September 3, 2024 by Nosy Crow
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
This is a unique collection of poems , since it is also a lift-the-flap Advent calendar. Each page has two beautifully illustrated poems, each accompanied by a numbered flap. Sometimes these flaps are harder to find, disguised in trees or rushes, and sometimes they are logs or rocks. Most of the flaps open to reveal animals, given that many of the pages are outdoor scenes, but some uncover people or cars. The last flap, for Christmas Eve, has a large Christmas tree. The end of the book also revealed the reason for the ribbon that ties the book together; all of the pages fold out, and on the back there are larger versions of all of the items hidden by the flaps! I suppose if one had a very long mantle or a cabinet, this books could be unfolded and displayed for the Advent season.
The illustrations have a soft, chalk pastel feel to them that seems very modern and fresh. This might be in part due to the lavish use of a pale teal instead of an icy blue shade that older Christmas titles tend to employ. The people in the book a nicely diverse, although there are many more animals than people.
The selection of poems is generally good, and highlights include Russell Hoban's (Bedtime for Frances) Winter Ducks, Ogden Nash's Winter Morning, and J. Patrick Lewis' The Red Fox. There is a good sprinkling of traditional holiday verses like Jingle Bells as well. I wish there had been some more modern inclusions, although I know getting permission for those might be harder. Some of the poems will take some explaining, due to some unusual vocabulary. I did enjoy the fact that there were poems from a variety of cultures, and that permission was sought for the usage.
This is certainly an unusual book that could become an advent staple, so I would recommend opening all of the flaps before small fingers attempt them! It's a good idea to branch out from the omnipresent A Child's Garden of Verses by Stevenson when offering poetry to young readers, so Tis the Season is an interesting, holiday themed choice to have, along with Kooser, Wanek, and Jones' Marshmallow Clouds, Yolen's In and Out the Window, and Janeczko and Sweet's Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems.
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Cubby and his Daddy go out into the woods with their friends, the badger and rabbit families, to cut down a tree for Christmas. Daddy helps haul everyone and all of the trees home on a sled, and the families get to work in their separate lairs to decorate the trees. The long suffering father bear puts up with Cubby's overly enthusiastic ways, untangling lights and saving cocoa from spilling as his exuberant son decorates the tree. Presents are wrapped, and Christmas festivities with their friends take place around the small but celebratory tree. After the holiday is over, Cubby is distraught to think that the Christmas tree has to be cleaned up as well, because he thinks putting the tree back outside will be the end of happiness. All three families plant their trees outside, even putting signs by them so they know who has which tree. The year passes quickly, and soon Cubby and Daddy have the little tree in their house again to celebrate Christmas.
Change is hard for children, and we forget that as adults. Christmas is a time of high emotions, and when Cubby equates his good times with the tree, he doesn't want to see it go away. My favorite part of this was the patience that Daddy had with his son; young readers probably won't pick up on this, but older readers certainly will see Daddy's exasperation!
Chapman does an excellent winter landscape, and the tree is adorable. There's something pleasantly classic about the illustrations that reminds me of the books that my own children read in the 1990s, which makes sense, since Chapman has been writing for almost thirty years! Nothing wrong with remaining true to one's style, which is reminiscent of Anita Jeram and Patrick Benson's drawings.
Since it's a lot easier to keep books than live pine trees, I'd put this book into an advent rotations with VanSickle's How To Decorate a Christmas Tree, Collins' We Disagree About This Tree, and Toht's Pick a Pine Tree to prepare little ones for the changes of the season. Wise parents, along with Daddy bear, might want to look into getting a copy of Aliki's 1991 Christmas Tree Memories to read with youngsters and get them to attach sentimental value to the ornaments rather than the tree, since digging up and replanting a tree EVERY year will quickly become unfeasible!
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