The Elf Workshop

About the book

Something is going wrong at the North Pole. Quite a lot of things, actually.

It is Christmas Eve, and the workshop is running a little behind. The letter chute has burst, there is stuffing coming out of the silo, a rocking horse has bolted across the shop floor and nobody can find the end of the ribbon. The sleigh leaves tonight.

There are no words in this book. There is a great deal to look at.

Eighteen enormous illustrated spreads follow the elves through the longest night of their year. It starts with the wake-up bell in the bunkhouse and ends on Christmas morning in the village. In between come the letter room, the snowflake works and the candy cane works, the bell foundry, the reindeer stables and, finally, a mad scramble to load the sleigh. Every page is crowded with elves, no two of them doing the same job, and most of the jobs are going badly.

And on every page, somewhere, there is a pigeon named Wendell. He is not helping. He has never helped. He is extremely hard to find.

Made For Reading Together:

• 18 double-page scenes, most of them a building cut open so you can see every floor at once
• Completely wordless: the grown-up makes up the story, so it comes out differently every night
• A hunt easy enough for a three-year-old and hard enough for a seven-year-old, on the same page
• A large 8.5 x 11 inch format, printed in full color
• An answer key at the back showing where Wendell was hiding, for when he wins

A Christmas special from Welcome to Bumblebrook.