anniversary, authors, Books, celebrations, Junior fiction, middle-grade fiction

And more from another wonderful author…

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This time, it’s the fabulous Jenny Blackford who’s penned some lovely words from our anniversary. Jenny’s published two fantastic books with us: The Girl in the Mirror (2019), a middle-grade mystery novel which won the Davitt Award for Best Crime Novel in the Children’s Category in 2020; and Fil and Harry (2021, illustrated by Kristin Devine), a lively, engaging fantasy novel for junior readers. As well as writing fiction, Jenny is an award-winning poet who has had two books of poetry published plus numerous others in anthologies and journals.

Small presses are beautiful things, and Christmas Press is a particularly beautiful small press, creating gorgeous packages. I am so grateful that they published my spooky middle grade novel The Girl in the Mirror, which won the Davitt Award for Best Children’s Crime Novel, and my junior novel Fil and Harry, complete with snarky talking cat. Thank you, Christmas Press, and happy anniversary!

anniversary, authors, Books, celebrations

And the lovely words keep coming!

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We were delighted to receive these lovely words of anniversary congratulations from the wonderful Ursula Dubosarsky, multi-award-winning author and former Australian Children’s Laureate (in 2020 and 2021). Ursula has published two gorgeous books with us: Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome (illustrated by David Allan, 2014) and The Boy Who Could Fly and Other Magical Plays for children (illustrated by Amy Golbach, 2019).

Wonderful congratulations to Christmas Press on the anniversary – such a tremendous, rich achievement – for literature, for children and indeed for Armidale. Sophie Masson is such a creative. generous and imaginative publisher – she seeks stories with resonances deep in cultural history and brings their special and sometimes hidden beauty to children through the many remarkable books published by Christmas Press. Writers, illustrators – and most especially readers – are all in her debt. (Ursula Dubosarsky, 2023)

anniversary, authors, Books, celebrations

More lovely anniversary words…

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We really are so lucky to be working with such wonderful authors! In this lovely pair of posts, author Michael Grey , author of Children of the Wild as well as several short stories, writes about how he first came in touch with us and what happened next. Design of both posts by Yasmin Paige. The first one has the shorter version of Michael’s words, the second one the full version.

activities, audiobooks, authors, celebrations, collaborations, Illustrators, Picture books, publishing

The book that launched Christmas Press!

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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!

Announcements, authors, celebrations, publishing

Tenth anniversary celebrations continue!

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We love working with our wonderful authors and illustrators, and in this tenth anniversary year, have asked them about their experience of working with us. Over the next few weeks you will see their responses, and today we’re starting with some absolutely beautiful and affirming words from Victor Kelleher!

Our lovely intern Yasmin Paige has created the great tiles: on the first one is the short version of Victor’s words, on the second the full one.

Announcements, Books, celebrations, publishing, small press

It’s our 10th anniversary year!

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Happy new year, everyone! We hope everyone had a great festive season.

We’re very excited because this year, 2023, is our 10th anniversary year! Yes, our little press started ten years ago with a big dream and a lot of hard work…and this year, we’ll be celebrating the achievements of the last ten years, the fabulous books, the wonderful creators–authors and illustrators–and brilliant professionals–editors, designers, printers, distributors–who work with us. And we’ll be celebrating the fact that our books have found their way into the hands of so many young readers, thanks to the dedicated booksellers, reviewers, families, teachers and librarians who have supported our books and our ‘small press with big ideas’ over those ten wonderful years!

We’ll have all sorts of things going on this year to celebrate and highlight our books, including giveaways, interviews, free downloadable activities, competitions, and more. And today, we’re kicking off the celebrations with a short video outlining the story of Christmas Press. Enjoy–and thank you!

Announcements, Books, News

Introducing our new creative and social media assistant

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We’re delighted to introduce our fabulous new creative and social media assistant, Yasmin Paige. Yasmin, a University of New England student majoring in publishing and writing, is doing an internship with us for the next couple of months, concentrating on coming up with great social media campaigns and posts, and creating fun activities around our books. We’re delighted to welcome her to Christmas Press! Watch for her posts and stories on Instagram and Facebook, starting from today.

And read on for more from Yasmin herself.

Hey there, I’m Yasmin (but I usually go by Yas)! I am currently studying my Bachelor’s degree of media and communication, majoring in writing and publishing, at the University of New England. I am so excited to be working with Christmas Press and look forward to showing you what I can do!

A little about me:

I live with my partner Jarrod, and our three cats (Eddie, Lily and Daisy), which means I’m always covered in cat fur. Our apartment is overrun by books, plants, painting supplies and little knick-knacks I pick up from thrift stores and traveling. I love art, fashion history and romance novels, and will often be found curled up on the couch with a mug of Milo, reading a book or watching a video essay on Renaissance fashion.

I chose Christmas Press because of their dedication to both their authors and their audience, which is very important to me! And I hope during my time here I can further boost this connection as well as gain knowledge from those more experienced in the publishing industry. I’m not sure what the future holds for me, but hopefully I will be helping the writing dreams of others come into fruition and encouraging younger generations to take up reading ♡.