Oranges

Oranges, satsumas, clementines, tangerines - whichever you like, juicy oranges are a necessity to counter all that rich food at Christmas. In my family the one non-negotiable part of the Christmas stocking is the little orange in the toe. My Granny was an exception; she loved big oranges and so, when she came to visit, she had a normal sized orange in her stocking.

These little knitted oranges add a bit of colour to the Christmas Cheer wreath and don't take long to knit. It's harder than you think to find references to Christmas oranges in books but I have two to share with you.

The first is another Shirley Hughes book, this time Out and About.

This is a collection of seasonal poems about a Katie and her little brother Olly who first appeared in the wonderful Nursery Collection which we have as individual little books, sadly now out of print.

You may be able to find secondhand copies of these or of the collected version The Nursery Collection which is more recent. I think that several of the poems are also in the The Shirley Hughes Treasury.

Anyway, back to Out and About. The poem that caught my eye is 'Hoping' which in just a few lines conjures up all the magic of Christmas for small children. The accompanying illustrations are pitch perfect too.

As well as the tangerines, there are mince pies, biscuits ... lots of lovely treats.

My other choice is also a poem, this time from the classic Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne with illustrations by E.H. Shepard.

Both this book and its companion When We Were Very Young should be in every home, with or without children. There are so many poems that you find yourself reciting for the rest of your life. there's 'Disobedience', featuring James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree who 'took great care of his mother, though he was only three', 'The King's Breakfast' where the king tries very hard to get some butter for his bread or how about 'Lines and Squares' which explains just what will happen to you if you tread on the cracks in the pavement?

But for a poem about Christmas that's hard to beat, there's 'King John's Christmas'. We learn right at the start that 'King John was not a good man, And no good friends had he,' but he still thinks it would be nice if Father Christmas brought him a stocking on Christmas morning. So, he writes a detailed list of all the things he would like and props it up by the chimney.

Here are the things he asks for: crackers and candy, a box of chocolates ... "I don't mind oranges, I do like nuts! And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife that really cuts' ... but what King John wants most of all is a 'big red india-rubber ball!' Sadly, his stocking is empty on Christmas morning but, in case you think this is a very sad poem, there's a twist at the end which leaves you smiling. My son who is a primary school teacher reads this poem to his class every Christmas.

Oranges