THIS IS NOT A CHRISTMAS BOOK* (*THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT ROCKS)

Christmas imagery distracts readers from a reptile’s lecture on rocks.

A bespectacled orange-and-green lizard, who is hanging out in a snow-covered rocky landscape, wants to make something clear: “This is NOT a Christmas book….This is a book about rocks.” For this reason, the lizard is none too pleased with what’s going on “over there. Behind the ninth piece of granite on the right. With the pointy ears and the pointy hat and the pointy shoes. Gasp! I think that might be an ELF!” The lizard tries to head off the problem—“Hey! You! Elf! This is NOT a Christmas book”—but the yellow-skinned imp feels otherwise. The story has a seek-and-find element, with Christmas motifs popping up, often in the shape of rocks; meanwhile, the lizard continues the campaign to sell readers on the glory of rocks (“Up next, we have some sandstone….Wow, right?”). The hilariously exasperated, fourth wall–breaking, single-minded lizard is reminiscent of Mo Willems’ Pigeon, but the chunky, carefully composed digital art is Collet-Derby’s own. The tension between the lizard and the elf is reflected in the contrast between the book’s grayscale natural landscape and Christmas’ unstoppable full-color assault. And yes, the lizard finally submits to the lure of Christmas when a certain red-suited someone gives our protagonist a gift that only a lizard—at least this lizard—could love.

A meta Yuletide riot.