Irving Berlin’s famous holiday song from the 1940s forms the text for this dreamlike interpretation. The cover illustration shows a huge snow globe filled with fantasy characters: Santa, elves, reindeer, a polar bear and a mysterious snow monster. As the words to the song unfold, these characters interact with fairies and animals in snowy landscapes that appear to be the world within the snow globe. There is virtually no connection between the words of the song and what is happening on the page, as in a dream when things don’t quite make sense. Hague’s characters have an old-fashioned appeal, but some look depressed or unhappy, and there are a couple of ice monsters that are downright scary. This isn’t a Christmas celebration “just like the ones I used to know.” (music included) (Picture book. 5-9)
