Flit the Fantail and the Christmas Crash product reviews

Miss Five loved this book because it showed how helpful Flit was to Santa. The little fantail is clumsy - even his journey to deliver gifts with Santa was unplanned! - so it was encouraging to see how Flit made the best of the situation and was able to join in the present allocation. Children habitually trip over their own feet when they are very small, and their instinct is to pick themselves up and carry on - just like Flit - and not allow themselves to be fazed. Youngsters always like to help other people too, especially once they have graduated from the toddler attitude of seeing the world as something that revolves around them to the exclusion of others; once they have graduated to the magic age of three, they learn to consider others and to be helpful towards them.

The use of alliteration throughout the story makes it easy to follow and remember the word sequences. Miss Five is currently learning to use this technique herself, so it resonated with her. Phrase like "snoozing silvereye" and "tasty token for the tui" were fun to repeat. It also made the process of learning to recognise individual printed words, something she is beginning to do, more accessible.

Her mother appreciated the references to the flora and fauna of Aotearoa New Zealand. Most of the birds that Flit and Santa visited are locals (tui, kotare, dotterel/tuturiwhatu, and of course Flit himself is a fantail/piwakawaka). The fifth bird, silvereye/tauhou, is a recent immigrant that now calls this country home. Nevertheless the silvereye has been here longer than most tauiwi! Titoki, harakeke, and pohutukawa also play a part in the story as examples of native trees and plants. Miss Five's family have just planted a titoki tree in their own garden so she was amazed to see how big it will grow in the future.

The illustrations are charming, showcasing the vivid colours of the New Zealand landscape. Santa's traditional red and black costume fits in beautifully, and his white beard makes a perfect chair for Flit to snuggle in while they make their trip together. The baby bird recipients of the gifts are stylised and very cute with plenty of appeal for small children. I would like to have seen the Maori names of all the birds included either as part of the text or as a footnote (or even a note at the end of the book) as this is an easy learning opportunity for young readers. Tui and kotare are used in their Maori form even though kotare is often commonly referred to a kingfisher. Conversely, dotterel, silvereye and fantail are used only in their English translations.

Having read the book several times, we were in agreement that this is a lovely book for the 3-7 age group. It is easy to follow, and as Miss Five gains more confidence with reading the more challenging words, she will be able to sound them out for herself. Hopefully there will be more Flit books to come while she is still at the age where she can enjoy them.