Christmas is a wonderful time to give a gift of a special book to a child. A Christmas Menagerie, with its delightful short stories, is just that sort of book. We meet the animals who feature in these pages: a worried wombat who is having lots of trouble fitting the branches of his Christmas tree through his doorway, a sausage dog called Colin who decides to leave a little puddle at the bottom of his Christmas tree, and a greedy little pig whose job it is to eat all the food left out for Santa, who is on his new get-fit diet. It’s difficult to choose favourites, but I warmed to the story of the little turtle, the last to hatch on Christmas Eve, who mistakes the bright twinkling lights for the water’s edge.

Many of the stories are written by some of our most popular children’s authors, and there are also several new writers. The pages are beautifully illustrated in full colour, giving the book the feel of a lovely old-fashioned storybook of days gone by.

Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age guide 6+