The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

What is Christmas?

What is Christmas, I wonder?
I see you’re all ears,
you will find if we wind
time back two thousand years….
there’s no tinsel, no baubles,
no pudding or custard
no turkey with stuffing, or
baked ham with mustard
no Santa, no sleigh rides
with reindeer and sleigh bells
just a babe in a manger
with wise kings and angels,
bringing a message of
peace and goodwill,
of kindness and love
that we need to hear still.

About the Writer


Melinda Szymanik

Melinda is an award-winning New Zealand author of picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults. Notable titles include The Were-Nana (Scholastic, 2008) winner of Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, A Winter’s Day in 1939 (Scholastic, 2013) winner of Librarian’s Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle (Scholastic, 2016) a 2017 White Raven selection. She also writes poetry for adults and children, and regularly teaches creative writing.