I recall many, many years ago being on supply in a primary school and reading with the class this book. It was set in Victorian times and the man sent all the gifts, the girl getting more and more irate with all the ducks etc. Does anyone recall it, maybe even the author's name? I think my 10 year old granddaughter would love it! TIA.
Thanks for those suggestions, I had seen the Julius Norwich version but it was published in 1993 and this was back in the '80s, though if the Julius Norwich one wasn't so expensive, I'd probably get it for the Blake illustrations alone! The one I read was, I think, written by a woman, looks like it's back to the drawing board.
Found it, OH's brain has woken up! It's actually The Thirteen Days of Christmas, by Jenny Overton. Thanks again for your help, it gives a very good festive quiz question! At the end of the 12 days, how many gifts does she receive? It's 364, plus his love, so she has one for each day of the year, non-leap year, 364 is the sum of the first 12 triangle numbers!
You mentioned wanting a copy of the Julius Norwich one for the Blake's. I see it's £50 on Amazon! There are several cheaper versions on Abebooks, if you follow the link I put in my first post. Good luck in your perusal!
We performed this at our band concert this year, stopping playing after each verse so the director could read out the 'letters'. The audience was in uproar and so, for that matter, was the band!