We Wish You A Ripper Christmas

We Wish You A Ripper Christmas [with CD] by Colin Buchanan & Greg Champion, illustrated by Roland Harvey (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $19.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-723-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

We Wish You A Ripper Christmas is a fun Aussie take on the popular Christmas song . This entertaining picture book tells the story of Santa Wombat searching for his missing Christmas list:

    He searched for his list
    On that hot summer night,
    While koalas hung tinsel
    And Christmas tree lights.

Harvey’s illustrations are well loved for their unique Australian flavour as well as for their humour and fabulous Aussie animals. This book is no exception. Soft watercolours illustrate the bush setting of this Christmas story with wonderful detail bringing out the great character of the animals and their surroundings.

The words fit so well into the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas that it is a joy to read/sing aloud. The added bonus of the CD, sung by author Colin Buchanan, means everyone can sing along. This picture book would make a happy addition to any Aussie Christmas book collection:

    We wish you a ripper Christmas
    A full-bore ripper Christmas
    A deadest rip ripper Christmas 
    And a snappy new year!