Funny and fun with a fundamental, if not fatal, flaw.
A babe in toyland spells trouble for Christmas.
Poor Santa is struggling with major burnout at the beginning of this laugh-out-loud Christmas book. Stutzman’s skillful, witty turns of phrase and Fox’s uproarious comic illustrations depict a decidedly old St. Nick. The opening pages are so strong and funny it’s a shame to see a textual misstep when, just before Christmas, a weary Santa who seems ready to throw in the towel frets that “all the children in the entire world were counting on him.” Most children reading this book will undoubtedly be among those who celebrate Christmas; but it does neither them nor others any good to reinforce Christmas as universally celebrated. Such textual erasure of non-Christian children may undermine the story’s playful tone for some readers when Santa summons Christmas magic to make him young again. His wish comes true to an extreme degree, and the North Pole is left in the tiny hands of his transformed, titular Santa Baby self. Seeing his ineptitude (he can’t even say “Ho Ho Ho!”), the elves initially fear Christmas will be cancelled, but they rally around Santa Baby, who also gets help from a bighearted child in one of the homes they eventually visit. By the book’s end Santa is restored to his status as jolly old elf, and Christmas is saved. Santa presents White, and the elves are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.5% of actual size.)
Funny and fun with a fundamental, if not fatal, flaw. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-25561-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)
Wallace and Elkerton continue their series about catching elusive mythical creatures (How to Catch a Leprechaun, 2016, etc.) with this Christmas story about an elf who must avoid traps constructed by children before Santa’s annual visit.
The unnamed elf narrator is the sole helper traveling with Santa on his delivery rounds on Christmas Eve, with each house featuring a different type of trap for elves. The spunky elf avoids a mechanical “elf snatcher,” hidden in a plate of cookies, as well as simple traps made of tinsel, double-sided tape, and a cardboard box concealing a mean-looking cat. Another trap looks like a bomb hidden in a box of candy, and a complicated trap in a maze has an evil cowboy clown with a branding iron, leading to the elf’s cry, “Hey, you zapped my tushy!” The bomb trap and the branding iron seem to push the envelope of child-made inventions. The final trap is located in a family grocery store that’s booby-trapped with a “Dinner Cannon” shooting out food, including a final pizza that the elf and Santa share. The singsong, rhyming text has a forced cheeriness, full of golly-jolly-holly Christmas spirit and too many exclamation marks, as well as rhyming word pairs that miss the mark. (No, little elf-boy, “smarter” and “harder” do not rhyme.) Bold, busy illustrations in a cartoon style have a cheeky appeal with a focus on the freckle-faced white elf with auburn curls and a costume with a retro vibe. (Santa is also white.)
A forgettable effort that fails to capture any of the magical charm of Santa’s story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4631-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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