Christmas Eve at the Mellops' by Tomi Ungerer

 

When you add this book to your family Christmas read aloud tradition I am sure your children will delight over the names of the three boys - Casimir, Isidor and Felix. All three want to please their father so they head into the forest to find a perfect Christmas Tree. But what a disaster. The family do not need three trees. 

"Never mind .. why don't you see if you can give your trees away to people who don't have one yet? And when you get back your mother and I will have a surprise waiting for you."

So, the boys visit the orphanage but alas they already have a tree. Next stop the hospital but every patient there has their own tiny tree. Next stop the prison - but they don't have any more room. The soldiers in the barracks also say no thank you. Just when it seems no one will take their three trees they see a girl crying. She lives in a big old house with three different inhabitants and hooray they all need trees! In fact they need more than trees and the boys quickly jump into action finding warm clothes, blankets, money for presents and medicine, food and wood to heat their house. And what of the surprise mentioned by their father - yes they have a tree and presents and delicious food waiting for them at home.

"I am so proud of you. And what's more, I think we learned a very important lesson ... there's no such thing as to many Christmas trees."

Christmas at the Mellops' was written in 1960 but my copy is a reprint from 2011. The German title is Famile Mellops Feiert Weihnachten.

The understated story, first published in England 50 years ago, has a French flavor in the quietly humorous text and minimalist illustrations in a sophisticated palette of peach and spring green. Ungerer, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Prize, exhibits a masterful sense of pacing in his work, with plentiful space surrounding his witty piglets and a spare text conveying a complete, satisfying plot. ... The subtle theme of the transformative power hidden within heartfelt gifts is elegantly conveyed ... Kirkus

Tomi" Ungerer (1931 – 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace. He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works. He wrote several books about the Mellops'. The Mellops Go Flying (1957) Mellops Go Diving for Treasure (1957), The Mellops Strike Oil (1958), Christmas Eve at the Mellops (1960) and Mellops Go Spelunking (1963).

This year I am just going to share an occasional Christmas title - you can see all my past theme collections:

Twelve Days of letters at Christmas

2022 Christmas Book selection and this link will also take you to my Christmas in Australia titles

You might find a copy of Christmas Eve at the Mellops' in your local or school library or even in a charity shop.

The Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram illustrated by Ruth Brown

In this story there are three sisters. Two are horrid and very horrid and the third is named "Too Nice". Little Too-Nice is lonely, but her horrible sisters reject her and then, to get rid of her, they set a challenge that she must visit Baba Yaga and bring back a Toad in a jewelled jacket with a diamond collar. Too-Nice has a little doll that her mother gave her before she died. She asks the little doll for advice.

"put me in your pocket, listen to my advice whenever I have any and let's set out."

Too-Nice knocks on the door of Baba Yaga. The witch invites her in and tells her to wash the mountain of dishes by morning. If she fails, she will be cooked in the cauldron. Too-Nice works hard but there is no way she can complete all of this by morning. Her Doll tells her to rest and magically in the morning all the dishes are clean and stacked in neat piles. 

BUT as you would expect with any traditional tale there are more tasks ahead - three in total. Next the witch tells Too-Nice to sift through the dirt in the garden to find all the poppy seeds. This is another impossible task which her Doll is able to complete. The third challenge is to lay out the food and answer the important question.

"Now answer me correctly, or you will be my first course. What was it you came here for?"

How should she answer this question and will her answer mean she can take that toad home to her awful sisters and if she does give them the toad what on earth might happen next? Is there a way for this story to have that all important happy ending?

I read a few things about Baba Yaga:

• Baba Yaga is a witch or ogress from Slavic folklore who lives in a magical hut in the forest and either helps, imprisons, or eats people (usually children).
• Although she is usually the villain of any piece she appears in, she can also offer assistance and is understood as more of a trickster character who encourages transformation than the stock figure of an evil witch.
• Baba Yaga is probably best known from the story Vasilissa the Beautiful in which she inadvertently frees the heroine from the tyranny of her stepmother and stepsisters
• Baba Yaga is depicted as an enormous, ugly old woman who lives in a hut built on four tall chicken legs that can turn about or relocate on command. She is often seen draped over her stove or reclining in the hut across the entire expanse, with her large nose touching the ceiling. 
• There are a number of tales in which she acts as an agent of transformation, helping the heroine or hero toward self-actualization and the completion of a quest.

And a few things about Vasilissa the Beautiful:

• Vasilissa lives happily with her mother and father until she is eight years old when her mother falls ill and calls her to her deathbed, giving her a magical doll to help her through life. 
• She must always keep the doll with her, a secret from everyone else, and offer it food and drink whenever she faces some challenge in order to receive help.
• After her mother’s death, her father marries a woman with two daughters who is envious of Vasilissa’s beauty and abuses her, giving her harsh tasks, which her father can do nothing about since he is away on business trips. Vasilissa is only able to accomplish these tasks through the help of her doll.
• In hopes of getting rid of Vasilissa, her stepmother keeps sending her into the woods on errands: finally, Vasilissa is sent directly to Baba Yaga’s hut to ask for fire.
• Baba Yaga demands to know why the girl is there and agrees to give her fire in return for work. She assigns Vasilissa impossible tasks, which she is able to accomplish with her doll’s help.
• Baba Yaga sends her home with a skull containing the fire she was sent to fetch, and once it is brought into the house, it burns the evil stepmother and stepsisters to ashes.
• Baba Yaga acts as the catalyst for transformation. The doll performs all the impossible tasks given to Vasilissa, but it is Baba Yaga who assigns them, who warns the girl against asking too many questions (and so saves her from probing too far into dangerous territory), and who provides her with the skull that sets her free from her stepmother’s cruel tyranny.

Nearly all of these plot points are included in The Wise Doll. I am also sure you can easily make connections between this story and fairy tales like Cinderella. 

Good Reads blurb: A memorable Russian fairy tale to entrance and enchant. Ruth Brown's stunning illustrations accompany an extraordinary fairy tale about a little girl who, with the advice of her wise doll, escapes a truly terrifying witch and her slimy, child-gobbling toads. When Too Nice's evil sisters, Horrid and Very Horrid, force her to kidnap the witch Baba Yaga's jeweled toad, Baba Yaga devises a series of impossible tests for the little girl. If Too Nice passes them, she gets the toad, but if she doesn't -- the toad gets her Too Nice's only companion through the ordeal is the wise doll in her pocket, a gift from her mother, whose help leads to the miraculous completion of the tasks.

Superb artwork enhances this offbeat, minimalist retelling of the old Russian folktale in which Baba Yaga the witch is outwitted by an innocent little girl, with the help of a magic doll bequeathed to her by her now-dead mother. ... excellent witchy stuff. Kirkus

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything asked me to read The Wise Doll. She had it on her Halloween book display for over 3 weeks but sadly no child selected it for borrowing - should she keep this book in her library? Her copy is the first cover shown above.

Case for YES

• This is such a satisfying story which shows the rewards of hard work, bravery and trust.
• I love books about dolls and the idea that this doll has magical power bestowed by her late mother adds a beautiful emotional layer.
• The ending and final words are perfect.
• This book has the most OUTSTANDING illustrations. I cannot think of a book with a better or more scary witch illustration. 
• I think the first cover above is appealing - much better than the second cover from a more recent (out of print) edition. 

Here is a review: ‘Oram has a gift for pithy turns of phrase, compressing description into action and dialogue.  She has retold this story in eminently oral language. ... this is folklore justice as its finest.  Looking for stories with strong female protagonists?  Tell this one.’ Janice del Negro, editor The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books USA.

The Wise Doll reminded me of this book (which is one I adore to read aloud):

I have been a huge fan of Ruth Brown's illustrations from the time I discovered A Dark Dark Tale (1981) which I read to hundreds of young children in my school library (1984-2017). 

And I also love so many books by Hiawyn Oram especially In the Attic illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. I also highly recommend her little junior book series 'Animal heroes' also sadly long out of print. 

Honk, Honk! Hold tight by Jessica Souhami

"I will share my kingdom with anyone who can make Princess Alice laugh."

Many people try but they all fail. Then along comes young Peter and as you might expect he is poor but also kind and honest. On the way to the palace, he sees an elderly lady who is tired and hungry. He gives her his bread and wine - I told you he was kind. YES of course, this is a fairy tale or should we call it a folktale? To repay this kindness the old woman reveals a golden goose under her cloak.

"Tuck this magic goose under your arm and carry it to the palace, where you will be rewarded."

As he travels along the road a woman reaches out and touches the fine feathers of the goose and immediately she is stuck. Seeing the problem a man on the road takes hold of the woman but - YES - he is now stuck. And so the procession is formed. Honk honk! Hold tight. A chain of people now travel behind young Peter. Can you guess what happens when Princess Alice sees this huge procession of characters? Yes she does laugh and YES they do get married (it is a fairy tale after all) but there is one delicious twist - it is Alice who proposes to Peter and he says YES!

"And they lived merrily ever after."

Notice the goose on the cover - the image above doesn't show this properly but the goose is actually gold foil. The end papers are filled with gold feathers. 

Bookseller blurb: This very funny folktale tells about the princess who will not laugh. Her father says he will give her hand in marriage to the man who can make her laugh â?? and one boy plus a golden goose set off to the palace to try their luck? As they go along, the animals and people they meet all try to steal one of the golden goose's feathers â?? and they stick fast to the goose. "Honk Honk Hold Tight!" says the boy, and the whole parade soon ends up at the palace. What will the princess do? A fabulous read-aloud, laugh-out-loud story that has its origins in Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK, with variants discovered in Russia and Egypt.

Check my earlier post about Jessica Souhami. I should not have been surprised to discover the library I visit each week had so many books written and illustrated by Jessica Souhami including this one. 

Here are some other books about Princesses or daughters of wealthy men which include a set of challenges to find a prince and/or to make the princess smile or laugh or in some way be restored.

The Glassmaker's Daughter

The Seeing Stick

The Most Wonderful thing in the World

The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup

With all the people stuck to each other you might also like to revisit this classic story or a variation:

The Swan's Gift by Brenda Seabrooke illustrated by Wenham Ma

Tuesday Treasure

Strictly speaking The Swan's Gift is not a Tuesday Treasure because I started that series of posts to highlight treasures from my former school library and we didn't purchase this book when it was published in 1995 but since it is out of print and it is such a beautiful story I have decided to add it to my blog. I was lucky to find a mint condition copy at a recent charity sale.

The Swan's Gift is a modern fairy tale. Anton and Rubina have seven children. Times are very hard and now there is no food. Anton sets out to hunt hoping to find a bird or rabbit - something they can add to their cooking pot which now only contains water.

Anton walks on and on in the freezing conditions. Finally, empty handed, he turns for home. Just below him on the lake he sees a beautiful white swan.

"Suddenly the juices flowed into Anton's mouth. He could taste succulent roast swan and see his children's faced glowing as his family sat at the table eating again. He raised his gun ... "

The tension rises as Anton puts his finger on the trigger. He feels as though the swan is looking directly at him. It is a magnificent bird.  Brenda Seabrooke uses words like "dazzling beauty" and "the most beautiful creature."

Anton drops to his knees. He speaks out loud "I can't do it."  A voice "as soft as snow or feathers ruffling in the wind" asks "why not?"  Anton knows if he kills this swan his family will have food for one or two meals but after a day or two they will all be hungry again. All of this beauty will be lost.

The swan lifts its wings and flies over the Anton who has now collapsed onto the snow. The water dripping from the swan's wings lands as frozen crystals. The crystals are harder than ice - they are diamonds. How will Anton use this treasure? What might other people do if they hear about this magical swan? What does the future hold for this family?

I would follow The Swan's Gift with The Paper Crane by Molly Bang.

Good Dog by Dan Gemeinhart

You. Me. Together. Always.

... one thing wouldn't budge: the hard tug of his love for that boy. That love was the biggest truth he could ever imagine.

His heart glowed to a gold more glorious than any Forever. It shone brighter than all the blue skies and green fields and sunny days of anywhere and everywhere put together.

A few years ago I read another Dan Gemeinhart book - The Honest Truth - it captivated me. Last month I spied this book by Dan at a library book fair and the Teacher-Librarian kindly gave me this copy. Good Dog is a 'harder' book than The Honest Truth. Harder in the sense of emotional distress. The lines between good and evil are powerfully drawn. The scenes between the hell hounds and our two dog heroes Brodie and Tuck are harrowing. This is not a book for the faint-hearted.

Brodie has died. As the story opens he is in the afterlife but this is a place of transition. Brodie cannot move on because he has unfinished business back with his boy. He is allowed to go back to the land of the living but there are conditions. He will be invisible to humans and his time will be short.

"You're not going back as you were. You're going back as you are. A spirit. Nothing more. You're going back to a living world ... but you're going back dead. ... Your spirit will still have life for a while, down there,' the angel said. 'You'll even be able to see the glow of it. But with each moment in that world, it will fade. When your glow is gone, Brodie, you'll be stuck. You'll be lost. Forever."

"Every time you really touch the world, every time you make yourself real enough to do something - like jump on a truck - it costs you a little bit of your soul. Even walking down this sidewalk right now, all this touching of the world ... it's taking a little of our souls, just a drop at a time."

Brodie listens to these warnings but he knows he simply has no choice. His boy needs him. Snatches of his former life and especially his final moments with Aiden play out in his mind in fragmented flashbacks. For the reader, these are like pieces of an unfolding puzzle. I enjoy storytelling like this where the reader has to put in some work to understand what has happened in the past.  The reader also has to trust the author will keep you safe over the course of this dangerous journey.

All of your senses will be on high alert when you read Good Dog. Here is an example - the hell hound bites into Brodie:

"Darkly's teeth sank into his shoulder. No. His teeth sank into ... him. It was like nothing he'd ever felt. His teeth sank deep, and a high, ripping whimper was torn from Brodie's throat. But it didn't feel like pain, this bite. It felt far worse than pain."

I'd like to talk about motivations at this point. Brodie needs to help his boy and this is easy to understand but what of Tuck? He is a loyal companion to Brodie but he also has unfinished business from his former life. Tuck is such a great dog. I wanted to reach out and hug him. He is full of life and bounce but it is the cat Patsy who is the most complex character and I found myself constantly questioning her true motives for helping Brodie.

"Why are you even here, Patsy? Really. If you don't wanna help, if you think we're too dumb and this whole thing is stupid, then why are you hanging around?' 'I told you, sausage-for-brains, I was bored.' 'No way,' Brodie snapped. 'You wouldn't come all this way and go through all this stuff just 'cause you were bored. There's gotta be another reason. Tell us. What is it?"

I would recommend Good Dog for a very mature senior Primary student. I would follow Good Dog with The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett and Dog by Andy Mulligan.  For a slightly younger audience take a look at One dog and his boy by Eva Ibbotson which has the same emotional arc. Here is a video where you can see Dan talking about his book. Click on the reviews below for more plot details.


Action-packed, highly suspenseful, and deeply moving. Perfect. Kirkus

Brodie senses before he thinks; his narrative flows in visceral waves of experience. These sensory pleasures are no match for the emotional sturdiness of Brodie’s good heart.  BookPage

Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin

Once, there were two sisters.
Rose had hair like threads of black silk and cheeks like two red petals and a voice that was gentle and sometimes hard to hear. Snow had hair like white swan down and eyes the color of the winter sky, with a laugh that was sudden and wild.


Before you read this review take ten minutes to listen to this audio version of Snow White and Rose Red by the Grimm Brothers.  It is essential to have a good knowledge of this fairy tale before you read Snow and Rose.

I first saw Snow and Rose in a large city book shop and I was attracted to the cover and the promise of a story based on a fairy tale. More recently I visited Beachside Bookshop where I again spied this book and so I decided to buy it. I was right about the cover and scrumptious illustrations but wrong about the story.  This is not a plot based around the fairy tale of Snow White and Rose Red but rather an actual retelling of the fairy tale in the longer format of a 200 page illustrated novel.

I will confess I was not familiar with this tale by the Grimm Brothers but as I read on I realised I needed to find the original tale. There are three covers at the bottom of this post or you may find the tale in a Fairy Tale collection. I actually thought there would be more picture book editions - this is a gap in the market which needs filling. 

Emily Wingfield Martin weaves in all the story elements from the original and then adds her own delicious descriptions. 

"Half the garden was filled entirely with white flowers of every kind - with pale, delicate bells of lily of the valley, spires of vanilla foxgloves with speckled throats, climbing moonflower vines, and bright-eyed anemones, from the tiniest white daisy to ivory dahlias the size of dinner plates."

"And the other half bloomed only in red: vermilion poppies and scarlet pansies and wine-colored snapdragons and Japanese lanterns the color of fire. And dozens and dozens of roses, each with a hundred red petals."

And here is the description of the very special library the girls find in the forest.  They each borrow an object not knowing exactly how these curiosities will help them.

"On every side of the staircase were intricate shelves built into the walls and arm's reach away. As the girls made their way up, they were further puzzled, for in this library, there weren't any books. Instead arranged on the shelves, nestled in nooks, displayed in boxes, stuffed into glass bottles, were hundreds - maybe thousands- of little objects. ... A bit of coral, a spotted feather, a scrap of velvet, a paper crane, a delicate bone, a pebble of fool's gold, ... a postage stamp, an acorn, a baby tooth, a sliver button."

One of the joys with writing this blog is when I discover connections. Emily Wingfield Martin is the author of several picture books (you can hear her talking about her books here) and she is also the author a book I did enjoy a few years ago called Oddfellows Orphanage.


As with all fairy tales, there are lessons in these books: Cultivate inner beauty. Be kind, especially to any creature or fellow human who is suffering. And because young heroines figure so prominently, one notion emerges with particular clarity: Girls have the interior resources to do anything they want, and while a little magic helps, it’s hardly necessary. New York Times

For lovers of fairy tales, this story of sisterhood, taking risks, and being kind is a physically beautiful book with an appealing cover and captivating full-color illustrations. Kirkus