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Snow In The Garden First Book Christmas
A classic collection of festive poems, stories and activities by Kate Greenaway-winning author, Shirley Hughes.
This beautiful Christmas anthology contains winter adventures, seasonal poems, festive recipes and easy-to-make craft activities as well as Shirley Hughes'' trademark warm and classic illustrations. Whether reading stories and poems to little ones or encouraging them to make beautiful crafts and Christmas treats, this book is the perfect introduction to this very special time of year.
This beautiful Christmas anthology contains winter adventures, seasonal poems, festive recipes and easy-to-make craft activities as well as Shirley Hughes'' trademark warm and classic illustrations. Whether reading stories and poems to little ones or encouraging them to make beautiful crafts and Christmas treats, this book is the perfect introduction to this very special time of year.
64 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2018
About the author
Shirley Hughes
376 books212 followersShirley Hughes is the illustrator of more than two hundred children’s books and has won many prestigious awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. She is the author-illustrator of DON'T WANT TO GO! and OLLY AND ME 1 2 3. She died at her home in London on the 25th of February, 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 23, 2018
3.5 stars. We love Shirley Hughes and have so many of her books that were read daily when my children were small. This book contains two Christmas stories, some seasonal poems and 2 or 3 simple crafts and recipes. If you don't have any Shirley Hughes, this might be a nice one to own, we have the original stories and poems, the crafts and recipes did seem like they were added to pad this out. A wonderful book if you don't already have the stories and poems included.
November 13, 2018
Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com
Snow in the Garden is a beautiful children’s book that takes me back to my childhood. You don’t find many books like this one anymore. The book is filled with poems, stories, things to make and recipes.
From making Christmas cards to Red Robin decorations to hang, baking shortbread and jam or mince tarts, there is lots to do. For those children who love to be hands-on, this book is perfect and will be read over and over again.
The pages are filled with exquisite illustrations that also remind me of my childhood as they are quite old fashioned, but in a society with modern books are everywhere, this one stands out against them.
This would make the most wonderful Christmas present for any avid child reader. Just don’t be surprised if they ask you to help them bake Gingerbread Snowmen or use your empty toilet tube rolls to make Christmas Crackers!
Snow in the Garden is a beautiful children’s book that takes me back to my childhood. You don’t find many books like this one anymore. The book is filled with poems, stories, things to make and recipes.
From making Christmas cards to Red Robin decorations to hang, baking shortbread and jam or mince tarts, there is lots to do. For those children who love to be hands-on, this book is perfect and will be read over and over again.
The pages are filled with exquisite illustrations that also remind me of my childhood as they are quite old fashioned, but in a society with modern books are everywhere, this one stands out against them.
This would make the most wonderful Christmas present for any avid child reader. Just don’t be surprised if they ask you to help them bake Gingerbread Snowmen or use your empty toilet tube rolls to make Christmas Crackers!
November 20, 2018
Oh she's wonderful. This woman just knows. Shirley Hughes's perfect combination of illustrations and words always manage to make me so very warm inside. She is able to capture the voice of a young child and to combine humour with sweetness without being mawkish. She understands people of all ages, and returning to her as an adult has given me a new love for the writings of a woman who has a creative gift like no other.
Just a heads-up for those who are unsure, this volume is a selection of two Shirley Hughes stories and three of her poems all of which have previously been published separately. These are accompanied by a few classic recipes and craft activities.
As a toddler I was obsessed with the Alfie and Annie-Rose stories, but 20 years down the line the stories chosen for this collection, Angel Mae and the Christmas Baby and The Snow Lady, are only familiar in that they stylistically ring a few nostalgic bells. The subtitle A first Book of Christmas may be a little misleading as the stories are about school-aged children and not babies, but I think it refers to the recommendation of this collection as a great introduction to Shirley Hughes for those who are somewhat unfamiliar with her work. I also think it would be a perfect bonding gift from grandparents to their preschool-aged grandchildren.
The physical book is gorgeous, with the cosiest and most magical endpapers. I am so happy to have been sent this from the publisher to review and am going back immediately to revisit some old favourites from a very special children's' writer and illustrator.
Just a heads-up for those who are unsure, this volume is a selection of two Shirley Hughes stories and three of her poems all of which have previously been published separately. These are accompanied by a few classic recipes and craft activities.
As a toddler I was obsessed with the Alfie and Annie-Rose stories, but 20 years down the line the stories chosen for this collection, Angel Mae and the Christmas Baby and The Snow Lady, are only familiar in that they stylistically ring a few nostalgic bells. The subtitle A first Book of Christmas may be a little misleading as the stories are about school-aged children and not babies, but I think it refers to the recommendation of this collection as a great introduction to Shirley Hughes for those who are somewhat unfamiliar with her work. I also think it would be a perfect bonding gift from grandparents to their preschool-aged grandchildren.
The physical book is gorgeous, with the cosiest and most magical endpapers. I am so happy to have been sent this from the publisher to review and am going back immediately to revisit some old favourites from a very special children's' writer and illustrator.
October 26, 2022
Darling illustrations decorate the pages of this activity book. There’s poems, recipes, crafts and stories.
I don’t know about a “first” Christmas, but it’d probably be just right for a fifth one. *Wink
Ages: 3 - 7
Cleanliness: a girl mopes around the house. A couple of kids are indirectly mean to an old lady and feel bad about it later.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
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I don’t know about a “first” Christmas, but it’d probably be just right for a fifth one. *Wink
Ages: 3 - 7
Cleanliness: a girl mopes around the house. A couple of kids are indirectly mean to an old lady and feel bad about it later.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
December 17, 2018
This is a lovely Christmas book filled with fun activities and some stories and poems. The book is around A4 in size and is a hardback with thick glossy pages inside which are filled with text and lots of colourful illustrations. The hard cover also has a paper dust jacket which can be taken off to see other illustrations on the hardback cover.
I haven’t read a lot of Shirley Hughes books before so all the stories in this are new to me. There is a good mix of things for children to read and also things to do. There are several fun poems which mostly rhyme, as well as two stories and some recipes and craft things for children to do. The poems and the stories are fun to read, the poems centre around what Christmastime feels like and the two stories feature different children who live on the same street. One is a story about a girl excited to be in the Christmas nativity (with a special arrival in her own family coming soon) and the other about a child and the elderly neighbour her family live next to. I don’t want to give away what the stories are but they are nice simple stories that children can relate to end enjoy and both stories have lovely endings.
There are plenty of illustrations throughout the book, some are full page illustrations and others are dotted around the text. I love how unique the images are, I’ve not seen another book with these types of illustrations and although the characters outfits all have a bit of an 80s-early 90s look to them, I don’t think children will really notice and it doesn’t take away from how lovely the images look (I especially love the cat by the fire!)
I don’t know why some reviewers think this book wouldn’t appeal to young children of today. Although the images are all a little dated in style, the activities are things that children would love to do today. I’m of a younger generation and loved activity books filled with baking and crafts when I was a child and even as I was getting too old for books like this I still enjoyed the craft activities and I know if I had this book as a child I would have loved it. There are several things to make including Christmas crackers and cards, and there are several recipes of things to bake including biscuits and jam tarts, all with a Christmassy theme and look.
This is a fun activity book and if children enjoy baking and crafts as well as a few fun poems and stories then this is a great book for them. It all depends on if children are into these things, but at Christmas I think lots of kids would love to get involved with some fun Christmas activities, and get with the help of some grown-ups for some of the activities too.
-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy for review.
I haven’t read a lot of Shirley Hughes books before so all the stories in this are new to me. There is a good mix of things for children to read and also things to do. There are several fun poems which mostly rhyme, as well as two stories and some recipes and craft things for children to do. The poems and the stories are fun to read, the poems centre around what Christmastime feels like and the two stories feature different children who live on the same street. One is a story about a girl excited to be in the Christmas nativity (with a special arrival in her own family coming soon) and the other about a child and the elderly neighbour her family live next to. I don’t want to give away what the stories are but they are nice simple stories that children can relate to end enjoy and both stories have lovely endings.
There are plenty of illustrations throughout the book, some are full page illustrations and others are dotted around the text. I love how unique the images are, I’ve not seen another book with these types of illustrations and although the characters outfits all have a bit of an 80s-early 90s look to them, I don’t think children will really notice and it doesn’t take away from how lovely the images look (I especially love the cat by the fire!)
I don’t know why some reviewers think this book wouldn’t appeal to young children of today. Although the images are all a little dated in style, the activities are things that children would love to do today. I’m of a younger generation and loved activity books filled with baking and crafts when I was a child and even as I was getting too old for books like this I still enjoyed the craft activities and I know if I had this book as a child I would have loved it. There are several things to make including Christmas crackers and cards, and there are several recipes of things to bake including biscuits and jam tarts, all with a Christmassy theme and look.
This is a fun activity book and if children enjoy baking and crafts as well as a few fun poems and stories then this is a great book for them. It all depends on if children are into these things, but at Christmas I think lots of kids would love to get involved with some fun Christmas activities, and get with the help of some grown-ups for some of the activities too.
-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy for review.
January 5, 2019
Snow in the Garden: a first book of Christmas is a most marvelous, beautiful anthology of gentle adventure stories, seasonal poetry and a host of easy to make crafts and recipes that even the youngest will love. Red robin decorations, paper lanterns, gingerbread snowmen, seasonal tarts...new traditions will be born in your home with this book. And of course, it is Shirley Hughes, so you know it has exceptional illustrations on every page, with her classic-style stories of delight, family and friendship. The perfect start to the holiday season!
December 10, 2024
A beautiful book to celebrate Christmas. Bought for my newborn's first Christmas, this book will be treasured, used, and read for years to come.
Full of Christmas-themed short stories, poems, activities (such as cracker and card making), and recipes. I was very happy and surprised to find that a couple of the recipes were vegan-friendly too! The ones that aren't can easily be made so.
A wonderful, sweet book. Beautiful illustrations too.
Full of Christmas-themed short stories, poems, activities (such as cracker and card making), and recipes. I was very happy and surprised to find that a couple of the recipes were vegan-friendly too! The ones that aren't can easily be made so.
A wonderful, sweet book. Beautiful illustrations too.
December 24, 2018
A lovely collection of Christmas stories, poems and recipes.
February 14, 2020
Good mix of short stories, poems and activities to celebrate Christmas. This reminds me of the books we read as children. Very traditional and sweet. The illustrations are very beautiful too.
June 30, 2020
All the feels.
January 7, 2021
A beautifully illustrated book for both the young and those adults who are young at heart. I look forward to sharing this magical moment with our future grandchildren...one day :)
January 12, 2021
1/12/21 Read with Julia
December 9, 2024
I would have loved to have owned this gem when Luke was a young child. So charming and delightful!
January 1, 2026
These poems + my kids + hot chocolate + snow falling = perfect winter morning.
March 11, 2026
A beautiful keepsake to bring out year after year for the little ones . Story's , poems and crafts and baking .
December 18, 2018
Shirley Hughes' illustrations are delightful. This collection of poems, stories, crafts, and recipes is simply festive.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews