Kidscorner

Wednesday 12 December 2007

The kiwi night before Christmas

One of the children in the home had received this marvellous book last year with the Kiwi version of the Night before Christmas. My brother sent me the text and it reminded me again. There was a cd attached and we all sang this loudly together.
The Night Before Christmas (Kiwi Style) It was the night before Christmas, and all round the bach Not a possum was stirring; not one we could catch. We left on the table a meat pie and beer, In hopes that Santa Claus soon would be here. We children were snuggled up in our bunk beds, While dreams of pavlova danced in our heads; And mum in her nightie, and dad in his shorts, Had just settled down to watch TV sports. When outside the bach such a ho-ha arose, I woke up at once from my wonderful doze. I ran straight to the sliding door, looking about, Jumped out on the deck, and let out a shout. The fairy lights dad had strung up around the door Let me see everything down to the shore. And what did I see, when I took a peep? But a miniature tractor and eight tiny sheep. With a little old driver, his dog on his knee. I knew at once who this joker might be. He patted his dog, and in a voice not unkind, Cried "Good on ya, boy! Now, get in behind! "Now, Flossy! now Fluffy! now Shaun and Shane! On, Bossy! on, Buffy on, Jason and Wayne! Up that red tree, to the top of the bach! But mind you don't trample the vegetable patch." So up on the roof those sheep quickly flew, With the tractor of toys, Santa and his dog too. As my sister awoke and I turn around, In through the window he came with a bound. He wore a black singlet and little white shorts, And stuck on his feet were gumboots of course; A sack full of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a postie just opening his pack. His eyes right as paua shell - oh, how they twinkled! Like an old tuatara, his skin was all wrinkled! He had a wide face and a round, fat tummy, That looked like he'd eaten lots that was yummy. He spoke not a word, but got down on one knee, And placed a cricket set under the tree, A present for sis, one for dad, one for mum, Then he turned and he winked and held up his thumb. He jumped on his tractor, to his dog gave a whistle, And away they all flew, as fast as a missile. I called out "thanks," as he flew past the gate. He called back: "Kia ora to all, and good on ya, mate."

19 comments:

  1. Describes a Kiwi Christmas perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. got it from Liz and i didn't know that you know it already. had 3 times a kiwi christmas already. see you next year again and have a have a very good christmas this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That´s a nice book about kiwi christmas!Really good!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ah did not know about this one

    very nice ..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Marja,
    Thanks for visiting my blog:)
    Ik vind het erg leuk om te lezen wat jullie kerst-tradities daar zijn! en ook deboeken en de liedjes, bedankt! Ik kom zeker terug hoor.

    Look at my blog I posted some real dutch views ,Dark winterskies, but nice to see anyhow, bye Joann

    ReplyDelete
  6. I too thought the sheep had cute names and I enjoyed the poem a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such a great poem, (story)!!
    Such fun!

    ReplyDelete
  8. 'He wore a black singlet and little white shorts,
    And stuck on his feet were gumboots of course'

    Now that's different! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful poem

    Ik wou dat ik U hoorde meezingen met het liedje op de cd. Kerstmis in Nieuw Zeeland moet iets uniek zijn; ik kan het me niet voorstellen dat kerstmis in de zomer gevierd wordt

    ReplyDelete
  10. So beautiful, Marja, I am glad you shared...i was blog hopping today, and am glad I dropped here. Thank you. Merry Xmas.

    UL

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great post! Great memories of home!

    ReplyDelete
  12. really lovely!

    So you tell me tham there is really hot, and here is sooooo cold! during the day is a bit warm (about 15ºC) but urly morning and night is about 1ºC. Really really collldddd! brrrr...

    :)))

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hahaha. Great! I need to hear the music now! lol

    ReplyDelete
  14. namens de hele familie in
    malden(nl)
    best wishes for christmas and a happy new year
    and for my brother in law ...
    happy birthday
    we hebben jou google vertaler op dit liedje losgelaten maar zuid afrikaans is beter te volgen ha ha nou ga zo door en bedankt nog voor de leuke kerstkaart
    daaaaaaaaaaaaaag

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've never heard this version before - very clever.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wat leuk om dit gedicht te lezen. Iets totaal nieuws voor mij. er komen er vast nog meer. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Now that is somewhat different to the traditional theme over here...

    and I luv it too - certainly brought a smile to my face when reading.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you!!