I'm not always a fan of the Australianised Christmas carols.The thought of rusty Holden utes, singlets & Santa wearing thongs usually make me cringe! The rhymes can also be clunky and, well, just too bloody Ocker for my taste!
But I've always loved Six White Boomers as sung by Rolf Harris (which might not be pc anymore) and Christmas in Australia by John Williamson.
You can click the play button (below) and listen to John Williamson sing Christmas in Australia as you read the rest of this post :-)
However, this year, I've found a new one that I do like - a lot.
The Twelve Days of Christmas Island is beautifully and artfully done. The rhyme & rhythm still works perfectly and the accompanying illustrations are lovely and very colourful.
To give you a taste, here is the second day of Christmas Island...
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On the second day of Christmas,
the Island gave to me,
two goshawks
and an owl in a lilly pilly tree.
Christmas Island is home to hundreds of birds & native plants that are not found anywhere else in the world.
Lagrange has included birds like the Emerald Dove, Frigatebird, Booby, Christmas Island Thrush, Noddy, Glossy Swiftlet & Bowerbird.
At the end of the book is a double page spread of all the birds mentioned in the book with their full names & information about their habits.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you. So delighted to find your site today. Teresa Lagrange
ReplyDeleteI found the Twelve Days of Christmas Island this week, and browsed it standing in the bookstore. It made me want to go to Christmas Island. Well I wanted to go there before I read it, but now I want to go more. All those birds! It is a shame about Six White Boomers. Particularly because I really can't stand John Williamson. I know most people seem to like him but that True Blue- well it drives me nuts.
ReplyDeleteI'm not normally in the John Williamson demographic either, but I do love his Christmas in Australia - it's Aussie without being over-the-top ocker like so many of the other Australian Christmas songs & books on offer.
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