The Twelve Days of Christmas or Grandma is Overly Generous; Alex T. Smith

The grandma of Eloise Jingles is exceedingly generous at Christmastime. Grandma has sourced the perfect presents from the finest suppliers and soon they’ll be arriving for Eloise to enjoy. At first the presents are lovely and easy enough to care for; a partridge in a pear tree, three very French hens, five gold rings complete with performing bunnies. But the thing with grandmas is that they like to spring a surprise and soon grandma’s gifting gets wildly out of hand…

A sparklingly illustrated reworking of a beloved Christmas tune full of warmth and festive fun. Inspired by a very relatable problem with The Twelve Days of Christmas - what on earth did my true love send on the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth days  - Alex T. Smith has created this. And what a witty Christmassy treat it is.

Everyone loves receiving gifts at Christmas but your grandma probably hasn’t sent any quite like these. For the first six days the gifts are very much in line with the classic song and then grandma takes creative licence with snorkelling squirrels, balancing bears, parping penguins and a very surprising ending. Who needs leaping lords, dancing ladies and milking maids anyway? Alex’s version holds universal appeal and everyone will be merrily singing along. A potential Christmas number one…I think so.

Alex's love for Christmas leaps off of every page and I love the nod to the Edwardian era - when the lyrics were first set to music - with Eloise wearing period clothing and plenty of intricate details for readers to spot. Don’t skip over the suppliers of the various goods, the postage stamps and the hand stamps.

In keeping with Alex’s description of grandmas, The Twelve Days of Christmas or Grandma is Overly Generous is ‘wonderful and utterly bonkers.’ A must have for the Christmas collection and sure to put a smile on the faces of both old and young.

Recommended for 3+.