by Liz Rosenberg & illustrated by John Clapp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002
Christmas Eve isn’t always a time of calm, peace, and perfect plans. Sometimes a family is traveling to another destination and complications ensue, as is the case with this short, touching story by Rosenberg (17: A Novel in Prose Poems, p. 1318, etc.). The unnamed first-person narrator looks back to a snowy Christmas Eve when he was four or five and on the way to his aunt’s house with his parents, older brother, and baby sister. A snowstorm forces the family to stop for the night at a roadside motel with a star on its sign (and as luck would have it, there is room at this inn). The moody, dark illustrations, both in colors and in feeling, effectively show the disappointed children and the exhausted parents trying to do their best. Will Santa miss them in their snowbound motel? As the mother in the story says, “He always finds a way.” The young narrator wakes in the middle of the night in time to hear the bells, see the reindeer, and meet Santa himself. Clapp’s (The Prince of Butterflies, p. 332) stunning illustrations make readers into believers: in one spread that is pure magic, the child’s face is lit with joy as Santa flings toys and packages into the room, each gift surrounded by golden light. Another memorable spread shows Santa pointing at the starry sky, where mysterious, misty letters spell out the beginnings of Christmas wishes. The understated text, nighttime setting, and varied perspectives will remind many of Van Allsburg’s Polar Express, but this Christmas Eve tale creates a magic all its own. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7613-1627-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2023
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
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Emma Gillette & Andy Elkerton
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by Erin Guendelsberger ; illustrated by Elizaveta Tretyakova ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2020
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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