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A BUSH CHRISTMAS

by C.J. DENNIS

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New hardcover picture book, published 2008. Measures 27 x 29cm, 32 pages. Beautifully illustrated by Dee Huxley

The sun burns hotly thro’ the gums
As down the road old Rogan comes –
The hatter from the lonely hut
Beside the track to Woollybutt.
He likes to spend his Christmas with us here.
He says a man gets sort of strange
Living alone without a change
Gets sort of settled in his way;
And so he comes each Christmas day
To share a bite of tucker and a beer.

It’s Christmas in the bush, the sun burns hotly through the gums and there’s not a sign of snow in sight. The kitchen has heated up nicely with enough roasted turkey and plum pudding to help diners burst at the seams.

C.J. Dennis's A Bush Christmas, with its wry satire and affection for all things Australian, is as fresh today as when it was written. Award-winning artist Dee Huxley brings it to life with her whimsical illustrations.

About the author

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis, 'Clarrie' or 'Den' to his friends and now better known as C J Dennis, was an Australian poet of the early 20th century once described as the ‘Robert Burns of Australia’. He grew up in country South Australia, and that landscape inspired him when he wrote about the tough, laconic folk of the Australian bush. A major contributor to Australian literature in the early twentieth century, CJ Dennis was a prolific writer from a young age. He spent most of his working life as a journalist-in-verse. His ballads, written in the ‘language of the larrikin’, resonated with the public and were hugely popular, selling many tens of thousands of copies.

His most famous work, The Sentimental Bloke, has been made into a film and a musical comedy. In his later years he gained great pleasure from writing for children. A Bush Christmas was originally published in 1931.

About the illustrator

Dee Huxley has worked as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and author and has illustrated many picture books for children. She has been shortlisted twice for the Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year Award.

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