In the third story in a series about Russell the sheep, he comes to Santa’s aid and saves Christmas through his inventiveness and hard work. Russell, still wearing his impossibly long, blue-and-white-striped stocking cap, is lighting the lanterns hanging on a forest tree on Christmas Eve with his faithful frog sidekick while the other sheep sleep. When Santa and the reindeer have an unfortunate crash in the nearby woods, their sleigh is broken beyond repair, and Santa thinks he must cancel Christmas. Russell springs into action, locating, renovating and painting an old wrecked car to create a new sleigh in time to join Santa for the rest of his Christmas Eve flight. (How the helpful sheep completed this project in such a short time must have been some sort of holiday magic.) Russell is a comical character with bulgy, expressive eyes and a winning, can-do attitude, and his unusual hat defies all the laws of physics. Scotton’s whimsical illustrations, lit with a misty, blue-gray light, have an edgy charm unusual in Christmas stories. Kids will like the shiny, red roadster-sleigh, which has much more style than the standard model. (Picture book. 3-7)
