Thursday, 17 October 2019
The dreaded "C" Word - Are christmas books suffering from an identity crisis? This week's ReadItTorial
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#ReadItTorial 2019
Or maybe it's that this week's ReadItTorial is talking about the dreaded "C" word (Christmas - not my daughter!) way too frickin' early. I mean it's not even November yet.
But like all dutiful book bloggers who try to stay ahead of the curve, we've been reading and reviewing this year's crop of christmas books released so far - and we're considerably underwhelmed.
In fact, let's be honest about it, most of the time Christmas books are truly awful, recycling saccharine-sweet messages that make you want to claw your own eyes out, or worse - resorting to farts, poo, wee, bums and pants to try and jolly up the season of goodwill.
The reason for using Raymond Briggs' classic "Father Christmas" in the header image of this document is not because this is a bad example of a christmas book, but the very best example of a children's picture book (some might argue - given Raymond Briggs' 'comic strip' stylings in some of his stories that this is more a graphic novel than a picture book) that has a christmas theme but has so much fun with the whole concept that you could read it at any time of year and still giggle about it.
In fact we have - for this and his follow-up with a holidaying Santa.
Many authors tap the christmas market quite successfully for 'bread and butter' books but seldom few make books that you'd consider for any 'book of the year' awards. Arguably so, but whenever we draw up our list we very rarely bother to look at anything even vaguely yuletide-related, because it never feels like that's where the innovation, the excitement, the true originality will be found. It's nearly always in books that (statistically, for us at least) arrive slap bang in the middle of the year just after the first few major book fairs have been and gone.
So why is it so hard to write a decent christmas book? I suspect that it's for the same reason it's notoriously hard to write a hit christmas song / single. The whole season is draped in so much cheesy nonsense that it's impossible to see through all that tinsel and garishness and nigh on impossible to deliver a message that hasn't been seen or heard a zillion times before.
Before this article went live, a few blogger / Twitter chums did actually see the point in beginning the blog talk about Christmas books a bit earlier than our usual December Booky Advent Calendar. So how about this for a compromise. Below are ten truly awe-inspiring Christmas books from yore that stand as brilliant examples of how do to Christmas books 'right' (11 if you include Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs of course, which you absolutely should!)
In no particular order...
(Macmillan Children's Books)
Part Advent, part brilliantly inspirational story about sending and receiving wonderful letters at christmas, and an entirely classy and fabulous wordy book that will keep you reading every bedtime right up until the big day itself!
(Quirk Books)
The range of movie adaptations from Kim Smith and Quirk really is incredible now, but this was one of the first we read - and it's still one of the best. If you love the movie, or for that matter if you've never heard of the movie and just want a gorgeous heart-warming story, this is absolutely perfect, ya filthy animals!
(Hodder Children's Books)
Poor Santa is under the weather, so it's up to plucky Emily Brown and her rabbit bestie Stanley to help save the day. Cressida and Neal's timeless series gets festive and we absolutely couldn't be happier! Brilliant stuff!
(OUP / Oxford Children's Books)
Tom's "Accidental" series is always a giggle, and once again the kids step into the breach when Santa has an off day.
Young Ben doesn't want a flashy toy or a new bike, he just wants his dad home for Christmas. Can Santa deliver the seemingly impossible? You know what they say about christmas, wishes and magic!
"Mog's Christmas" by Judith Kerr
(HarperCollins Children's Books)
Another book that's been a mainstay of our pre-christmas bedtime readings for a number of years, and I secretly hope it will be this year too. Made all the more poignant by the fact that Judith is no longer with us, it's a funny, fabulous and truly original slice of feline brilliance from a sadly missed creative.
"Red and Lulu" by Matt Tavares
Young Ben doesn't want a flashy toy or a new bike, he just wants his dad home for Christmas. Can Santa deliver the seemingly impossible? You know what they say about christmas, wishes and magic!
(HarperCollins Children's Books)
Another book that's been a mainstay of our pre-christmas bedtime readings for a number of years, and I secretly hope it will be this year too. Made all the more poignant by the fact that Judith is no longer with us, it's a funny, fabulous and truly original slice of feline brilliance from a sadly missed creative.
(Walker Books)
There's definitely something magical about New York as a Christmas destination - and when two birds meet and become friends in the christmas snow you're in for a treat of a story that just pours on the festivity and christmas atmosphere, until all you can think of is how amazing it'd be to go Ice Skating in the big apple. A gorgeous story full of heart and emotion.
"Katie's London Christmas" by James Mayhew
(Orchard Books)
We couldn't have a festive roundup without James Mayhew's gorgeously atmospheric christmas entry in the "Katie" book series as Katie makes for London for a magical christmas surprise. Look out for the bit with the lion and the scarf if you know the series well!
(Faber and Faber)
C was completely won over both by Ross (when he came for an author visit at her school) and by this book, that treads lightly into darker festive territory, and the sort of delicious tale that's perfect for those of us who love the idea of mashing together Christmas and Halloween. As a young boy called Lewis gets ready for Christmas Day he's called back to college by his headmaster - and ends up playing host to some truly weird guests. Filled with a gorgeous dark sense of humour, this isn't your average schmaltzy Chrimbo read but is absolutely perfect nonetheless!
(Abrams Young Readers)
You're probably familiar with the tale of the temporary detente that took place in the trenches of World War 1 as troops battled the bitter cold and each other for the first time in Christmas 1914. Never told better than in this gorgeously illustrated version of the story, once again it's the perfect book if you love your stories filled with atmosphere so real you can almost feel the flakes of snow stinging your nose!
(David Fickling Books)
Another book we couldn't possibly miss out in any Christmas-related book round up and there's a good reason this always crops up - it's still as brilliant, breathtaking and visually rich as it was when we first encountered it on the blog. A trip through a snowy landscape that (for us southerners at least) feels like it belongs from an entirely different era (we seriously do not get snow like that any more). We both love the way Richard perfectly captures what happens to the world when a thick coating of snow appears overnight, something magical and transformative that, of course, lends itself well to a brilliant and timeless Christmas story like this.
So there you go, that's just 10 of the books that, looking back through the blog, for us demonstrate how to do Christmas books 'right' - What say you Tweeters and blog pals? What did we miss out?
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