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Santa’s Wonderful WorkshopWhat Could Possibly Go Wrong?

by Elys Dolan

Interest age: 4 to 7
Reading age: 6+

Published by Oxford, 2018

  • Funny
  • Picture books

About this book

It’s January and Father Christmas is planning another year’s Christmas preparation, but is beset by continual problems. First, there are reports that there are more children to make presents for, so he brings in some additional penguin workers.

Unfortunately, the penguins get a bit rowdy, so Santa brings in a rather aggressive bear (aka Barry the Bauble Coordinator) to keep control, and, confident that all will be well, joins the reindeer dance troupe for a bit of R&R.

It’s perhaps an over-confident move because things just keep going wrong… and the Present-o-Matic machine is now only making toasters. Thankfully, Father Christmas’ unusual penguin-y solution to presents for the world’s children comes off. But where is Barry?

Elys Dolan’s utterly joyful and anarchic picture books are full of detail and background action – as well as following the thrust of the main story, there are lots of speech bubbles, puns and things to spot along the way. It can be difficult to find a new spin on a seasonal picture book, but Elys Dolan is always funny and endlessly original.

About the author

Elys Dolan is the author and illustrator of Weasels. Elys grew up in a part of Sussex, England that consists almost entirely of trees and cows and she was named after a department store in Wimbledon, London. She’s never let either of these things hold her back and Elys recently graduated with distinction from the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. In recent time, Elys has been awarded second place in the Macmillan Prize and was also shortlisted for the Waterstone’s ‘Picture This’ prize. Elys works predominately with ink, newfangled digital witchcraft and coloured pencils of which she is the proud owner of 178 but can never seem to find a sharpener.  Based in Cambridge, when Elys is not drawing she grows cacti, collects pocket watches and spends altogether too much time in the company of other illustrators.

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