Santa Claus delivers many presents to the children of New York City in a slight story with too many words and too many changes of type size.
On Christmas Eve, Santa and his team of reindeer get lost in a blizzard outside New York City. (Children will be sure to notice that there are only six reindeer in this interpretation.) When Santa’s navigation system fails, the youngest reindeer hears the bells of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and leads the team down toward the city. After getting stuck on top of the Empire State Building, Santa and the team stop in Central Park and then deliver presents to all five boroughs. Attractive watercolor-and-pencil illustrations create a distinct personality for Santa and his elves and provide some dramatic nighttime views of the Manhattan skyline. Dunn provides varied perspectives in the illustrations, with many snowy airborne and rooftop scenes. The story is overenthusiastic and a little wordy, with too many New York attractions shoveled into the text. The major drawback is the excessive use of enlarged type and additional display type throughout the text, which loses any special effect through overuse.
While this title may be of interest mainly to children in the New York City area, it is one of a series that takes Santa to other cities and regions in the United States and includes the generic Santa Is Coming to My House. (Picture book. 4-7)
