Waiting for Christmas: Merry Christmas, Ollie! by Olivier Dunrea

OLLIE IS WAITING. THE GOSLINGS ARE WAITING, WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS.

WAITING FOR FATHER CHRISTMAS GOOSE!

Gossie and Gertie, BooBoo and Peedie, and little Ollie, all are eager for Christmas. They know they have to wait. But goslings wait in different ways.

A Christmasy snow begins to fall on Ollie as he lies on the snow, watching the sky with single-minded determination on his face.

Gossie and Gertie stay busy preparing for the big day. They hang their red and green boots up in the barn for when Father Christmas Goose brings their gifts.

BooBoo and Peedie follow with their stripy stockings and hang them beside Gossie and Gertie's boots.

But Ollie can't think about anything but Christmas. Where is Father Christmas? Why doesn't he come? He stomps through the snow, finds a snow hill, and plops down, facing in the direction where Father Christmas always comes.

"I WANT CHRISTMAS NOW!" SHOUTS OLLIE.

And of course, Father Christmas Goose eventually flaps into view, bells jingling, in Olivier Dunrea's classic board book edition of Merry Christmas, Ollie board book (Gossie & Friends) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Dunrea's trademark illustrations of the gang of goslings preparing for Christmas are totally charming, and little Ollie's anticipation anxiety adds a touch of humor to the mix of characters. Dunrea's deft hand with small, watercolored artwork, set center page against bright white backgrounds, feature well-delineated personalities for each little goose, while Ollie's stubborn resolve carries the action in a relentless left-to-right direction until Father Christmas soars in from page right. Fun for toddlers eager for the big day, fans of the many Gosling adventures, and easy enough for emergent readers to read it to them--while they wait.