capturing Christmas


It was so fun to see the photos of 
It's Christmas being read to a kindergarten class in this post! Look at those attentive little heads!! 

It got me reminiscing about how much I loved the lead up to Christmas when I was a child - the Christmas-themed arts and crafts, songs, books, end of year school plays. Such an exciting time of year for this little Burke!

TinaBurke_Santaandme

Tiny Tina meets Santa
(A very special occasion that required a very fancy dress)

It was my memories of all that excitement and anticipation that inspired me to create It's Christmas.  I started - just for fun - sketching a series of individual "moments", initially having no intention for the illustrations to be part of a book - I actually thought I'd use them for a series of Christmas cards.  However, as I sketched, I found the individual vignettes seemed to tie together so naturally that I was inspired to write It's Christmas, showing a series of snapshots of different children as they prepare for the big day . . . 

TinaBurke_fridge

TinaBurke_Santaphoto

. . . and their mounting anticipation as they await the arrival of that V.I.P . . .


TinaBurke_waiting

It's so fun to now see It's Christmas being read to kids, knowing they're probably squirming with excitement as I once did, and I'm absolutely thrilled if I can play even a small part in that magical time of year!