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We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Other Festive Poems
This is the perfect Christmas selection for poetry lovers of all ages. Includes much loved traditional verse: The Night Before Christmas, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Deck the Halls, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and We Three Kings and poems by: Neil Gaiman, William Wordsworth, Thomas Hardy, Hollie McNish, Sue Hardy Dawson, Roger Stevens, Benjamin Zephaniah, Clare Bevan, Sara Teasdale, A.F. Harrold, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Sylvia Plath, Ogden Nash, Robert Burns and Jackie Kay
128 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2022
5 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Chris Riddell
377 books1,027 followersChris Riddell was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where his father was an Anglican priest and a member of the ANC. The family moved to England in 1963, when Riddell was one year old, and he spent his childhood in a number of different locations, as his father moved between parishes. Both of Riddell's parents continued to be active in the anti-apartheid movement.
Chris Riddell is an internationally acclaimed writer and illustrator whose many awards include the Nestlé Gold Award and two Kate Greenaway Medals—the most prestigious prize for illustration in the UK. He is the creator of more than one hundred books for all ages, including the immensely popular series the Edge Chronicles and his latest chapter book series, starring the irrepressible Ottoline Brown, which School Library Journal called "exceptional." Chris lives in Brighton, England, with his wife and three children where he invents his amazing characters in a very tidy shed in his yard.
Chris Riddell is an internationally acclaimed writer and illustrator whose many awards include the Nestlé Gold Award and two Kate Greenaway Medals—the most prestigious prize for illustration in the UK. He is the creator of more than one hundred books for all ages, including the immensely popular series the Edge Chronicles and his latest chapter book series, starring the irrepressible Ottoline Brown, which School Library Journal called "exceptional." Chris lives in Brighton, England, with his wife and three children where he invents his amazing characters in a very tidy shed in his yard.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 14, 2024
This was ... not all that.
I was excited to read this because a number of other poetry collections Chris Riddell had illustrated were really cool! However, this was ... not. I presume it depends on who is curating the pieces but if so, I'm a bit shocked at Mr. Riddell's selection.
Not only do we get far too many modern poems, the few classical ones are really obscure and by only one or two classical poets. Some modern poems CAN actually be good. Not many, in my opinion, but if THIS is what poetry looks like nowadays, I know why it has such a bad rep! Some were downright incomprehensible (and no, not because I was too dense to get them, I do actually have experience with poetry), others just didn't have a point.
In other words: some words thrown onto the pages willy-nilly, nothing funny or touching.
The illustrations, though, were cool. As usual. I still believe that Chris Riddell's style doesn't work with every kind of story, but his art is usually really nice and I enjoy it a lot - as I did here.
Disappointing but not all can be winners, I guess (I might be a bit spoilt by all the success in finding really good collections so far).
I was excited to read this because a number of other poetry collections Chris Riddell had illustrated were really cool! However, this was ... not. I presume it depends on who is curating the pieces but if so, I'm a bit shocked at Mr. Riddell's selection.
Not only do we get far too many modern poems, the few classical ones are really obscure and by only one or two classical poets. Some modern poems CAN actually be good. Not many, in my opinion, but if THIS is what poetry looks like nowadays, I know why it has such a bad rep! Some were downright incomprehensible (and no, not because I was too dense to get them, I do actually have experience with poetry), others just didn't have a point.
In other words: some words thrown onto the pages willy-nilly, nothing funny or touching.
The illustrations, though, were cool. As usual. I still believe that Chris Riddell's style doesn't work with every kind of story, but his art is usually really nice and I enjoy it a lot - as I did here.
Disappointing but not all can be winners, I guess (I might be a bit spoilt by all the success in finding really good collections so far).
December 3, 2025
3,5
nothing too special but cute nonetheless; pretty illustrations
nothing too special but cute nonetheless; pretty illustrations
October 30, 2022
Gorgeous illustrations with a mix of old favourites and some I hadn’t heard of before, this is a fantastic read for when you want to feel festive, not so much for reading in one go, but i think I’ll definitely be picking this up again each night in December, as I ordered a copy so I could keep it I loved it so much
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
December 24, 2022
Riddell's artwork is charming, and captures the mood of each poem. The poems were a mixture of the very good, and the very forgettable, with a few common Christmas songs mixed in here and there. Festive enough to encourage me to revisit some of the poems at future Christmases.
December 17, 2022
One star for each poem in the book that was worth reading
December 24, 2023
Good wholesome Christmas vibes 😌
October 23, 2022
I loved this little compilation of festive cheer. It featured some of the songs we all know and love, some gorgeous poems and a whole host of Christmas sparkle. Combined with some beautiful illustrations to accompany the writing, it was a perfect little hit of festive fun!
Thank you to the author and publisher for a copy of this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts abs review.
Thank you to the author and publisher for a copy of this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts abs review.
October 24, 2022
Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this is a selection of family-friendly Christmas-themed verse, compiled and decorated in the usual Chris Riddell way. And while I can't say the young me of the target audience would have loved every piece when discussed or read out at school, I do know any school I've been in would relish a copy to have.
The youthful lover of bouncy rhymes would have pleasure from the likes of "Just Doing My Job" by Clare Bevan, which is definitely fun. Roger McGough's report of a snowman visit is clearly going to end one way, and never suffers for it. But there are older and much more serious verses here (two from Thomas Hardy, and an ice-skating Wordsworth as well). In fact it's really quite as balanced as you could wish for – a perfect mix of old and new, religious and secular, rhymed and blanker, and from both genders in almost equal proportion.
Riddell seems to be making up for the fact he hasn't had to do the one commonly known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas", nor "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (the latter of which gets a sequel here), as self-contained books, but he's allowed to let rip with those at last, as well as prove the diversity of the modern compilation, with talk of gungo beans and cho-chos, and reggae-loving turkeys definitely not voting for Christmas. With Tennyson, Plath, and a visit to Ethiopia (and the moon), this is just as much about pleasure as it is the Reithian presentation of the poetic canon, and is going to tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people. A strong four stars.
The youthful lover of bouncy rhymes would have pleasure from the likes of "Just Doing My Job" by Clare Bevan, which is definitely fun. Roger McGough's report of a snowman visit is clearly going to end one way, and never suffers for it. But there are older and much more serious verses here (two from Thomas Hardy, and an ice-skating Wordsworth as well). In fact it's really quite as balanced as you could wish for – a perfect mix of old and new, religious and secular, rhymed and blanker, and from both genders in almost equal proportion.
Riddell seems to be making up for the fact he hasn't had to do the one commonly known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas", nor "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (the latter of which gets a sequel here), as self-contained books, but he's allowed to let rip with those at last, as well as prove the diversity of the modern compilation, with talk of gungo beans and cho-chos, and reggae-loving turkeys definitely not voting for Christmas. With Tennyson, Plath, and a visit to Ethiopia (and the moon), this is just as much about pleasure as it is the Reithian presentation of the poetic canon, and is going to tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people. A strong four stars.
December 19, 2022
CAWPILE: 5/10 - 2.5/5
Siendo sincero esta es una colección muy bonita de navidad, pero en eso se queda, hubieron poemas que me encantaron leer, y otros que no.
Es un libro bonito y rápido para las fiestas.
Siendo sincero esta es una colección muy bonita de navidad, pero en eso se queda, hubieron poemas que me encantaron leer, y otros que no.
Es un libro bonito y rápido para las fiestas.
December 26, 2022
Another very nice collection of Christmas poems. Most of these were included in the other anthologies I've read so that was a little bit of a bummer to not get a lot of new material. However, the illustrations that were included were lovely and a wonderful addition.
November 25, 2022
Utterly charming collection of Christmas poems, old and new. Chris Riddell’s illustrations are delightfully, as always.
December 28, 2022
Collection of festive poems for the season to be enjoyed each year!
December 28, 2022
A lovely collection of traditional, poignant, and fun poems for the Christmas and New Year festive season, beautifully illustrated.
November 13, 2023
3.5⭐️ varie poesie natalizie
December 3, 2023
A nice little book to dip into with traditional poems and carols to more contemporary verses. I particularly liked Street Lights and A Christmas morning.
December 4, 2023
Very sweet book!
December 15, 2023
A collection of poems by poets collected and illustrated by Chris Riddell.
December 12, 2022
I picked up this collection because I love Christmas, poetry, and Chris Riddell’s illustrations. It was a great little collection, and I enjoyed most of the poems. Many of them were ones that I had heard before. Like the titular poem, many are now known as Christmas songs. For instance: “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” “We Three Kings,” and “Deck the Halls.” My favorite Christmas poem is “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore. Neil Gaiman’s poem “Nicholas Was…” was my favorite poem from this collection. I haven’t read any of Neil’s poems before, and this one was wonderful.
March 15, 2023
It’s not a secret how much Christmas means to me. I’m not one for Halloween or New Years of East, and I’m not really a big one for Birthdays. For me, it’s Christmas. Always has been. I shop for gifts all year round, listen to festive music and watch festive movies in the summer. Even when I lost my dad 10 days before Christmas in 2017, the festivities still managed to buoy me up even if it was a bit harder to find the joy.
I will read Christmas books all year round and this may have instantly become a yearly favourite. It will sit on my shelf and twinkle at me even on the hottest days.
I was surprised by some of the poems in the book as we know them more as songs or carols - Jingle Bells or The Holly and the Ivy for example - it was nice to see their origins. If I had to nitpick, I’d say I would have liked a bit of commentary around the poems, when they were written, original meanings etc, because apart from saying who wrote them, it doesn’t give you any more information. Now, it doesn’t promise any commentary and so I wasn’t annoyed it was left out at all, I just think it would have added an extra dimension to an already wonderful book.
Chris Riddell has created some gorgeous, very simple but standout illustrations for each poem, and I’m tempted to get some of them tattooed. They look so lovely and added just a little extra magic to the poems. I especially liked the illustrations for The Twelve Days of Christmas, they were sublime.
I found myself reading them out loud and even singing at one point. I read this whole book on the morning of an important hospital appointment and it did wonders for my nerves and my pain. I feel it might have to come with me on every such an outing.
It’s lovely light reading. Either dip in and out, read one poem or ten, or read your way through the whole thing. However you choose to read it, it will bring magic into your day.
I will read Christmas books all year round and this may have instantly become a yearly favourite. It will sit on my shelf and twinkle at me even on the hottest days.
I was surprised by some of the poems in the book as we know them more as songs or carols - Jingle Bells or The Holly and the Ivy for example - it was nice to see their origins. If I had to nitpick, I’d say I would have liked a bit of commentary around the poems, when they were written, original meanings etc, because apart from saying who wrote them, it doesn’t give you any more information. Now, it doesn’t promise any commentary and so I wasn’t annoyed it was left out at all, I just think it would have added an extra dimension to an already wonderful book.
Chris Riddell has created some gorgeous, very simple but standout illustrations for each poem, and I’m tempted to get some of them tattooed. They look so lovely and added just a little extra magic to the poems. I especially liked the illustrations for The Twelve Days of Christmas, they were sublime.
I found myself reading them out loud and even singing at one point. I read this whole book on the morning of an important hospital appointment and it did wonders for my nerves and my pain. I feel it might have to come with me on every such an outing.
It’s lovely light reading. Either dip in and out, read one poem or ten, or read your way through the whole thing. However you choose to read it, it will bring magic into your day.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews