A BIT OF APPLAUSE FOR MRS. CLAUS
By Susie Schick-Pierce , Jeannie Schick-Jacobowitz , Muffin Drake-Policastro , Wendy Wallin Malinow
Age Range: 3 - 6
A slight story about Mrs. Claus and her efforts to fill in for Santa when he gets sick on Christmas Eve.
A family team of two sisters and one of their daughters created this short, mildly amusing story about Mrs. Claus rushing about the North Pole to get everything ready for the big night. (A previously published version by this team with the same title focused on Mrs. Claus on the day after Christmas.) This time she answers letters to Santa, trims the trees and decks the halls, bakes cookies and wraps presents with the help of the elves. Just as the reindeer are hitched up to the sleigh, Santa reappears in time to deliver the toys himself. The unspoken subtext is that Mrs. Claus (read: moms of the world) have to work at warp speed to pull off the Christmas carnival and thus deserve some praise. The brief rhyming text has some logic issues: Why would Mrs. Claus need to answer children’s letters to Santa on Christmas Eve? Whose trees and halls does she decorate? Charming watercolor illustrations in candy-bright colors include decorative borders full of ornamental Christmas details, and Mrs. Claus has a delightful spiral beehive hairdo, but the cheery art doesn’t offset the less-than-innovative text.
Just a bit of applause for this one. (Picture book. 3-6)