Funny and fun with a fundamental, if not fatal, flaw.
A babe in toyland spells trouble for Christmas.
Poor Santa is struggling with major burnout at the beginning of this laugh-out-loud Christmas book. Stutzman’s skillful, witty turns of phrase and Fox’s uproarious comic illustrations depict a decidedly old St. Nick. The opening pages are so strong and funny it’s a shame to see a textual misstep when, just before Christmas, a weary Santa who seems ready to throw in the towel frets that “all the children in the entire world were counting on him.” Most children reading this book will undoubtedly be among those who celebrate Christmas; but it does neither them nor others any good to reinforce Christmas as universally celebrated. Such textual erasure of non-Christian children may undermine the story’s playful tone for some readers when Santa summons Christmas magic to make him young again. His wish comes true to an extreme degree, and the North Pole is left in the tiny hands of his transformed, titular Santa Baby self. Seeing his ineptitude (he can’t even say “Ho Ho Ho!”), the elves initially fear Christmas will be cancelled, but they rally around Santa Baby, who also gets help from a bighearted child in one of the homes they eventually visit. By the book’s end Santa is restored to his status as jolly old elf, and Christmas is saved. Santa presents White, and the elves are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.5% of actual size.)
Funny and fun with a fundamental, if not fatal, flaw. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-25561-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)
Wallace and Elkerton continue their series about catching elusive mythical creatures (How to Catch a Leprechaun, 2016, etc.) with this Christmas story about an elf who must avoid traps constructed by children before Santa’s annual visit.
The unnamed elf narrator is the sole helper traveling with Santa on his delivery rounds on Christmas Eve, with each house featuring a different type of trap for elves. The spunky elf avoids a mechanical “elf snatcher,” hidden in a plate of cookies, as well as simple traps made of tinsel, double-sided tape, and a cardboard box concealing a mean-looking cat. Another trap looks like a bomb hidden in a box of candy, and a complicated trap in a maze has an evil cowboy clown with a branding iron, leading to the elf’s cry, “Hey, you zapped my tushy!” The bomb trap and the branding iron seem to push the envelope of child-made inventions. The final trap is located in a family grocery store that’s booby-trapped with a “Dinner Cannon” shooting out food, including a final pizza that the elf and Santa share. The singsong, rhyming text has a forced cheeriness, full of golly-jolly-holly Christmas spirit and too many exclamation marks, as well as rhyming word pairs that miss the mark. (No, little elf-boy, “smarter” and “harder” do not rhyme.) Bold, busy illustrations in a cartoon style have a cheeky appeal with a focus on the freckle-faced white elf with auburn curls and a costume with a retro vibe. (Santa is also white.)
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4631-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
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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