Sorry, yet again, for the long silence. Again you can blame Michael Gove. And the general insanity of the last few weeks of term.
Still, we won a copy of Alfie’s Christmas by Shirley Hughes (Bodley Head Children’s, 2013) from the Mumsnet Book Club, which has given me something nice to write about again. If you have small children and don’t know Alfie, you absolutely must rectify that immediately. The books are, as I’ve said before, perfectly pitched for children aged up to about 5 or 6 and stunningly beautifully illustrated. Alfie’s Christmas is no exception, being a lovely depiction of a family Christmas with a lot of love and excitement and a few (minor) disasters. There’s a visiting Great Uncle from Australia and Annie Rose opening all her presents in the middle of the night.
I found it slightly odd that Alfie’s mum and grandma go off to church leaving the rest of the family behind – as if religion is women’s work? Mind you, dad and Great Uncle Will cook the lunch while they’re out, so maybe not.
It’s also interesting to note that while Alfie, his family and their house have not changed over the last 30 years, the scooter he gets for Christmas, for example, is thoroughly modern.
Anyway, it’s gone down a storm with fils cadet and fils aîné isn’t above a quick glance at it when nobody’s looking either!
Related articles
- Shirley Hughes on her book Alfie’s Christmas (thetimes.co.uk)
- December 10…. ‘Alfie’s Christmas’ by Shirley Hughes (storyseekersuk.wordpress.com)
a discount ticket to everywhere 
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Rachel 🙂
And to you, Lindsay!