The Turkey That Voted For Christmas
By Madeleine Cook, illustrated by Samara Hardy
OUP
32pp, £6.99, paperback
ISBN: 9780192765956

When this book arrived at school in a shiny envelope, the children were eager to open it. I explained that it was not available in shops yet, and this excited the children. Noah said: “So we are like people who decide if we like the book or not?”, which was the perfect explanation of our job.

As soon as we opened the parcel, there were lots of smiley faces. I read the title, The Turkey That Voted For Christmas, and, of course, mentioning the word “Christmas” was like opening a box of frogs.

The front cover intrigued the children straight away. Ava exclaimed: “I love the shiny writing!” Josie and Olly, meanwhile, thought the idea of animals wearing Christmas jumpers was very humorous.

The illustrations are engaging and colourful, and there are lots of interesting things to spot on each page. The storyline is fun, too. The children listened attentively, joined in with the singing and laughed at some of the pictures.

After reading the book for the first time, I had my reservations. There is a lot of complicated political language, which I felt was pitched too high for a group of early years children. Words such as “voted”, “election”, “campaign” and “polling station” prompted discussion throughout our story time. Lots of the new vocabulary took a while to explain; I felt I spent more time discussing new words than enjoying the book.

When I asked the children for their opinion after reading the book once, half the class gave it a thumbs up, but it did not have the impact that many other books have had.

The children decide for themselves whether or not they want to read any of our books again. I did not think this one would be much of a success, but I was wrong.

‘A whole new range of vocabulary’

The children chose to read it throughout their exploration time and furthermore have picked up a whole new range of vocabulary, which is brilliant. They enjoy looking at the illustrations, and I have even spotted a small group of children roleplaying a voting scene from the book.

They particularly liked spotting the robin, which pops up on several pages. Olly told the class: “The robin is like the hero in the story. He gives us clues and he goes to get Santa to save the day.”

We have now read the book on several occasions, with enthusiasm growing among the children on each occasion. Their favourite character was Farmer Carver. “When he climbs on the roof to look at the turkeys, that’s really funny,” Millie exclaimed.

Zac also chose his favourite page of the book: “This part is funny because the farmer is pretending to be a Christmas tree.”

Overall, the children have really enjoyed having this book in the classroom. It did not have an immediate impact, but has captured their interest over time.

I will recommend this book to our key stage 1 team, as it could be useful for introducing political language to the class. It would be especially handy in the run-up to an election, as it has a wonderful way of explaining the whole process in a fun and engaging way.

Kerry Swift is early years foundation stage teacher at Moorlands Schools Federation in Bath