prezzies,’ Selby thought.
Mrs Trifle opened the package. It was a little wooden carved elf with a green suit and a pointy green hat. The elf was pointing his finger and winking.
‘Goodness me,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘It’s quite beautiful. It looks like one of those old toys I got when I was a kid. Who’s it from?’
‘The card just says,
From Santa and the elves
,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘Who could that be? Oh, I know, it’s probably from Jetty and Willy and Billy. Elves — that’s a good name for them,’ she added with a laugh. ‘Hey, take a picture of Selby with his elf. Look, the camera’s over there on the carpet. I wonder how it got there.’
Dr Trifle grabbed the camera and turned it on.
‘That’s funny,’ he said,‘have a look at this.’
‘Oh no!’ Selby thought. ‘I forgot to delete the photo of Santa! Now his secret will be out! What will I do? I wanted to take the picture to prove to everyone that Santa is real but now I don’t want do it! It will ruin the magic of Christmas! Oh woe woe woe, what can I do?’
As Dr Trifle was handing the camera to Mrs Trifle, a paw shot out as quick as Santa’s reindeer. There was a soft sound from inside the camera.
‘The picture disappeared,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘It was like it deleted itself. What was it? I didn’t quite see it.’
‘I could have sworn it was a picture of Santa Claus standing next to our Christmas tree,’ Dr Trifle said.
‘A photo of the
real
Santa?’
‘Yes, but if it was, I can’t imagine who could have taken it. It seemed to have appeared anddisappeared by magic. Maybe that’s what they mean by the magic of Christmas.’
Dr and Mrs Trifle smiled at each other and then gave Selby a pat.
‘You’re the dearest, most wonderful people on Earth,’ Selby thought, as he struggled to keep from smiling. ‘And you’ve just seen a bit of the magic of Selby.’
About the Author
Duncan Ball is an Australian author who writes popular books for children. This book,
Selby Santa
, is the fifteenth story collection about Selby, ‘the only talking dog in Australia and, perhaps, the world’. There is also a collection of Selby stories taken from the other books called
Selby’s Selection
, and two jokes books:
Selby’s Joke Book
and
Selby’s Side-Splitting Joke Book
.
Duncan has also written the Emily Eyefinger books, a series about the adventures of a girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger, and the comedy novels
Piggott Place
and
Piggotts in Peril
about the frustrations of a twelve-year-old boy, Bert Piggott, in a never-endingstruggle to get his family of ratbags and dreamers out of trouble.
Duncan lives in Sydney with his wife, Jill, and their cat, Jasper. Duncan is sure that Jasper can’t talk and can’t understand people-talk but he seems to know about Christmas. He spends a lot of time looking at the presents under the Christmas tree and is always especially interested in a little present wrapped up for him (a tin of extra-special cat food).
B Y THE S AME A UTHOR
Emily Eyefinger
Emily Eyefinger, Secret Agent
Emily Eyefinger and the Lost Treasure
Emily Eyefinger and the Black Volcano
Emily Eyefinger’s Alien Adventure
Emily Eyefinger and the Devil Bones
Emily Eyefinger and the Balloon Bandits
Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship
Emily Eyefinger and the Puzzle in the Jungle
Emily Eyefinger and the City in the Sky
Piggott Place
Piggotts in Peril
The Case of the Graveyard Ghost and Other Mysteries
The Case of the Vampire’s Wire and Other Mysteries
Selby’s Secret
Selby Screams
Selby Spacedog
Selby Surfs
Selby’s Joke Book
Selby’s Selection
Selby’s Side-Splitting Joke Book
Selby Sorcerer
Selby Speaks
Selby Supersnoop
Selby Snowbound
Selby Snaps!
Selby Splits
Selby’s Stardom
Selby Scrambled
Selby Shattered
Selby’s Shemozzle
Copyright
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
, Australia
First published in Australia in 2007
This edition published in 2011
by
Mrs Trifle opened the package. It was a little wooden carved elf with a green suit and a pointy green hat. The elf was pointing his finger and winking.
‘Goodness me,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘It’s quite beautiful. It looks like one of those old toys I got when I was a kid. Who’s it from?’
‘The card just says,
From Santa and the elves
,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘Who could that be? Oh, I know, it’s probably from Jetty and Willy and Billy. Elves — that’s a good name for them,’ she added with a laugh. ‘Hey, take a picture of Selby with his elf. Look, the camera’s over there on the carpet. I wonder how it got there.’
Dr Trifle grabbed the camera and turned it on.
‘That’s funny,’ he said,‘have a look at this.’
‘Oh no!’ Selby thought. ‘I forgot to delete the photo of Santa! Now his secret will be out! What will I do? I wanted to take the picture to prove to everyone that Santa is real but now I don’t want do it! It will ruin the magic of Christmas! Oh woe woe woe, what can I do?’
As Dr Trifle was handing the camera to Mrs Trifle, a paw shot out as quick as Santa’s reindeer. There was a soft sound from inside the camera.
‘The picture disappeared,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘It was like it deleted itself. What was it? I didn’t quite see it.’
‘I could have sworn it was a picture of Santa Claus standing next to our Christmas tree,’ Dr Trifle said.
‘A photo of the
real
Santa?’
‘Yes, but if it was, I can’t imagine who could have taken it. It seemed to have appeared anddisappeared by magic. Maybe that’s what they mean by the magic of Christmas.’
Dr and Mrs Trifle smiled at each other and then gave Selby a pat.
‘You’re the dearest, most wonderful people on Earth,’ Selby thought, as he struggled to keep from smiling. ‘And you’ve just seen a bit of the magic of Selby.’
About the Author
Duncan Ball is an Australian author who writes popular books for children. This book,
Selby Santa
, is the fifteenth story collection about Selby, ‘the only talking dog in Australia and, perhaps, the world’. There is also a collection of Selby stories taken from the other books called
Selby’s Selection
, and two jokes books:
Selby’s Joke Book
and
Selby’s Side-Splitting Joke Book
.
Duncan has also written the Emily Eyefinger books, a series about the adventures of a girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger, and the comedy novels
Piggott Place
and
Piggotts in Peril
about the frustrations of a twelve-year-old boy, Bert Piggott, in a never-endingstruggle to get his family of ratbags and dreamers out of trouble.
Duncan lives in Sydney with his wife, Jill, and their cat, Jasper. Duncan is sure that Jasper can’t talk and can’t understand people-talk but he seems to know about Christmas. He spends a lot of time looking at the presents under the Christmas tree and is always especially interested in a little present wrapped up for him (a tin of extra-special cat food).
B Y THE S AME A UTHOR
Emily Eyefinger
Emily Eyefinger, Secret Agent
Emily Eyefinger and the Lost Treasure
Emily Eyefinger and the Black Volcano
Emily Eyefinger’s Alien Adventure
Emily Eyefinger and the Devil Bones
Emily Eyefinger and the Balloon Bandits
Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship
Emily Eyefinger and the Puzzle in the Jungle
Emily Eyefinger and the City in the Sky
Piggott Place
Piggotts in Peril
The Case of the Graveyard Ghost and Other Mysteries
The Case of the Vampire’s Wire and Other Mysteries
Selby’s Secret
Selby Screams
Selby Spacedog
Selby Surfs
Selby’s Joke Book
Selby’s Selection
Selby’s Side-Splitting Joke Book
Selby Sorcerer
Selby Speaks
Selby Supersnoop
Selby Snowbound
Selby Snaps!
Selby Splits
Selby’s Stardom
Selby Scrambled
Selby Shattered
Selby’s Shemozzle
Copyright
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
, Australia
First published in Australia in 2007
This edition published in 2011
by
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