christmas carols – Aussie Reviews

We wish you a ripper Christmas
A full-bore ripper Christmas
A dead-set ripper Christmas
And a snappy New Year.

Colin Buchanan & Greg Champion have been creating Australian Christmas songs for many years, delighting Aussie youngsters and their teachers and parents with their humour and the catchiness of their tunes. We Wish You a Ripper Christmas continues that tradition, taking the chorus of an earlier offering (included in Fair Dinkum Aussie Christmas) and telling the story of Santa WOmbat losing his naughty and nice list and needing some help from the other Aussie animals to find it in time to deliver the presents.

Set to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, the song is easy to sing, and children will join in on the chorus even on a first read. The story is humours, and is brought to life in detailed water colour illustrations by the amazing Roland Harvey. And, of course, the book is accompanied by a CD recording of the song, complete with karaoke track so that kids can sing it for themselves, either for performance or for fun.

A great Christmas gift.

We Wish You a Ripper Christmas, by Colin Buchanan & Greg Champion, illustrated by Roland Harvey
Scholastic, 2013
ISBN 9781742837239

Available from good bookstores and online.

If you are an Australian parent then there is a good chance that you grew up singing Six White Boomers at Christmas time. This song, and the legendary singer Rolf Harris, have been a art of Christmas in Australia since 1960. This Christmas you can share the magic with your children.

Rolf Harris and Scholastic Australia (under its Margaret Hamilton imprint) have combined to produce the song lyrics in a beautiful picture book with accompanying compact disc.

The book includes the full lyrics to the song, written by Rolf and his friend John D. Brown, with watercolour illustrations by Bruce Whatley bringing the song to life.

The CD includes a recording of the song so that you and your young ones can sing along with Rolf. And, if you want more, there are two bonus Rolf Harris tracks – Christmas in the Sun and Pavlova

An introduction at the beginning of the book explains how Rolf came to write the song. he explains that he was always amazed to hear Australian sing songs about snow and icicles in the middle of Australian, and so set out to write a song more appropriate to our climate and culture. The longevity of this song’s success indicates that he struck a chord with fellow Aussies.

Every Australian child deserves a copy of this book – one of the few Christmas songs written especially for Australian children. Friends and relatives overseas may also enjoy this piece of Australiana.

Six White Boomers by Rolf Harris and Bruce Whatley
A Margaret Hamilton Book from Scholastic Australia, 2001