George Brown, Class Clown – The Twelve Burps of Christmas

Nancy Krulik's The Twelve Burps of Christmas is a festive George Brown story for 6 year olds, packed with snowflake costumes, ugly jumpers and the worst-timed burps of the year.

What happens

If you haven't met George yet, he's a class clown who's trying very hard to stop being one. The problem is a magic super burp. It bubbles up without warning, takes over his arms and legs, and makes him do exactly what he's trying not to.

This one's a bumper Christmas book with two stories. In the first, the whole of fourth grade is putting on a Holiday Spectacular. George gets cast as a snowflake. He has to do a dance called the Winter Wonderland Watusi. And the girl he's spent all term avoiding is a snowflake too (of course she is).

The run-up to the show is one disaster after another. A burp strikes on Santa's knee at the department store, and George ends up covered in tinsel with Santa holding his nose. Another one sends him riding the giant plastic Rudolph on Louie's front lawn until every Christmas light on the house goes out. Mrs Farley is NOT happy.

There's also a jumper. A hand-knitted Rudolph jumper with a pom-pom nose, from Great-Aunt Catherine. George finds it while snooping for presents, and you can probably guess what the burp does with it when she comes to dinner.

Alex, his best friend, is still hunting for a cure. His Christmas present to George is a bottle of mustard, which works exactly once. George's backpack for the big night has mustard, a rolling pin, a paper bag and a bottle of water in it, just in case!

In the second story George's old best friend Kevin flies in to stay over New Year. That starts with a burp on the airport baggage carousel, which Kevin thinks is the best thing he's ever seen.

It's a lovely one for December. All the family bits are there, from peeking at hidden presents to the one gift you're allowed to open on Christmas Eve. And George's parents are brilliant at giving him the gift he actually wants.

If you've got a child who'd rather be anything in the school play than a snowflake, they'll feel for George.

What to read next

For more Christmas-show chaos, try Alan MacDonald's Crackers. Bertie only gets to be a shepherd in the nativity, so he decides what the play really needs is his dog.