Best children's books for Christmas - win over £200 worth of gorgeous gifts

When I was about 7 I had a 'new' bike. My mum & dad had wrapped it up. It was a total surprise. Loved my bike.

For me it was the unexpected sight of my five year old brother home from hospital after a three week stay due to double bronchial pneumonia. I remember him standing in our lounge, wearing his cowboy outfit - hat/waistcoat/chaps, and 'shooting' me with his two guns saying 'bang bang ... I'm home, and you're dead Lellyb'. I cried then and I still get a bit choked when I remember it - even after all these years.

My favourite present was a handmade wooden Sindy house that my dad built me complete with offcuts of carpet and wallpaper, even green carpet at the top to represent grass! The hours of play I had with it over the years was immense - so much imaginative fun!

My dad died when I was little and there was 7 of us so we didn't get much at Christmas but one year my uncle and godfather made me a cot and put small dolls in I was over the moon it's one Christmas that I never forget ??

Monopoly, aged 10, still 50 years later i love playing the game

A Bible that was bought for me as a Child by my Granddad, which I cherish as he wrote in the front cover so even more special

All ways wanted,as a child a "Hornby" train set in our local toy shop,watched it running round, in the shop window.Money was tight,so it was the greatest surprise,when it wrapped under the tree at Christmas.The family had paid a small amount each week to buy it for me. i passed it on to my cousin,when i was 16.

My best Christmas present was Subbuteo World cup edition,
it had floodlights and scoreboard, corner flags and many other extra's.

My father was very handy and built my two sisters and me a MAGNIFICENT “jungle Jim/gym” which he and mum put together in the dead of night! I must have been about 6. This was mid-summer, being in the Southern Hemisphere.... we were the envy of all our friends and it lasted well, giving us much pleasure for many years.

My grandparents bought me a Barbie doll and my Grandad made a wardrobe and bed for her and my Nan made hangers out of pipe cleaners and knitted a wardrobe full of clothes for her and made frilly bed linen .. I played for hours with it.

A nurse's uniform! Oh how I loved to dress up in it and tend to all my dollies. I think the bit I enjoyed most was giving them injections . Malicious little monkey I was, obviously

My best Christmas present was a doll called Susan. I still have her, along with some of her original clothes. Played with by three generations!

When I was little, I was known in the family as a tomboy, so there was huge surprise when I asked Santa for a dolly with long curly hair. My delight when Santa obliged, took them all by surprise.

I was around five years old and my dad had been poorly for a while and on sick pay before Christmas so money was tight and out Christmas tree was a couple of lower branches off a large tree which dad had managed to get off someone. My little brother and I weren't bothered though we decorated it any way. Christmas Eve we had a visit from Grandma before we went to bed excited .
I will never forget that Christmas morning instead of our Christmas tree Santa had left us the most beautiful dainty tree all decorated with lights and best of all chocolates hanging all over it . I can still see it now !
Santa had eaten his mince pie and tried to take our old tree up the chimney with him .
It was my best present ever I can't remember the other gifts that year .
My grown up family always want to put our tree up as soon as possible but I always wish they could wait until Christmas Eve to bring back that magic Christmas morning to me .

I had a doll and carrycot from Father Christmas and Mum had made it some clothesand bedding. I wanted to know how she knew what size to make☺
. I loved that doll and carrycot!!

My favourite gift was a big box with individually wrapped cooking equipment including a mixing bowl and a rolling pin all full size as I liked and still like cooking . The items were used for many years.

a typewriter, I adored it and still have it!

A bride doll and cream coach built pram which was proudly taken on two buses (they ran on Christmas Day then) to my aunt’s for Christmas lunch.

The most wonderful dolls house made lovingly by my grandfather. It was a stunning piece of craftsmanship, with upstairs and down stairs,with working electric lights.
All the rooms had wallpaper, carpets, and tiny furniture which was also made by him.
To compliment it my mum had made an entire wardrobe of beautiful dolls clothes to fit the dolls that were to live in the dolls house.

When I was eight I longed for a watch with a brown leather strap,I thought life would be complete if only I could have one. Then at Christmas ‘53 I got one! I remember I couldn’t keep my eyes off my wrist I was so proud. I think that was the same Christmas that I received the book ‘Winter Holiday’ by Arthur Ransome. I still have it, and love it,for me it has kept its magic and is the perfect Christmas read.

Some leather boots when I was 11 which were very expensive and I had no idea they had been bought for me.

I think it has to be my Tressie doll (her hair grows). Tressie gave me hours of play for a very long time. I can even remember knitting her a very trendy purple dress. This is all probably still intact in my mam's loft with the other family childhood toys.

A wooden roll top desk I had when I was six. I hid all my treasures in it and used to sit and read or paint/draw at it as well as playing schools. I had it for years and wish I hadn't parted with it. It was like a memory store.

Age 7 my father had made me a desk with drawers on either side and a blue leather top with gold coloured studs round it. It was magnificent and best of all it was the only one of its kind in the world. It was so I could play “teachers”. How they kept it hidden until Christmas Day I’ll never know, but the smile on my face must have made it all worthwhile.

The Christmas present I remember best from my childhood was a doll’s pram. It was white with a red hood and cover. I just loved it! That wee pram is the reason I have bought a pram each for my 2 DGs for this coming Christmas. I hope they love them as much as I did.