We’re pleased to present another fabulous set of activities created by the talented Ash Taylor: this time, the activities are around Two Fearsome Fairy Tales from France, by Adèle Geras and Fiona McDonald. The activity booklet can be downloaded from the link below. Enjoy!
Category: Picture books
Fantastic new activities pack for Selkies!
As part of our anniversary year, our talented intern Ash Taylor has been hard at work creating some wonderful activities centred around our classic Two Tales series of illustrated storybooks. Today we are publishing the first of the activity packs he’s created, centred around Kate Forsyth and Fiona McDonald’s popular Two Selkie Stories from Scotland. The pack, which is free to download and print out for use by kids, families, schools and libraries, includes a word search, colouring pages, and research and creative writing activities. Lots of fun! Download from the link below.
The book that launched Christmas Press!
In 2013, we embarked on the adventure that was to become Christmas Press, with the illustrated storybook that was to become our launch. title: Two Trickster Tales from Russia! The book sold out of its first print run in just six weeks, and ten years later, still continues to sell, all around Australia, where it’s available in all good bookshops. Readers certainly seem to love the fun, lively retellings by Sophie Masson and the gorgeous illustrations by David Allan!
It was quite a journey, creating the book: find out all about the fascinating story behind it here. And check out the wonderful free activities and downloads we’ve created around Two Trickster Tales from Russia. And here, is where you can access the fantastic audio edition of the book–for free!
Congratulations to Gabrielle Wang, new Australian Children’s Laureate!
Big congratulations to the wonderful author-illustrator Gabrielle Wang, who has just been announced as the new Australian Children’s Laureate for 2022-2023. So well-deserved!
At Christmas Press we are thrilled to have Gabrielle as one of our wonderful authors: her beautiful picture book with illustrator David Allan, Two Enchanted Tales from Old China, which we published in 2017, is an absolute delight. Still available now from all good bookshops! Gabrielle also has a story, Pony for Sale, which she illustrated herself (see illustration below, on right), in our 2017 anthology A Christmas Menagerie. (The anthology is also still available.)
First reviews for The Magic Ball of String!
In its first week of publication, there’s been two great reviews already for The Magic Ball of String, one on Read Plus, the other in Margaret Hamilton’s fabulous Pinerolo Newsletter.
Here’s the full review in the October edition of the Pinerolo Newsletter:
THE MAGIC BALL OF STRING by Chelsea Hardi & Olya Badulina (Richmond). Remarkably, this charming fairy tale was written by a 7-year-old Australian girl. The illustrations, in traditional fairy
tale style were done by an illustrator who lives in Finland. A fascinating collaboration.
And here’s an extract from the Read Plus review:
Recommended. The front cover will draw any young girl into the story immediately, with the beautiful princess upon the white horse, and the castle in the background. The illustrations throughout the book capture all the subtleties of the story.This Australian, seven-year-old, author has done an amazing job at storytelling. Being aware of this fact may encourage other budding storytellers out there, knowing that if someone else can do it, they can too.
You can read the whole Read Plus review here.
Publication day for The Magic Ball of String!
In association with Richmond Publishing we are delighted to announce that today is publication day for The Magic Ball of String, a beautiful picture book written by young Sydney resident, seven-year-old Chelsea Hardi.
Chelsea was born to tell stories and narrates them to her mother, Irina, before going to sleep every night. She has always been in love with Russian fairytales which comforted her when at the age of four and a half, suffering from pneumonia, she was in hospital in Moscow for an extended period. It was during this difficult time that, influenced by those fairytales, she created the first version of The Magic Ball of String, telling it to her mother who wrote it down for her. Since then, the story has evolved through the normal editing process, which Chelsea was fully a part of, to become a fresh and charming tale of adventure, family love, the power of kindness, and the unexpected magic of a certain ball of string.
With beautiful pictures by acclaimed international illustrator Olya Badulina, this book is one that children and families across Australia will take to their hearts.
Richmond Publishing is delighted to be publishing the book in association with award-winning children’s book publisher Christmas Press, which is promoting and marketing the book across its networks. And Christmas Press is delighted to be working in association with Richmond Publishing on the release of this very special book which so exemplifies the magic of stories in the lives of children.
The book is distributed by Peribo.
Watch the beautiful trailer for the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm1yPC0tOvk
Video showcasing our backlist titles
And here’s a video we made, showcasing the wonderful range of our backlist titles, from 2013 to 2020. Enjoy!
Announcing a special publishing collaboration–and a very special book!
Press Release, Friday December 4
Six-year-old Australian author Chelsea Hardi’s first picture book to be published in 2021
Richmond Publishing, in association with Christmas Press, is proud to announce that in April 2021 it will be publishing The Magic Ball of String, a beautiful picture book with text by a fabulous debut author, six-year-old Sydney resident Chelsea Hardi, who is not only one of Australia’s but also one of the world’s youngest published authors.
Chelsea was born to tell stories and narrates them to her mother, Irina, before going to sleep every night. She has always been in love with Russian fairytales which comforted her when at the age of four and a half, suffering from pneumonia, she was in hospital in Moscow for an extended period. It was during this difficult time that, influenced by those fairytales, she created the first version of The Magic Ball of String, telling it to her mother who wrote it down for her. Since then, the story has evolved through the editing process, which Chelsea was fully a part of, to become a fresh and charming tale of adventure, family love, the power of kindness, and the unexpected magic of a certain ball of string.
With beautiful pictures by acclaimed international illustrator Olya Badulina, this book is a dream come true for the young author, and one that children and families across Australia will take to their hearts.
Richmond Publishing (a division of Oliver Freeman Pty Ltd) is delighted that The Magic Ball of String will be on the 2021 publishing list of award-winning children’s books publisher Christmas Press, which will be promoting and marketing the book across its networks. And Christmas Press is delighted to be working in association with Richmond Publishing on the release of this very special book which so exemplifies the magic of stories in the lives of children.
About the book:
The Magic Ball of String
By Chelsea Hardi
Illustrated by Olya Badulina
ISBN: 9781875613069, 36 pages, Hardcover, RRP: $19.99
Published April 2021 by Richmond Publishing, a division of Oliver Freeman Pty Ltd
In association with Christmas Press
Distributed by Peribo
Three beautiful princesses set out to explore the kingdom, looking for adventure. When they become separated from their father, and cross paths with a hungry bear, they become lost in the midst of a dark forest. The eldest princess is determined to find a way home, and the King is determined to find his daughters. And with the help of a man with a brave and kind heart, the grateful gesture of a tiny hedgehog, and a magic ball of string, everyone may just find what they truly seek …
In times of trouble, a free gift for our readers and supporters
In this difficult and troubling time that we are all facing now, we’ve been thinking of ways in which we can support not only our wonderful books community but also the wider community, and soon we’ll be letting you know about an exciting development we are working on. In the meantime, we’d like to offer all our readers, supporters and friends a free gift: the full digital audio book of Two Trickster Tales from Russia, accessible either below on this post (for mobiles) or on the right-hand side of this site(for laptops and tablets)–simply click on the audio player for the full audio book and enjoy! (There’s also samples, if you want to just check it out briefly). Great for children and families homeschooling!
And if you’d like to have the full audio book to keep, just head on over to our Bandcamp store, where we are making the digital audiobook of Two Trickster Tales from Russia available anywhere in the world for whatever you would like to pay, from AUD $1 up. If you’d like the print book to go with it, if you live in Australia, head on over to your favourite bookshop online, or post free from our partner business, Granny Fi’s Toy Cupboard.
If you live overseas and would like the print book, contact us at contact@christmaspresspicturebooks.com for international postage rates.
Thrilling news: four of our books featured in Hello from Australia!
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that four of our beautiful picture books have been selected for featured inclusion in the catalogue of the very prestigious Hello! from Australia exhibition which will be held at the famous Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, Italy, April 3-6. As well, an illustration from one of the featured books, Margrete Lamond and Ingrid Kallick’s Two Troll Tales from Norway, has been selected to be hung as part of the exhibition itself.
The four books featured in the exhibition catalogue are: Duncan Ball and David Allan’s Two Tengu Tales from Japan; Adele Geras and Fiona McDonald’s Two Fearsome Fairy Tales from France; John Heffernan and Kate Durack’s Two Tales of Brothers from Ancient Mesopotamia; and Margrete Lamond and Ingrid Kallick’s Two Troll Tales from Norway. Warm congratulations to all our wonderful creators!
You can see the catalogue here. And below you can see the fabulous selected illustration from Two Troll Tales. Bravo, Ingrid!
Here’s more about the exhibition, from the catalogue:
Hello! From Australia is an exhibition that aims to promote Australian literary culture, drawing attention to the creativity of Australian children’s book illustrators and the diversity and excellence of the Australian Children’s Book Industry. The exhibition also aims, specifically through the catalogue, to support publishers in the promotion and sale of rights of Australian books and facilitate contact between Australian publishers and international publishers, agents and promoters. Since 2009, eight Hello! From Australia exhibitions have been curated by Books Illustrated for the annual Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Many have then toured to events and festivals in Australia and particularly into Asia.
Christmas Press 