Blue, Blue Christmas | Anna Coddington

Forget the woolly jumpers, yule logs and snow, this kid is going to show Santa Claus how we do Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere – with sunglasses, beach cricket, surfing and barbecues! Does Santa realise it's actually very hot here at Christmas time? What if he overheats in his red suit while delivering presents?

“Santa! It's urgent! I'm not sure if you know - down here Christmas is in summer! It's blue, blue skies and if you get fried in that suit it'll be a bummer.”

While everybody is getting ready for Christmas, one kid is worried. Does Santa know it's Summer in the Southern Hemisphere? What if he overheats? She decides to send him a message. If the big guy gets her invitation, she'll show him how much fun a blue, blue Christmas can be!

Anna Coddington (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning New Zealand songwriter, singer and producer, with four critically acclaimed studio albums to date. In 2022 she won the Waiata Māori Music Award for Best Māori Album in Te Reo for her EP Mana-Wā-Hine, featuring a collection of waiata performed in te reo Māori. Her songwriting prowess has seen her in the prestigious Silver Scroll songwriting award Top 20 list four times. She also has an MA in Linguistics, is currently studying for a law degree, and is a professional voiceover artist – so she justifiably considers herself a word nerd! A mother to two children with her partner Dick Johnson, also a musician, Anna's writing for children carries a deeper mission of spreading awareness of kaupapa Māori. Story Hemi-Morehouse (Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) was born in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and moved to Australia when she was young. She was always obsessed with comics and drawing and turned her love of illustrating into a career. Story's first published book, Mokopuna Matatini/The Greatest Festival on Earth by Pania Tahau-Hodges, was shortlisted for four awards in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2022. She has since added several more picture books to her portfolio. Story lives and works on Yugumbeh Country (Gold Coast, Australia) and, thanks to the flexibilty of freelance work, also gets to spend regular time in Aotearoa.