I was so excited to find out that there are two more Ollie the Zebra books due for release in November called I love Holidays and I love Birthdays (Scholastic Australia). They will make wonderful companions to the other Ollie books I raved about here and they will all make beautiful stocking stuffers this Christmas.

Anna Walker has a great website where you can buy limited edition prints, check out where she paints and also see the little Ollie toy she knitted - so cute.

While on the site I found this jacket image of a new book she has illustrated that will be released by Penguin also in November. The cover is divine and the story, by Jane Godwin, sounds lovely so I am looking forward to this one as well.

Anna also won the Crichton Award this year for Santa’s Aussie Holiday, given by the Victorian Branch of The Children’s Book Council of Australia, to recognise new talent in Australian illustration.

I had a work-related day in the city on Friday, and found myself with an hour to spare before I was due to catch the bus home again… Who would have thought I would appreciate an hour to myself so much! No pram or fidgety toddler to accomodate, I could jaywalk as much as I liked! (Ahh, the small pleasures…)

One of the serendipitous things was finding myself able to see the Myer Christmas windows. The Myer windows are such an institution in Melbourne, and visiting the windows is part of many families’ traditions of Christmas. Each year they represent a different theme using magnifiently produced animated figurines. This year, the theme is Graeme Base’s Uno’s Garden.

I didn’t realise but it was actually the first day they were open. And it was a perfect time to see them - there was no queue in the scorching heat, hardly any strollers to trip over or heads to try to see through. Back pre-Rowan, when we lived in the innercity, I would love to walk home past the windows after a night out when there was no-one else around.

Uno’s Garden is a great theme for the windows. I love the fact that they are based on an Australian book (as were last years Wombat Divine windows…) and that they have an ecological theme.

Uno’s Garden tells the story of Uno, who arrives one day in a beautiful forest to discover a series of strange and magical animals – Frinklepods, Lumpybums and Moopaloops, and many others. As time goes by, and with each page, more people come to the forest and buildings appear on the landscape. But as the buildings and people increase in number, the number of plants and animals decrease, until one day there is a vast city, and no more animals or plants. But the city is abandoned, and gradually the plants and animals return…

This book is part counting book, part ’search and find’ and of course a story with a moral. When I first read it, I thought it tried to do too many things, but the advantage of this is that you discover more and more things each time you read it. As with all of Graeme Base’s books (which include Animalia, The Waterhole and Jungle Drums), the illustrations are lucious and incredibly detailed. Graeme is an amazing illustator.

The windows do a fabulous job of recreating Uno’s world, although the counting aspect gets a bit lost. I especially loved the bouncing Timid Tumbletops and the chomping Snagglebites. I’m not a fan of the Myer windows playing their recording of the story. It always seems impossible to follow the recording at the right moment, and I’d love the windows to speak for themselves. Maybe that’s another reason why I recommend visiting them after hours…

I adore Christmas; I love the warmth of the weather, the smell of a live tree, blinking bud lights and Carols by Candlelight. My partner Brant thinks I’m silly and I do agree with him that the lead up to the day can be hectic but I still get excited every year and this year will be even better with Ned who will be 11 months and my gorgeous little niece Charlotte who will be 14 months. One thing I do guiltily enjoy is catalogues at this time of year especially book catalogues. I do promise that I recycle them all!!! I really enjoy seeing what bookshops have chosen as the best of the best in the biggest publishing months of the year, I like reading about things I haven’t seen yet and circling all the one’s I want to buy. Not only children’s there are always lot’s of beautiful things released, for example have a look at Maggie’s Harvest by chef Maggie Beer it is an absolutely amazing piece of publishing.

One thing that I remember my little brother and I doing as children was digging out all of our Christmas story books to read by the tree on stinking hot nights as the cicadas deafened us.

Top 5 CHRISTMAS BOOKS….

1. It’s Christmas (Tina Burke) – This beautiful simple Christmas story is perfect for toddlers. It invokes all the lovely feelings and senses of a hot Aussie Christmas without all the kangaroos and koalas of other books. There is a real magic in this book, Burke is the most delightful illustrator whose little characters are just full of life and joy. 3 years +

2. The Nativity (Julie Vivas) – Based on the King James version of the Bible story Vivas has created the most warm, comforting and human illustrations to accompany the text. In her paintings she brings gentleness to the story of the miracle birth of Christ which is so lovely that even if you are not religious you will appreciate. Simply divine! 4 years +

3. The Christmas Book (Dick Bruna) – This is a very simple rendition of the Christmas story by Dick Bruna the author and illustrator most famous for the Miffy books. His style of illustration is instantly recognisable and gorgeous. Perfect for toddlers because of the simplicity it even has the most beautiful little pop out nativity scene in the back of the book which I use every year. 2 years +

4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Dr. Seuss) – I love the Grinch and the moral behind this Seuss story. The Grinch is like Scrooge he hates Christmas and he hates that the Who’s of Who-Ville have such a great time doing Christmassy things each year. Grinch plots to make sure that Christmas doesn’t come so he dresses up as Santa and steals all the presents from Who-Ville. But Christmas still comes doesn’t it and the Grinch learns that maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store that maybe it means a bit more! A fantastic lesson in the true meaning of Christmas, if you can make it past the crazy Seuss rhyme – it’s hard to read aloud. There is a movie of the Grinch that stars Jim Carrey that received mixed reviews but I think it’s great; the sets and costumes are incredible and Carrey suitably adds enough grossness to the Grinch character. It is even a Broadway musical. 4 years +

5. The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg) – Van Allsburg’s illustrations are incredible, they invoke such magnificent dreamy feelings as you read the story and are the reason why this has become a Christmas classic. Only available in hardcover in Australia it is a perfect keepsake for a family and would make a beautiful gift. The little boy in the story has doubts that Santa Claus is real. On Christmas Eve he is picked up by the steam train The Polar Express and transported with other doubtful children to the North Pole where he is introduced to the real Santa. The boy gets to choose a present, the first of Christmas and chooses a bell of Santa’s sleigh. This story is not twee or slushy it is award winning literature and a truly magical tale. This book has been made into a film animated by DreamWorks, it’s not my favourite adaptation the book and Van Allsburg’s paintings are far and away the best. 5 years +

I haven’t included Clement C. Moore’s poem, A Night Before Christmas in my list. It is a beautiful poem and is very traditionally Christmas. There are so many versions of the poem illustrated by different artists. If you are looking for a copy my favourite has to be illustrated by Christian Birmingham because his art is so soft and gentle and fits so perfectly with the poem.