An aerial view of Santa in mid-flight on the cover of this large-format pop-up book draws the reader into the story from the start. Sitting next to Santa in his sparkly red sleigh is a little boy and his cat, peering down at their snow-covered house far below. Santa has chosen Sam to be his helper on Christmas Eve because the boy politely wrote to Santa offering him a Christmas gift. They fly around the world together delivering presents and then stop off at Santa’s North Pole workshop so Sam can meet the elves. Traditionally illustrated spreads alternate with pop-up scenes of Sam’s holiday preparations, with one particularly well-engineered spread of Santa and his sleigh arriving at Sam’s house to fetch him for the Christmas Eve journey. The final scene is a pop-up version of Santa’s workshop with 3-D windows allowing a different view of Santa, Sam and the elves. The story is a little too long and a little too earnest, but fans of pop-up books will enjoy the engineering effort. (Pop-up picture book. 4-7)
