The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Peek-Through Picture Book

by Britta Teckentrup

The twelve days of Christmas have never looked so fun! Turn page after page of this innovative picture book based on the classic carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and watch as twelve days of gifts appear through clever peek-through holes on each page! Young children will especially love anticipating all the presents and seeing them arrive as if by magic. This interactive and lively book is sure to be a family favorite at Christmastime year after year.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Music

32 pages, Hardcover

Published October 18, 2016

About the author

Britta Teckentrup was born in Germany and moved to England in 1988. She is the author and illustrator of many books for children. She now lives in Berlin with her husband and young son.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early Britta Peek-through book. She takes the standard Christmas song and finds a way to make the story interesting and fun. Each page shows you a peek-through of the animals in the song. It’s interesting to see how she fits them on in on each page. It’s like peeling back a layer of an onion. The artwork is sort of basic, but cute.

The nephew loves things like this still. He had fun reading this. We had to sing the song which brought in the niece. So we had a sing-a-long on the way to bed. The nephew gave this 3 stars and the niece gave it 2 stars.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice version of the well known Christmas song. Each page has a cut out shape to reveal more gifts the further you go through the story. Although the cut-outs were fun, there are many books about this Carol and I've seen several I like more.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire the creativity here and the peek-throughs are fun... but it didn't wow me like some of Teckentrup's others. The illustrations just didn't feel detailed or special enough to me though I seem to be in the minority here so don't avoid it based on my lukewarm reaction. I would suggest this as more of a one-on-one read than a storytime type sharing as the illustrations of each days' gifts are very tiny (they must all fit on one side of the page so that each with each day and page turn a cut-out reveals more gifts and by the end all the gifts fit together on one page).

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking the words of the classic carol as her text, and pairing them with cute illustrations featuring peek-through holes and various glittery elements, Britta Teckentrup creates an entertaining holiday title in The Twelve Days of Christmas. Each two-page spread features a new verse in the twelve-verse song, and the cut-outs continue to grow, revealing all of the items being mentioned, until the final page displays all twelve gifts.

Although certainly not my favorite, when it comes to picture-book versions of The Twelve Days of Christmas - that honor belongs to the Laurel Long version, although the one done by Jane Ray is also lovely - this is still a very sweet rendition, and will have particular appeal for younger children, who will enjoy the peek-through elements. Recommended to anyone looking for fun Christmas titles for the toddler set.

[Katie (Hiding in the Pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's true that I'm an adult, but I've always loved picture books with the peek-through pages, as both the story and the illustrations build on each other until the end of the book, when it all comes together in a glorious conclusion. I love the pictures!

The words to this book are from the Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Each turn of the pages leads to more vivid color and more fun as these two little elves work there way through the song. My kids are getting a little older, but it would be so much fun to read this with a young child, while singing along. This is a great addition to my holiday picture book stash.

*I received a copy from the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

[Dena McMurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of picture books about the Twelve Days of Christmas out there, but this is my favorite one. It stays true to the original song, so there's no weird syllables or stumbling over words. The true beauty of this book lies in the illustrations. Each page is die-cut to reveal more and more gifts and the song progresses. At first, you only see the partridge in the pear tree, but when you turn the page, the turtle doves appear. The next page reveals french hens, and so on until the final page looks like swiss cheese and all the gifts are visible.

My toddler is hooked on books you can sing to. I've sung this song so many times I actually had to hide the book from her. Now that Christmas is getting closer, we'll pull the book out again and sing it until our throats are sore. My kids love the cut-out pages, the cute illustrations, and of course, the classic Christmas song.

Find Christmas books for all ages here: Batch of Books Blog

[☕️Kimberly (Caffeinated Reviewer) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Peek-Through Picture Book illustrated by Britta Teckentrup is a beautiful hardcover edition of the classic Twelve Days of Christmas. The book is a peek-through book and each page colorfully display the twelve gifts of Christmas from twelve drummers drumming to five golden rings. (you sang that, didn't you?) While this book is geared towards three to seven-year-olds, my granddaughter who is not quite two enjoyed the story. She loved the song and illustrations not to mention the peek throughs. We also use the book to identify objects and counting. Any time a book can be used to teach it is a winner in my book giving this an A+ recommendation on Nonna's list.

Copy provided by publisher.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know the song, but Britta Teckentrup has taken it and through her marvelous illustrations brought it to life for the little people around us. I absolutely love the little boy’s and little girl’s faces as they take us page by page through the tune. With each turn of the page more and more is revealed through the “peek-through” holes until we see all the wonderful people, birds, and animals displayed on the final page. The pictures are colorful, bold and vibrant.

I found myself singing my way through the pictures imagining sharing this with the tiny tots in my life. Also counting the images seen through the cutouts on each page and even totaling them up at the end.

The targeted age range starts at 3 years and I would say that is perfect. It is a book to get out each Christmas and become a traditional read just like T’was The Night Before Christmas.

If you are buying gift for the toddlers in your life, this is a book you should add to your list.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun cutouts to add each day. It's funny my daughter thinks the line is "and a partridge in her pear tree" when we sing it. 🤣

[Luanne Ollivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 It's that time of the year! Christmas is around the corner!

Britta Teckentrup has a taken the classic Yuletide song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and written and illustrated a peek-through picture book for the younger crowd.

Teckentrup's elves have engaging, welcoming faces, sure to draw a child in. The cover's snowflakes and holly are in silver foil, giving the book a definite festive feel and look.

Most of us know the song, with the number of gifts increasing on each day. Teckentrup starts with a small cutout for day one of just the partridge in the pear tree. My little guy was immediately drawn to the cut out on the right hand page, wanting to know what was on the next page, and the next and the next. With each turned page, the cut-out increases in size to accommodate the growing number of gifts. (Trivia fact - if you received all the gifts you would have 364!)

There are many ways to enjoy this book - we sang the song, pointed to the right gifts/pictures and did some counting as well. By the time we reached the last page, it was full of presents. For these eyes, they were a bit small (necessary to fit them all in) but little guy has sharp eyes and enjoyed pointing out the details to me. The illustrations are quite detailed and have a vintage feel to them.

The left hand page is paler than the more vibrant cut-out page - which certainly directs your attention the main area. But, I thought that perhaps providing more to look at on the opposite page - elves to find or elves engaged in some activity - would have provided even more reading/viewing opportunities.

This book is geared for preschool to grade 2 - perfect for little guy and Gramma. We quite enjoyed Britta Teckentrup's interpretation of this classic holiday favorite. The book been added to their holiday bookshelf and will be part of future Christmastime traditions.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy looking at books with die-cut illustrations, and I'd never envisioning combining that design technique with one of my favorite holiday tunes, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." But this book does just that, and does it in an appealing way with cuts of different sizes and placed in various locations, spreading outward from the center where that very first gift, the partridge in a pear tree, stands. By the time the last page and last gifts have been given, with those 12 drummers drumming, the page is quite crowded with holiday abundance. Young readers, like me, may be interested in seeing how much of the previous pages have various holes that revealed those treasures given to someone's true love. Originally published in the United Kingdom, the book might be useful in teaching youngsters the words of that ubiquitous holiday song as well as celebrating the largess to which one person's love inspires him. I like that it is hard to tell whether it is the boy or the girl or some other individual such as a parent who is the gift-giver. As i browsed the book, I was struck with my usual thought about what kept that partridge from flying away from that pear tree for all that time and during all that commotion.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

eckentrup, Britta The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Peek-Through Picture Book. PICTURE BOOK. Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2016. ISBN 1101940875 $14.99.

For twelve consecutive days leading up to Christmas, the narrator's true love gives them a variety of gifts. The number of gifts corresponds to the day--1 gift on the first day, 2 gifts on the second and so on. As the days go on and the gifts increase in number, the illustration of the "Pear Tree" from Day 1 gets larger and larger. The cut-out illustration grows, showing off the increasing number of gifts as each day passes.

I absolutely fell in love with this cute little picture book. The two "lovers" are simple elf-like illustrations and it is great to see what they are doing on each page. The cutouts are fun and kids of all ages will enjoy seeing what each day will bring. Due to the nature of cutouts on a paper page, this book is rather delicate and could quickly be destroyed in the hands of the youngest readers. It would also make a wonderful gift for the holiday season.

EL (K-3), EL, GIFT--ADVISABLE. Reviewer: TC
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2016/...

[Roben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely illustrated with peek-a-boo cutouts for each day. It would be more durable if it was printed on thicker paper, though. The pages, obviously, become more progressively filled with holes as the song progresses. I predict lots of torn pages once you get past day eight. I would suggest reinforcing the cut outs but the odd shapes make that impractical. You would have to cover each page in clear tape.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The die-cut views of this popular Christmas carol give it a satisfyingly organized look. The digital artwork is vintage-inspired and well worth the look if in need of some seasonal fare. PreK-2.

[Jacqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how each additional number of items was added.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute way to present this song.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever die cuts slowly reveal all the gifts of the 12 days.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute peek-through illustration of the song.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully done.

[Megan Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is only so much you can do with this song, but I liked the peek-through version!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty colors, gold and silver metallic and cut outs(but it's too fragile for public libraries unless it's reference)

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the final page!

[Anthony]

The book chosen for day 15 of the nephews' literary Advent calendar.

[The Transmuted Tree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red 9th

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful retelling of the song with cut out illustrations on each page.

[Amy Lafleur Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

With lyrics and die-cut illustrations, we go through "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song. The die-cut illustrations reveal more and more of the gifts of Christmas until we get to the "twelve drummers drumming," in which the page gets a bit crowded. Creative picture book representation of a classic Christmas song.

[Elliot's Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

The classic song, accompanied by creative peek-through holes and darling illustrations. A fun way to practice counting and just so engaging even for the youngest children because of the holes they can poke their fingers through!
Reading level recommendation: Any age, but probably best for toddlers and up since it is a longer song (though you can stop at whatever number you want!)

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the classic song is sung each page reveals in cut away form the next object until they are all surrounding the tree.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a very good way to actually know the lyrics to sing along!