The First Christmas Sweater

by Ryan Tubridy

The story of the very first Christmas jumper and the multi-coloured sheep that started it all! There are two things you need to know about Hillary the sheep. One - unlike her typical white or brown friends, Hillary's wool is all the colours of the rainbow. Two - she loves Christmas. She loves everything about it, especially Santa. When news gets out that Mr Claus himself is travelling across all of Ireland, looking for the perfect sheep's wool to make a brand new jumper, Hillary's head begins to spin... Could her wool-dest dreams come trueWith back-chatting sheep, a jelly baby-obsessed farmer and a choir of Elvish Presley singing elves, this is a truly wild, laugh out loud adventure all about the creation of the very FIRST Christmas jumper.

Genres: Christmas, Animals, Fiction, Humor, Juvenile, Childrens, Holiday

144 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2019

About the author

Ryan Tubridy is one of Ireland’s leading and best-loved media personalities, gracing both the Irish and U.K. airwaves, and he has won numerous awards and accolades. He is best recognized as the current host of the long-running chat show The Late Late Show, and is also the author of a nonfiction book for adult readers, JFK in Ireland: Four Days That Changed a President. Ryan Tubridy lives in Dublin.

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com

Hillary the Sheep lived on Farmer Jimmy’s farm in Ireland. She was no ordinary sheep though, she was a multicoloured sheep, the only multicoloured sheep there was.

Whilst all the other sheep loved grazing or sleeping, Hillary loved to write lists, she also loved Christmas and was excited about it fast approaching. One day the sheep heard that Father Christmas was looking for a special sheep to make the first Christmas Jumper.

Hillary was overwhelmed with excitement, especially when the big man himself arrived at the farm to look at the sheep. Will Hillary’s woolen coat be good enough for the first ever Christmas Jumper?

The First Christmas Jumper and the Sheep Who Changed Everything is a fun children’s book that has a great cast of characters, even if they are sheep. You get to meet Hillary, of course, then there’s chatterbox Joe, daisy eating Margaret, huggable Marion, serious Sally, crow loving Mo, cake lover Donna and read-a-holic Liz. Oh and then there is Brian too who loves to wind Hillary up.

The book is pure entertainment and filled to the brim with humorous moments. The chapters are short and each has a fun title and includes plenty of child-friendly slapstick moments within. Hillary is one funny sheep and the queen of comebacks.

There are black and white illustrations throughout which actually reminded me of the drawings that you get in colouring books. I would have loved to of seen some colourful illustrations given the nature of the book being about a multicoloured sheep, rather than just the front cover.

For children that love a great story and like to laugh-out-loud, or are looking for something that will keep them amused the whole way through, this book is perfect. It even has sheep jokes at the back too.

[Becs · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Christmas jumpers, colourful sheep and jelly babies then this is probably a book made for you. This book is so funny. Embarrassingly so actually for an adult I imagine, but who really cares?!

Hillary is a rainbow sheep (just go with it for now!) and her multicoloured wool makes her stand out from the crowd of boring white sheep as you can imagine, who give her nasty side-eye and judge her rainbow ways. But she also likes to make lists, loves Christmas and pulling silly faces. So she probably stands out for other much more concerning reasons too, let's be honest. If you think that's odd though, imagine the spectacle she causes when she meets Santa, Mrs Klaus and the Christmas Elves. Don't be alarmed (who am I kidding? I lost you at rainbow sheep didn't I?), he's not delivering sheep presents now - he wants her rainbow fleece to make a jumper.

Look, I'm not sure you can trust the sheep facts. I'm yet to see a rainbow sheep writing lists during the holiday season, although there are a couple I think are actually genuine. But you can trust me that you (and your child, but mainly you) have a great deal to learn about telling funny sheep jokes around the Christmas table when you run out of dreadful Christmas cracker jokes and this story is as good a foundation as any you're likely to get.

In all honesty though, this is actually a great story. Its funny, Hillary is a great character and the illustrations are really brilliant. One for all the family.

ARC provided free from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

[Ivonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

actual Rating: 4.5 stars

First of I would like to thank Sara from Walker Books for sending me a review copy of this book as a surprise. She’d noticed that I obviously have a pretty big weakness for all kinds of Christmas jumpers. I have so many that I wear a different Christmas sweater every day from December 1st till December 26th (the 26th because here in Germany we celebrate three days of Christmas).

If you are as obsessed with colorful Christmas jumpers as I am, this is the right book for you.

Hillary the sheep lives in Ireland on farmer Jimmy’s farm. Hillary is no ordinary sheep though, she’s a multicoloured sheep, the only one of her kind.

Whilst all the other sheep spend there days grazing and/or sleeping, Hillary loves to write lists; all kind of lists and as she is a huge Christmas fan, she for example also writes a list with all the things she loves the most about Christmas.

One day there’s this rumor that Santa Claus is looking for a special sheep to make the very first Christmas Jumper to keep him warm from the cold, because although he’s got his warm coat, he always freezes terribly on his travels around the world. So Santa himself sets off to find the perfect sheep.

Hillary is overwhelmed with excitement and full of anticipation. Even though she believes it’s impossible that out of all the many farms worldwide, Santa will come to theirs.

But then, one day, this tall, round man with a white, fluffy beard, rosy cheeks, halfmoon shaped glasses and a thick red coat comes to Jimmy’s farm. Hillary can’t believe her luck: it’s Santa Clause looking for the perfect sheep to make the very first Christmas Jumper. Will Hillary’s bright, colorful woolen coat be good enough for the first ever Christmas jumper?

The First Christmas Jumper and the Sheep Who Changed Everything is a truly amusing, entertaining and beautiful children’s book with great characters, whether they are humans or sheep. We get to meet Hillary, with her colorful coat, chatterbox Joey, huggable Marion , daisy eating Margaret, crow loving Mo, serious Sally, cake loving Donna and bookworm Liz. And of course there’s Brian, who loves to wind Hillary up. And also we get to meet Jimmy and his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Claus as well as their Christmas elves.

This book is pure entertainment and filled to the brim with humorous and sometimes even profound moments. The chapters are really short and each one of them has a really funny title.

There are beautiful black and white illustrations that remind you of drawings from coloring books or even of the drawings you made when you were a kid. The illustrations are exactly as a child would draw them while reading the story. However, I would have really liked a few colorful illustrations as well, especially since the book is about a multicoloured sheep.

For children this book is such a fun read, especially for those who love great, imaginative stories. At the end of the book we even get to learn something about the real history of the very first Christmas Jumper and how it was actually made, which I find super interesting.

I really enjoyed the book a lot. It’s a beautiful Christmassy story, which will certainly not only be fun for children, but also for adults as well. The story is entertaining, the characters are brilliant and the illustrations are just gorgeous. If you love Christmas and Christmas Jumpers, I recommend you to pick this book up.

[✨Jinglemarco✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really cute idea for this actually too short tale. I didn't understand what does it mean "the first Christmas jumper". If the first Christmas jumpers are from decades ago, like it's written in the last page, an informative one, when is this book supposed to be set? In the sixties or nowadays? And even if Hillary is a special rainbow-tinted sheep, common Christmas sweaters are made with normal wool which is colored. So is the sweater made with Hillary's wool the coolest one, or the best one, or the more natural, rather than the first one, maybe?

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rumor around the sheep farm is that Santa is looking for a special sheep to provide the wool to make the first Christmas sweater. Hillary is a rainbow-colored sheep who loves to make lists, and especially loves Christmas, but will her strangely-colored wool eliminate her from being able to donate her wool to Santa?

Each of the sheep in this Irish sheep farm have their own personalities and quirks. Hillary has many friends, but one of the sheep, Brian, is just annoying with his dumb jokes and "ewe" puns. Hillary spends her time daydreaming about Christmas, but Brian keeps interrupting her with boring small talk. Hillary would rather gossip with her bird friend, Didya, who is always asking "Didya know this? Didya know that?" and telling her all the news.

I loved all the sheep characters! They are so funny and cute. I could really imagine all their Irish accents. The plot is entertaining, and the writing is playful. There are many sheep puns, and several pages full of sheep jokes at the end of the book.

I loved the simple black-and-white illustrations. They really add to the whimsy and imagination of the story. I wish that illustrations of Hillary had been in color though, so we could see her colorful wool throughout the book and not just on the cover.

With thirteen small chapters of 5-10 pages each, this would be an excellent book for young readers who are reading short chapter books. This book is full of magic and joy of Christmas!


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are no influenced by anyone.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: I’d like to tell you a curious story the likes of which you have never heard before. This tale begins with a sheep. Not a red-nosed one, just a regular, run-of-the-mill, everyday, nothing-to-see-here sheep.

Premise/plot: Hilary, the super-unique sheep, loves, loves, loves, loves, loves Christmas. One day the farm receives a very special visitor. Hilary's life may never be the same. This chapter book is a fun look at how the first Christmas jumper (aka sweater) came to be.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this humorous tale. Hilary and the other sheep live on an Irish farm. It was a cute-enough tale that little ones may love. It features some illustrations throughout.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book,
It was about a sheep called Hillary she has rainbow fur. Hillary always dreamt of working with santa. One day Santa came to their flock. Santa needed a special sheep he didn't just want one with white fluff. Santa was going to give up, and then Santa saw Hillary and all Hillary's dreams came true. Hillarys rainbow fur became Santa's new Christmas jumper.

[Lana Gionfriddo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, the sheep puns and wordplay alone sold me on this book. Kids will love it and parents will appreciate the Ewe 2 references and the like. I plan on reading this to my kiddos with a lovely Irish accent. : )

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This children's chapter book is pretty cute. It's full (maybe a little too full) of sheep puns. Overall it's a quick read and very cheerful. The illustrations are adorable and enhance the story. For me, I wish more of the set up had paid off. We are told and retold how Hilary comes out on top for her differences, but she's never experienced anything negative for being different. And ultimately she's awarded for her outward appearance -- her list making, and kindness and love of Christmas are more or less irrelevant. It's cute, but more so that having a solid message, I'm left feeling like someone just really wanted to write a sheep book.

[Karen Stallman · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be completely honest I was expecting something different from this children's book..
I think it was okay but I wont be buying this one for my nephew.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Cat Strawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so funny and sweet, and I just love that illustration of Hilary the sheep! ‘The First Christmas Jumper and the Sheep Who changed Everything’ in hardback comes with a jacket sleeve with the same illustration on both the hardcovers and the sleeve. You may not notice but the blue colour on the cover has a pattern that actually looks like a Christmas jumper knitted. Inside, the book is filled with thick pages of easy to read text and lots of illustrations.

Hilary the sheep is special, she’s the only multi-coloured sheep in her herd (and the world). She loves Christmas and with Christmas approaching she can’t wait for the holiday and dreams of meeting Santa Claus. Her dream might just become a reality when Santa starts looking for a special kind of wool to make a jumper for him this Christmas. The story is quite a simple one, we start by getting to know Hilary and some of the other characters on the farm where she lives, before moving onto the approaching Christmastime and the special visit that Hilary hopes Santa will make to her farm.

The story is hilarious from the start with all the sheep characters having their own unique personalities and funny references to the way humans act around sheep. It becomes even more funny/silly with all the sheep jokes or puns that are scattered throughout the tale. References to things like music band The Bleatles, or Ewetube! Although the story is quite simple and predictable even to the end, it’s a lovely story and little extras like the relationship between Hilary and Brian or the funny talking by Didya makes the whole tale really worth reading.

There are lots of illustrations throughout the book and I really love them! The images are scattered around the text with an image on almost every page. These look like the illustration of Hilary on the front cover although they are all in black and white only. These pictures just look so fun and there’s something about the way that Hilary, and all the sheep in general look that just makes me smile. As well as illustrations within the story there are small snowflakes on pages that end a chapter before the new one begins. This gives the book such a fun and more Christmassy feel.

Every chapter has a title that uses sheep puns where possible, an example being ‘Are ewe ready for this?’. I really do enjoy these silly sheepy references throughout, it just makes the whole story so much more silly and fun! The back of the book has a section with more sheep jokes. They get so silly and ridiculous that there’s even a joke about making sheep jokes! There is also some fun information on where the traditional (and now famously worn) Christmas jumpers originate from, a good piece of information to read which I didn’t know before.

This whole book is so funny and so silly that it just put a huge smile on my face reading it. I love it so much I want to read it again and again. The illustrations are so fun and cute too with Hilary just looking so sweet and adorable. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in a fun book for Christmas. It will put a smile on your face, it will make you laugh and it will make you happy as it’s a sweet and lovely heart-warming story too!
-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy for review.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shear delight of sheep puns in a Christmas tail, ewe wool groan!

Excuse the puns (and associated spellings). The book is full of groan-worthy puns, and I suspect the target market will find them as corny as me. Funny, but corny.

Hillary is a little different to the other sheep on her Irish farm. Rainbow-coloured, she delights in making lists, and is obsessed with Christmas. So nothing gives her more pleasure than making Christmas lists. It thus makes her year when the news arrives that Father Christmas is searching for a Christmas jumper that will keep him warm as he traverses the skies... can Hillary play a role in his search?

I enjoyed the story turning into a Christmas tale, and the role Hillary plays as well as what she gets to see - a sweetly magical look at Christmas from an outsider's perspective.

Lots of black and white pictures make this a very quick read, with lots to look at. There are sheep jokes at the end (if you haven't already had your fill of EweTube-type word puns) as well as a short history of the Christmas jumper (quite interesting).

A great seasonal read, would be a good choice for class teachers to read in December. For ages 7-10.

With thanks to Walker Books for providing a sample reading copy.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book as a bonus borrow audiobook via the Hoopla app through my library. I was looking for some holiday stories to put me in the spirit. I do not normally read children's books nor do I have any kids myself; but this book did the trick! I probably will listen to it every year.

The puns, the adult humor, the joy! Amazon tells me that the text version of this book is a beginner's chapter book meant for those readers 7-10 years of age or in grades 2-5.; though I think reading this to a child of any age could be magical.

But listening to the audio was such a delight! Narrator Stephen Hogan enhanced the book and I highly recommend if you have an hour drive to grandma's place for a holiday gathering.

[Nicole Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book - I bet it has lovely illustrations, but I enjoyed this in audiobook format.

It made me want to make a multi-colored Christmas sweater!

Favorite Quotes:
-In order to understand Hillary, we should really have a close look at her friends and those who knew her the best.
-“Now is not the time for worry, my good fellow. Worry makes a mockery of us all and achieves very little apart from more worry. Let us not meet trouble halfway.”

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual sheep gets to be part of a new tradition in this fun and delightful story. As I was reading this book which is sprinkled with word puns I was wondering why the conversations had a bit of a lilt to them until I read the short author information. Ryan Tubridy hails from Ireland. This would be a cute tale for kids, especially around the holidays.

[Michelle Halber · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I'm working on a column of new holiday books, and picked up this very cute looking book. However, the language/humor of this book does not match the age group. Words like 'comrade', jokes like 'Dye Hard' are just not understandable for most 7-10 year olds (age suggested by Publishers Weekly).

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pretty silly, so full of sheep puns, it's kind of ridiculous, especially since most are plays on the words "ewe" and "baa"
The plotline didn't have much conflict so not much to make you buy into all the praise accorded to the main character, though she seemed a nice enough sheep. Mostly it was just sentimental silliness.

[Laura]

I found this book in the charity shop i volunteer in and started reading it because i was bored. I had never heard of it before so i obviously didn't have any expectations but it turned out to be a really nice surprise! I won't rate it as it is a children's book but i would really recommend it for the holiday season!

[Niamh Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Array stop it, this book is priceless. Packed with quick wit; funny puns; colloquial banter; hope; colour and joy. Sure, you can’t but feel full of festive spirit reading this. Great read with very cute illustrations too.

[Grace Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story it was funny, it was a fun read, it was whimsy and a true delight to read. Most importantly it was distinctively Irish without being insulting which can be difficult to find in books and programmes set in Ireland. Everyone should read this book especially us Irish ☘💚🍀

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, simple and adorable little chapter book about a little colorful sheep who is supposedly responsible for the first Christmas sweater. The artwork is cartoony and fun, and the story is delightful.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story about an unusual young sheep and her Christmas wish. I can see this one becoming a family favorite for years to come. A lovely read.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it to my 5 year old and he loved it.

[Margaret McCulloch-Keeble · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet, daft tale about a multi-coloured sheep and her place in christmas history. The kids at school will love it.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful story of how Santa picked the sheeps wool for a Christmas sweater to keep him warm on Christmas eve. An entertaining way to think of the start of the Christmas sweater fad.

[Evan · Rating 1 out of 5]

i read it to my little bro i mean it was a little kid book

[Wintermote · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A charming Christmas story with some humorous sheep puns. I could see this as a great family seasonal tale.

[Pegi Ferrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I hadn't grown up on a sheep farm, this might have been a 3. Bad puns are the only good thing about this story. Maybe I expected too much, and maybe this needed to be read from a physical copy.

[Sienna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for this time of year!

[Emily Guinane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a while to get into the plot: the story was told slowly, but i thought it was good overall. If I were younger, I’d enjoy it more