A fresh take on Santa’s reindeer and their imaginary lives at the North Pole.
Santa tucks each reindeer in bed for a night of restful sleep before their important journey around the world.
The rhyming story opens with a nighttime scene of the reindeer—the familiar, named ones from Dasher through Rudolph—engaged in a snowball fight when Santa and Mrs. Claus call them in. The anthropomorphized reindeer have their own bedrooms in their house at the North Pole, complete with beds, toys, and modern possessions such as an e-reader for Blitzen and a drum set and electric guitar for Cupid. Santa stops at each bedroom to say good night to each reindeer by name, with an added phrase describing that reindeer’s special talent or interest. Dancer wears ballet shoes, Comet’s room is decorated with models of planets, and Rudolph seems to be reading under the covers using his built-in light. Mr. and Mrs. Claus are white; one of their elves and a doll have brown skin. The rhyming text is catchy and humorous, although two of the rhyming word pairs are near misses (hooves/shoes and elves/bells). The story has echoes of Goodnight Moon in its bidding goodnight to items in bedrooms and in an illustration of a golden moon shining down on the waiting sleigh. Dark, atmospheric illustrations have a surrealistic vibe, mysterious and just short of scary.
A fresh take on Santa’s reindeer and their imaginary lives at the North Pole. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-58536-370-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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