Quick picks: our top recommendations
| Book | Author | Find It |
|---|---|---|
| Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle | Check on Amazon → | |
| Tea and Sugar Christmas | Check on Amazon → | |
| The Little Dog and the Christmas Wish | Check on Amazon → | |
| John Williamson’s Christmas in Australia | Check on Amazon → | |
| Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle | Check on Amazon → | |
| Blossom Possum and the Christmas Quacker | Check on Amazon → |
Below are 22 titles in total — we’ve highlighted our 6 favourites above. Each one links straight through to Amazon AU.
Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle
Author/Illustrator: Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King
Publisher: ABC Books
ISBN: 9780733322495
Find Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle on Amazon AU →
Format Hardback
RRP: $24.95
This is a beautiful Australian interpretation of the nativity story written with charm and superb prose. The Shepherds are a neighbouring family; the three wise men are replaced by three elderly aunties who bring plum pudding, shortbread and a crate of fruit; and the heralding angels are exchanged for a flock of cockatoos.
Applesauce, a pet pig, tries to find the true meaning of Christmas as he watches over the bushfire- ravaged land before him. As his owners welcome a new baby to their family he learns that new life, hope and joy can come at the saddest of times.
Tea and Sugar Christmas
Author: Jane Jolly
Illustrator: Robert Ingpen
ISBN:9780642278630
Find Tea and Sugar Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: NLA Publishing, November 2014
RRP: $24.99
This one is a true and historical Australian Christmas story that will warm the cockles of your heart and help you remember the wondrous Christmas is for children.
Tea and Sugar Christmas is based on the Trans-Australian Railway train that would travel across the Nullarbor Plain servicing settlements with provisions, meat, medical staff and bank services. Once a week settlers could fill their wheelbarrows and stock up, and once a year Santa would ride the carriages and bring gifts for each of the children.
Black and white pages fold out to reveal exquisite large-scale colour illustrations by renowned illustrator, Robert Ingpen. The book features photos and images taken during the Sugar and Tea Train era. It truly provides an insight into an interesting aspect of Australian history.
The Little Dog and the Christmas Wish
Author: Corinne Fenton
Illustrator: Robin Cowcher
ISBN: 9781742032368
Find The Little Dog and the Christmas Wish on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardback
Publisher: Black Dog Books, October 2014
RRP: $24.95
Little Dog gets lost on Christmas Eve. He walks past many Melbourne landmarks in his efforts to find his way home to his best friend, Jonathan.
John Williamson’s Christmas in Australia
Author: John Williamson
Illustrator: Mitch Vane
ISBN: 9780670077724
Find John Williamson’s Christmas in Australia on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Australia, September 2014
RRP: $19.99
If you spend your entire Christmas Day trying to get the family together for a photo, then you’ll love this new Australian Christmas book. Mitch Vane has very fittingly illustrated the lyrics of John Williamson’s iconic Australian Christmas song, ‘Christmas Photo’ with comical illustrations. Look out for the family antics in the background illustrations on each page.
Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle
Authors: Colin Buchanan and Greg Champion
Illustrator: Glen Singleton
ISBN:9781743620427
Find Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover with CD
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, October 2014
RRP: $19.99
Written and sung to the tune of ‘Deck the Halls’, Syd the Echidna’s shed, decorated with gum leaves and wattle, is ruined by a cyclone. The local Australian animals pitch in to surprise Syd on Christmas morning with a tin shed that is decked like no other.
Blossom Possum and the Christmas Quacker
Author: Gina Newton
Illustrator: Christina Booth
ISBN: 9781742839592
Find Blossom Possum and the Christmas Quacker on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, November2013
RRP: $19.99
This is a sequel to Blossom Possum- The Sky is Falling Down under, an Australian adaptation of the popular fable, The Sky is Falling. Blossom Possum and her Australian animal friends return in this cumulative tale to wake Koala Claws from his sleep and save their Bush Christmas.
A Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Christmas
Author: Mark MacLeod
Illustrator: May Gibbs
ISBN: 978-1742830223
Find A Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, October 2013
RRP: $19.99
This is such a beautiful Australian Christmas tale featuring original illustrations by May Gibbs. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie approach the Christmas season quite differently. Even though it’s Cuddlepie who works hard to organise the best Christmas, it is Snugglepot who saves the day and fixes the Christmas bush that is spoiled by the sneaky Mrs Snake.
We Wish You a Ripper Christmas
Authors: Colin Buchanan and Greg Champion
Illustrator: Roland Harvey
ISBN 978-1742837239
Find We Wish You a Ripper Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover and CD
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, October 2013
RRP: $19.99
Written to the tune of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ and complete with Aussie slang and bush terminology is this song/story with an Aussie twist. Koalas decorate their gum trees with tinsel, emus play cricket, dingos wrap bright coloured thongs and galahs play electric guitars.
Santa’s Secret
Author: Mike Dumbleton
Illustrator: Tom Jellett
ISBN: 978-1742752396
Find We Wish You a Ripper Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House Australia, November 2012
RRP: $19.95
This is a fun, light-hearted book, and Mike Dumbleton gives us a fictional glimpse into what Santa does during his free time. I can’t give his secret away, but I can give you a few clues. He travels to Australia during his winter break and has fun joining the locals in a leisurely activity.
Christmas Wombat
By Jackie French and Bruce Whately
ISBN:978-0732291716
Find Christmas Wombat on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia), September 2011
RRP A$24.99
This is a Christmas book that will make all family members giggle. Everybody loves Christmas time, but for Mothball it’s still all about scratching, sleeping and carrots.
Only Mothball the Wombat could ignore all the Christmas festivities in favour of carrots. She finds a cosy place to nap aboard Santa’s sleigh and finds herself travelling the world on Christmas Eve.
She battles reindeers, pigeons, toucans and polar bears for carrots but arrives home feeling completely satisfied and looking forward to the reindeer’s next visit.
Santa’s Aussie Mix-up
Colin Buchanan and Simon Swinger
ISBN:978-1742830070
Find Santa’s Aussie Mix-up on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardback
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, October 2011
RRP: A$19.99
Written and sung to the tune of ‘Advance Australia Fair’, this funny story sees Santa asking for help to fill his Christmas stockings. ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ calls each Australian animal. One by one, they all fail miserably. Santa eventually gives Emu and Kangaroo the job. Together they create the biggest present mix-up Australia’s ever seen.
The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
Author/Illustrator: Heath McKenzie
Publisher: Black Dog Books (Walker Books)
ISBN: 9781921167317
Find The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardback
RRP: $14.99
This is a funny Australian rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas. All starts off quite romantic with a kookaburra up a gum tree, but with penguins licking ice-creams, flies hanging around mince pies and emus playing football it all becomes a bit of a ruckus. This will be a hit with kids that like a bit of silliness.
Suitable for ages 2+ (★★★★)
Also available as a Board Book: ISBN: 9781742031118
Find The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas on Amazon AU →
, Age suitability 1+ , RRP: $12.99
Wombat Divine
Author/Illustrator: Mem Fox and Kerry Argent
Publisher: Omnibus Books
ISBN: 9781862918412
Find Wombat Divine on Amazon AU →
Format: Paperback
Age suitability: 4+
RRP: $15.99
Wombat loves the Nativity Play so much that he tries out for every part, but he doesn’t seem to be right for any of them. Luckily, wise Emu knows the perfect role for a sleepy wombat, and it’s the best Nativity Play ever.
An Aussie Day Before Christmas
Author: Kilmeny Niland
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
ISBN: 9781741690972
Find An Aussie Day Before Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardback
RRP: $15.99
In this fun and colourful book children discover how Santa would prepare for Christmas Eve if he lived in Australia. He wears shorts and a singlet; eats a breakkie of snags, toast and honey; and he piles his sacks full of pressies into his old ute that is pulled by ‘roos.
Suitable for ages 2+ (★★★)
IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK BE SURE TO BAKE SANTA A SPECIAL AUSSIE SNACK THIS CHRISTMAS
Also available as a Board Book, ISBN: 978-1741695090
Find An Aussie Day Before Christmas on Amazon AU →
, Age suitability: 0-2, RRP: $9.99
An Aussie Night Before Christmas
Author/Illustrator: Yvonne Morrison and Kilmeny Niland
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781865046532
Find An Aussie Night Before Christmas on Amazon AU →
Age suitability: 3+
RRP: $15.99
Christmas in the middle of an Australian summer means Santa has to find new ways to deliver his presents. Every line of this traditional verse has been remodelled with Aussie references. The gentle illustrations are packed with familiar icons cleverly woven into the visual narrative to recreate the warm, comforting, family atmosphere that Christmas is all about.
Also available as a Board Book: 9781741691122, Age suitability 1+, RRP: $9.99
Santa’s Aussie Holiday
Author/Illustrator: Maria Farrer and Anna Walker
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781741690187
Find Santa’s Aussie Holiday on Amazon AU →
RRP: $15.99
After a night travelling the world, Santa takes a well-earned break and heads to Australia for a holiday. He has an adventrue travelling to the landmarks of the country and enjoying some iconic Aussie activities.
Suitable for ages 2.5+ (★★★★)
Also available at a Board Book, ISBN: 9781741695106
Find Santa’s Aussie Holiday on Amazon AU →
, Age suitability 1+, RRP: $9.99
Aussie Jingle Bells (with CD)
Author/Illustrator: Colin Buchanan and Nick Bland
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9781865049700
Find Aussie Jingle Bells (with CD) on Amazon AU →
Format: Hardback with CD
Age suitability: 3+
RRP: $19.99
One of the world’s best-loved Christmas carols is given a hilarious Aussie twist. ! Nick Bland’s comical illustrations show the whole family enjoying Christmas Day: see who you can recognise!
A Bush Christmas
Author/Illustrator: C J Dennis and Dee Huxley
Publisher: Black Dog Books (Walker Books), October 2011
ISBN: 9781742032078
Find A Bush Christmas on Amazon AU →
Format: Paperback
RRP: $16.95
Written in 1931 by C.J. Dennis and whimsically illustrated by Dee Huxley, A Bush Christmas humorously attempts to tell the story of an Australian Christmas, with mothers unable to stray from a cooked lunch despite the dry, sweltering heat and children listening to stories of white, snowy Christmases.
Suitable for ages 5+ (★★★★)
How to read a hot-Christmas book at home
Australia is one of a handful of major Christian countries where Christmas falls in midsummer. The default global Christmas-book canon (snowy, mittens, hot chocolate) just doesn’t match what an Aussie kid sees out the window. The books on this list reset the picture. A few habits we’ve built around them:
- Pair with the actual Aussie Christmas activity. Beach Christmas in your family? Read An Aussie Night Before Christmas. Backyard cricket? Read Cricket Boxing Day-style titles. The book validates what your family already does.
- Read before the Northern Hemisphere ones, not after. Sequence matters. If a child meets the snowy Christmas first, the Aussie version becomes “the weird one.” Reverse that order and the snow becomes the cultural translation, not the default.
- Use the gum-tree imagery as a landmark. Several of these books feature a gum-tree Christmas decoration moment. After reading, walk outside and find your nearest gum tree. Hang one homemade decoration on it (lightly, then take it back off). That’s an annual ritual we’ve done in three different Bookcase households.
- For new arrivals to Australia: these books are the fastest cultural-orientation tool we know. A family from the Northern Hemisphere can read them and quickly decode Australian Christmas in a way that small talk won’t convey.
- Read on Christmas Eve specifically. One book set aside, read in the same chair, every year. The same edition. That’s a tradition you build in five minutes that lasts twenty.
Why an Australian Christmas-stories shelf matters
The version of Christmas in most picture books is essentially Connecticut in 1955. Snow, holly, sleighs, evergreens, frost, mittens. None of that is what an Australian December looks like. If those imported books are the only ones on your shelf, you’re quietly telling your child that the Christmas they actually live isn’t quite the “real” one.
The Aussie titles on this list push back. They put thongs at the door, prawns on the table, the cricket on the radio, and a sunburnt Santa landing on a hot tin roof. That’s a small but durable gift to give a child — the validation that their Christmas, their seasons, and their country count.
Frequently asked questions
Can I read these alongside Northern-Hemisphere classics?
Yes — and we’d encourage it. Aussie books first, classics second. That order frames the snow as “how some other places do it” rather than as the default.
Best Aussie Christmas book to start with?
Our team consensus: Wombat Divine by Mem Fox is the gateway book. After that, An Aussie Night Before Christmas for the cultural humour, and Christmas Wombat by Jackie French for younger kids.
Are these mostly by Australian authors?
All of them. That’s the point of the list. We’ve included a few books with overseas illustrators because the writing is unmistakably Australian.
Do these books work for Australian kids living overseas?
Powerfully — Aussie expats consistently tell us these books are how they keep Australian Christmas alive in a Northern-Hemisphere December. We’d especially recommend An Aussie Night Before Christmas for that purpose.
Shop the full list on Amazon AU
Each link below opens an Amazon AU search for that title’s exact ISBN. We earn a small commission if you decide to buy — thank you, it keeps the lights on at the Bookcase.
- Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle
- Tea and Sugar Christmas
- The Little Dog and the Christmas Wish
- John Williamson’s Christmas in Australia
- Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle
- Blossom Possum and the Christmas Quacker
- A Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Christmas
- We Wish You a Ripper Christmas
- We Wish You a Ripper Christmas
- Christmas Wombat
- Santa’s Aussie Mix-up
- The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
- The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
- Wombat Divine
- An Aussie Day Before Christmas
- An Aussie Day Before Christmas
- An Aussie Night Before Christmas
- An Aussie Night Before Christmas
- Santa’s Aussie Holiday
- Santa’s Aussie Holiday
- Aussie Jingle Bells (with CD)
- A Bush Christmas
📚 Looking for more book lists?
We’ve curated 28 picture-book lists across six themes — Family, Christmas & ANZAC, Australian identity, Learning to Read, Gifts & Milestones, and Themes & Activities. Hand-read by the team, age-graded, and ready to use.
