There was an old bloke who swallowed a present

by P. Crumble
illustrated by Louis Shea
Scholastic Australia, Lindfield, 2014

Age group: preschool and above

Format: hard cover, 24 pages

This is a fun book I recommend as a Christmas gift or to read in the lead up to Christmas.

The story

Based on the long standing story of “there was an old woman who swallowed a fly”, this book is about a man who swallowed a present (now that’s not pleasant!) and a series of other festive things such as a card, gingerbread man and a choir!

My review

It is a colourful book with beautiful pictures of the old man (who resembles a certain jolly white-haired man known as Santa) swallowing his treats and within his stomach as the various creatures interact (such as the gingerbread man who reads the card!)

I think this book would suit many age groups as it is colourful, has rhymes, is funny and works on a familiar story that will appeal to children and adults alike.

Personally, I would prefer to avoid the snowman and even the gingerbread man as they just aren’t Christmassy images to me, but they work and are fun (and a snowman is obviously a good choice for cooling something down! He also reminds me of Olaf from Frozen so that has to be a win for many children). And of course it is not sold as a Christmas book as such, but that is the overall impression rather than it being a birthday present.

Would I recommend it? For a fun read, I say go ahead and get this one!