PIECES OF CHRISTMAS

Sloat continues exploring the theme of her previous work, Hark! The Aardvark Angels Sing: A Story of Christmas Mail (2001) with this rhyming story focusing on imaginary postage stamps from cities and countries around the world. The premise is that after Christmas, Santa calls the North Wind to blow all the children’s letters away, and “pieces of Christmas come swirling down” like snow. The tiny torn bits of letters drift down on double-page spreads that include a large image of a postage stamp, most featuring animals, on one page and four lines of rhyming text on the facing page. The rhymes sometimes focus on the animals and sometimes on the country, but the intent is often unclear and the rhyme schemes are variable and often don’t scan well. Some of the stamps are misleading (the Russian stamp says “Russian Christmas” in English, for example), and the rhyme for the US is downright confusing. It shows three possums hanging from their tales in front of the Capitol with the rhyme stating, “On Pennsylvania Avenue, / Possums pray for me and you— / ‘Please bless this world, and bless this town, / And those whose lives are upside down.’ ” Sloat’s imaginary postage stamps are attractive images, but the title, concept, and connection with Santa never coalesce into a real story. (Picture book. 5-8)