Illustrated by Chris Jevons
For ages 4+
I have finally done it, I've succumbed to choosing a bottom/fart/poop book!! Today's book club is on 1st December... yes, and you know what that means? Advent calendar day!! If finding out their parts in the nativity play filled the children with uncontrollable excitement then I wasn't wrong to be nervous. Not only did the children open their calendars today for the first time this year, some cheekily nicked their parents chocolates too, others managed to eat at least 5 Haribo sweets off the Elf's train, it was absolute chaos this morning. Yay!!
In this new festive fun story, Ellie the elf has eaten rather too many Christmas treats... she just couldn't help herself - from mince pies to cake, biscuits to candy canes, fizzy pop... it's making me feel woozy just thinking about it! Well, you can imagine the state of her digestive tract after all that!
Ellie ends up sleeping it all off in the sleigh and owing to all her horrendous tooting and parping, basically stinks out the whole of Santa-land it's that extreme (as demonstrated by the vast green swirls of malodourous illustrations). Embarrassed to admit her excessive bottom issues to the rest of the elves, she ends up as a stow-away on as Santa heads out to deliver the Christmas presents.
Whilst on his rounds just after flying over France, India and Amsterdam and Spain, Santa feels rather peckish and indulges in some of the wonderful treats left out for him during his present deliveries. However, much like Ellie, Santa can't find his 'off' button as the special Christmas food is just soooo yummy! Well you can guess what happens next!! Santa gets stuck in the chimney and out pops Ellie from hiding to save Christmas. Hurray (pwoarrrrrr yuk, though).
We enjoyed the suspense, shouting out the big toots, whooshes and parps, and most of all cheered once Santa was saved. Great fun for a very Christmasy book club. It certainly got the children's attention!
Creative fun
Something a little cheeky this morning to fit with the story. The children had fun drawing all sorts of Christmas foods. Enjoy!
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About the creators
Lucy Rowland (author)
Lucy Rowland grew up in Cheltenham and gained a degree in Speech and Language Therapy from the University of Reading before becoming a children's speech and language therapist in South London where she now lives. Lucy has loved reading and listening to poetry from a young age and has turned her passion into writing picture book stories with quirky characters and irresistible rhythms – as seen in Jake Bakes a Monster Cake, Pirate Pete and His Smelly Feet and Little Red Reading Hood.
From a young age, Lucy Rowland loved reading and listening to poetry. As a children's book author, Lucy likes to create stories with quirky characters, laugh-out-out moments and irresistible rhymes.
Website: https://www.lucyrowland.com
Chris Jevons (illustrator)
Chris Jevons is a children’s picture book illustrator with a passion for character design and storytelling. He began his career studying art and design at College and 3d animation at University. After graduating, he worked briefly as a graphic designer, 2d animator and illustrator.
Key themes
Christmas
Funny
Humour
Father Christmas
Christmas Elves
Grab a copy
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Publication date: 13 October 2022
Format: Paperback
Also for kids aged 4+ by Lucy Rowland (some of my favourites, more on my store):
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