Better Watch Out! It's Christmas, David! by David Shannon

AT CHRISTMASTIME, EVERYONE ALWAYS SAID...

NO, DAVID!

David is ready for Christmas--but is Christmas ready for David?

The pre-Christmas season is hard for David, who has always been a proponent of action--NOW! And in those l-o-o-n-g days before Christmas morning, all David hears is his un-favorite word. NO! And his second-most un-favorite word. WAIT!

"NO PEEKING!" mom says when David climbs up to see what is inside those tantalizingly wrapped presents on the top shelf of the closet.

"Those are NOT toys!" his mom says as David pulls out their treasured tree ornaments and joyfully begins to decorate himself with them.

Open just ONE present early? Not a chance.

"Be PATIENT!" he is urged, as David waits in a very long line to see Santa Claus and read his very long wish list to a weary Santa who has heard it all before.

And worst of all is the oft-repeated warning: "Santa is going to bring you a lump of coal."

On Christmas Eve night, David is sent to bed and ordered to go to sleep, but like all kids everywhere, sleep doesn't come easily. David sneaks out of bed in his Christmas pjs and looks longingly at the night sky for a glimpse of Santa's sleigh. Finally, when he does drift off to dreamland, he dreams that he finds the dreaded letter and lump of coal under his tree:

DEAR DAVID,

SORRY.

YOU WERE NAUGHTY!

LOVE,
SANTA CLAUS

Of course, his ever-loving mom wakes David in the middle of this nightmare.

YOU WERE DREAMING, DAVID!

YES, DAVID. IT'S CHRISTMAS!

Despite his harum-scarum small-boy ways, David Shannon's delightful namesake is a welcome guest this Christmas in his latest addition to this series, It's Christmas, David! (Blue Sky Press, 2010). With his signature inkpen and mixed-media caricature style and his realistic first-grade-style hand-printed text, Shannon's David is everyboy just before Christmas, and kids familiar with the other books will love sharing the pre-Christmas excitement with him.

Shannon's earlier books include the earlier best-selling No, David!, David Gets in Trouble, and David Goes To School and their short but sweet prequels, the Diaper David series.