Not very nice.
Some advice for pulling the wool over Santa’s helpers’ eyes.
While the trademarked Elf on the Shelf isn’t explicitly mentioned, its all-seeing power is clearly referenced in this story about helping children stay off Santa’s naughty list. Worried kids with a range of skin tones and hair colors are addressed by the text, which asks, “what if you could trick [the elf] so that you can sneak a look? Maybe you can change his mind…and what goes in his book!” Elf distraction is the goal, and the rhyming couplets say that the best way to divert an elf’s attention is to “construct a tiny Christmas sleigh that only he could fly.” Subsequent spreads give step-by-step instructions and materials suggestions for the project, ultimately providing a guide for readers to build their own sleighs to distract the elves that spy from their shelves. In a twist at the end, the elf is so delighted by the sleigh that he rewards the children by affirming that they are on the nice list. A letter addressed to them, not a list after all, provides this affirmation, but it also could be read as suggesting bribery as a good strategy for niceness. This stance undermines the culminating message that “giving from your heart…[is] what good people do” since the children clearly had ulterior motives for their sleigh building.
Not very nice. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5107-4430-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
In the market for an understated Christmas classic? Behold! A Christmas miracle!
A dynamic picture-book duo turn their attention to one of the great mysteries of our time.
For those literal-minded children out there, this book serves to answer some essential questions about basic Santa-related logistics. We all know that Santa is supposed to go down the chimney to deliver gifts, but how? “Does he cinch up his belt? Or shrink himself down to the size of a mouse?” That particular speculation is accompanied by an image of a small Santa standing on the edge of a chimney looking down into the abyss. Synched perfectly with Barnett’s gentle yet hilarious questions and often silly propositions (“Or does he slip through the pipes and come out of your faucet?”), Klassen’s tan-skinned Santa is as funny and expressionless as a bearded Buster Keaton. Curiosity runs wild as Barnett ponders everything from Santa doing the laundry in children’s basements to his ability to get along with every household dog he meets, while Klassen’s there to bring each possibility to life. Don’t look for any definitive answers in this story, though. As the last line states, “Santa goes up the chimney the same way he comes down. And I have no idea how Santa does that. But I’m so glad he can.” For all that it leans heavily on absurdity, this book exhibits some serious heart. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
In the market for an understated Christmas classic? Behold! A Christmas miracle! (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781536223767
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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