Frances Watts (text), Ann James (illus.), A Very Quacky Christmas, ABC Books/HarperCollins Australia, 23 Oct 2017, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9780733329623
Samantha duck is getting ready for Christmas, winding tinsel around the tree and singing. Her friend Sebastian argues ‘Christmas is not for animals,’ but this does not deter Samantha and she sets out to prove that Christmas is for everyone. With help from their farm animal friends, she makes presents for animals all over the world, but when it is time to deliver them the task is almost too big.
A Very Quacky Christmas is a delightful book about giving and sharing. My four-year-old daughter loved it and asked for it again and again. The song ‘we wish you a quacky Christmas’ is threaded throughout the book, and this appealed to her sense of humour, especially when the last line ‘and a tortoise new year’ was added.
The illustrations are simple sketches with dashes of colour and compliment the charming, warm tone of the book. There is something especially lovely about the friendship between the two main characters with their persistence and belief in each other creating such joy for everyone.
Highly recommend this book all year round, not just at Christmas.
A Teaching Guide can be found on the HarperCollins website.
Reviewed by Bec Blakeney