twelve days has a different Australian animal as its focus, and each page adds all the animals to its illustration.

Children will love seeing the lone koala in a gum tree on the first page and equally, seeing the twelve squawking cockies.

On each page between are quokkas, frogs, dolphins, magpies, turtles, galahs, rosellas, goannas, wombats and kangaroos. These animals keep coming as each page is turned building up the number on each page, just right for inquisitive minds to find them all.

Children will love listening to the carol being sung, and join in themselves with the Aussie version. Bright illustrations cover each page, as the scene is the same, just adding more animals as the book proceeds. Looking at the detail, counting the number of animals and predicting what animal may come next will engross younger readers as they read this book. And it doesn’t take much persuasion to read another Christmas book.

And they may even ponder what the recipient of all these gifts will do with them.

Themes: Christmas, Christmas carol, Australian animals, Humour.

Fran Knight