Expect the unexpected with new book 'Best Christmas Ever'

Helen O’Callaghan says a new book is a riot of disaster and fun    

Santa falls over on roller skates. Dad, arms piled high with Christmas shopping, doesn’t spot the manhole in front of him — when we see him next, he’s on crutches.

Best Christmas Ever, €8.24, is a festive-themed children’s story with a difference, the second in the Best Ever series of books by Fermoy-based husband and wife Celia and Orison Carlile. The book has the young narrator describing the best Christmas ever, but the illustrations reveal a series of hilarious disasters — contradictions abound between words and pictures. As an illustrator, Celia says she naturally wants to let the pictures tell more of the story than the words.