It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like . . . 2019 #7

The anticipation in the air at the beginning of December has increased daily as the hours seem to speed by faster and faster.  Some of the dates planned and longed for have arrived.  For those celebrating Christmas, there is less than forty-eight hours until it officially begins.  Social media is brimming with people sharing their cooking, decorating, gift wrapping, travels and fun with family and friends.

Three characters from the woodlands who have brought us thoughtful stories and loads of laughter are together again.  One Wild Christmas (Kids Can Press, September 3, 2019) written and illustrated by Nicholas Oldland features the bear, the moose and the beaver who previously appeared in Big Bear Hug, Making The Moose Out Of Life, The Busy Beaver, Up The Creek and Walk On The Wild Side.  As we have come to expect, there is a problem, a big problem.

There was once a bear, a moose and a beaver whose very favorite time of year was Christmas.

Together for their first Christmas Eve, they were busy, making the most of their time.  There was cooking, hanging of stockings, stringing lights and gift wrapping.  They wanted this to be a perfect celebration.

When it came time to decorate the tree, they discovered they had no tree!  The trio set off outside.  Each tree they found did not satisfy their expectations until alone in a clearing was a splendidly shaped pine tree.  Now the friends were faced with their second problem.  

The beaver and moose wanted to cut it down.  The bear was aghast.  How could they destroy a living thing?!  There was a fight, but it did not last long.  Bear was the biggest of the three.  The tree was spared but their perfect celebration was currently flawed.

An idea courtesy of a tiny red presence in these books had the bear swiftly returning home on his red sled.  It was a rather difficult journey there and back to the pine tree, but the bear was determined.  As soon as the moose and the beaver (tied to the pine tree) saw their friend, they knew this was going to be the best Christmas any of them had ever experienced.  And it was.

The straightforward, simple structure of the sentences in this narrative speak to a wide range of readers.  Nicholas Oldland leaves plenty of room for us to bring our own life events into this story.  It's a marvelous manner in which to connect with the characters.  This technique also allows for his images to expand the tale, for the inclusion of dialogue and for his humor to soar.  Here is a passage.

First they came across

a maple tree . . .

TOO SMALL (the moose)

Next they saw

a birch tree . . .

TOO WHITE (the beaver)

Then they bumped into a towering

cedar tree . . .

TOO BIG (the bear)

None were quite right.

Looking at the matching and open dust jacket and book case, readers first focus on the airborne red sled with our three characters holding on tight to each other and the sled rope.  It's amazing to see the range of emotions in their eyes.  Is that excitement, fear and determination?  This entire scene certainly adds emphasis to the word wild in the title.

To the left, on the back, the image from the front crosses over the spine and extends to the left edge.  The snowy hill begins in the upper, left-hand corner and is dotted with several clusters of evergreen trees.  When you see how steep it is, it's easy to understand how the trio is speeding down the slope.

A lovely spring green covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the initial title page, the three friends, wearing their Santa hats, are engaged in a snowball fight.  On the verso and title pages, two snowy hills create a blue-sky valley for the text on the right.

Rendered in Photoshop the illustrations by Nicholas Oldland span two pages, are grouped together to show multiple tasks at the same time or are placed on single pages.  Both the double-page pictures and the full-page pictures are shown with altered perspectives to elevate the mood and the hilarity.  Careful readers will enjoy the details included in the images. Our favorite little red bird makes an appearance, too.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is the first one, a double-page picture.  It is an outdoor setting with snow on the bottom, blue sky on the top and a staggered row of evergreens between the two.  On the left, the beaver, the moose and the bear are standing together, wearing their Santa hats, and looking directly at the reader.  They have their arms around each other.  To the right are three snow personalities.  First is the bear, next the beaver and then the moose. The nose on the bear, the teeth on the beaver and the antlers on the moose are spot-on to their living counterparts.  You simply can't look at this without smiling or giggling.

Anytime a book makes you laugh, tells a good story and leaves you thinking about a profound truth, it's a book you'll read again.  One Wild Christmas written and illustrated by Nicholas Oldland is meant to be read aloud and shared as often as possible.  This is one title you'll want to add to your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Nicholas Oldland and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access the information provided by his publisher.  At the publisher's website you can view multiple interior pages.  Be prepared for Christmas cheer.

Paddle Cooperation

There are portions of the Jordan River in northern Michigan where it's easy to imagine you are drifting along a waterway in another time.  Civilization has left no mark.  Owning my own canoe, smaller than the average size, made trips here frequent and relaxing.

When going with a group in larger canoes, the journey takes on a whole new dimension.  With more than one canoeist in the boat, holding the paddle correctly, reading the water, weight distribution and teamwork, can make the difference between a fun-filled, smooth ride or an unexpected dip in the swiftly, moving, and often chilly, river.  Nicholas Oldland, author illustrator of Big Bear Hug, The Busy Beaver and Making The Moose Out Of Life, brings the friends, previously introduced to readers, together in a new title, Up The Creek (Kids Can Press, September 1, 2013).  It's definitely a canoe ride not soon to be forgotten, especially for this woodland threesome.

There was once a bear, a moose and a beaver who were the best of friends, though they often disagreed.

What they did agree upon was to spend time canoeing together.  The first problem makes an appearance when they all want to be in charge of navigation.  All the weight in the back of the boat makes it flip, dumping them into the water.  A game of Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moe quickly ends that dilemma.

When the three adventurers are next seen the canoe is not going down the stream but in circles.  They all prefer to paddle on the left side of the canoe. Exhaustion and sore muscles solve this predicament; switching sides being the key.  A beaver dam provides an obstacle which almost stops the voyage until bear's suggestion, the third suggestion, works.

An enjoyable ride is short-lived when their raised voices, quibbling about every little thing (and beaver's hunger) covers the sound of their approach to the biggest difficulty yet, white-water rapids.  Tumbling, tossing, in and out of the swirling, dangerous descent into doom, the terrified trio finally manage to land on a rock with their canoe intact.  As darkness falls, they are still discussing, with less and less civility, how to get out of this mess.

In the light of a new day, a decision is made.  It's not easy by any means but they've discovered the secret to success.  Destination reached, a nap, a meal, a moment of thankfulness and yet another wise determination is reached, one sure to cause a knowing smile from readers.


As this tale of adventure and mishap unfolds, the narrator simply states the facts, sentence by sentence.  This writing technique used by Nicholas Oldland sets the stage for the added character dialogue and illustrations which elevate the comical nature of the whole ordeal.  Each time bear, moose and beaver face a decision, Oldland discloses more about their characteristics through the storyline.  Here is a single example.

But it wasn't long before they began to argue.
Moose: Stop Splashing
Bear: Keep Paddling
Beaver: I'm Hungry

It's the illustrations created in Photoshop by Nicholas Oldland that will bring on the giggles.  When looking at the matching jacket and cover, the trio facing forward in the moving canoe, it's all I can do to contain my laughter.  The expression on the beaver's face with those over-sized teeth is priceless.  What you can't see, without opening up the jacket and cover, is the continuation of the picture with a small red bird doing a backstroke down the river.  The small red bird appears throughout the book as a constant witness and participant in this canoe trip gone wrong. (He even has his own teeny, tiny paddle on the last page.)

The title page and verso show a winding waterway through a few forest trees on a white background.  The pictures alternate between double-page spreads, full single page, edge-to-edge visuals, smaller pictures with lots of white space on an individual page and several vignettes across two pages.  It's the details, the enhancement of the text, which adds mirth to the mayhem; moose covering his eyes, bear's paddle in the water and beaver yelling AHHHHHHH!  as they go over the falls or when they cook lunch over an open fire, moose holds grass, bear holds a fish he caught with a pole and line and beaver is roasting a stick.

My favorite illustration is when they first run the rapids.  The canoe upends three times in the air, with each holding on (or not) at different angles.  It ends with the bear sitting upright, paddle in paw with the canoe upside down, and moose and beaver riding the underside like a surfboard.


First and foremost, Up The Creek written and illustrated by Nicholas Oldland is a delightful day gone wrong solely due to the inability of the friends to cooperate.  Fortunately for them, this is resolved but not before readers have been treated to a first-class humorous escapade.  This is one of those books that would be loads of fun as a reader's theater with a minimum number of props or as a puppet show.

Follow this link to the publisher's website to take a peek at some more illustrations from the book.  For more information about Nicholas Oldland follow the link embedded in his name above to the publisher's website.