The Sheep That Saved Christmas: Russell's Christmas Magic by Rob Scotton

'Twas the night before Christmas in Frogbottom Field.

Not a creature was stirring except for... Russell.

As he was hanging the very last lantern on the old tree, a shooting star caught his eye.

Closer and closer it came, brighter and brighter, and then...WHOOOSH!

The shooting star snuffed out the lanterns and came down somewhere in Firefly Wood.

Russell the sheep is sure he's witnessed a celestial event, but upon investigation he finds that it's a stellar event that's even worse--it's Santa and he's been grounded! It seems that a mechanical failure has brought down his sleigh and with it the Christmas spell that makes him invisible to mortals. It looks like this Christmas is cancelled until further notice. What's a Santa to do?

But Russell is nothing if not resourceful. Digging a rusty old wreck of a convertible car out of the snowdrifts, he sets to work with his trusty tool chest, hammering and sawing away with a will. Before Santa knows it, he sees before him a refurbished sleigh, fashioned from the old car's body and Santa's old sleigh runners.

"It's a work of genius," Santa gushed.

Hitching up his coursers, Santa invites Russell to take a trial run with him, and Russell then finds himself riding along as they deliver presents to children everywhere in the blink of an eye. Back at Frogbottom Field, Russell is dropped off with a special tree ornament from Santa which begins to glow magically with the brilliance of the Northern Lights just as Santa whisks away with a "Merry Christmas to you!"

Russell's Christmas Magic, the latest in British author-illustrator Rob Scotton's Russell the Sheep series, gives the artist's highly stylized graphic mode a chance to shine in this version of the staple "stranded Santa" story line. Other picture books in this popular series are Russell the Sheep (Book and Audio CD) (Paperback) and Russell and the Lost Treasure.