Spaceship Santa: Aliens Love Panta Claus by Claire Freedman

The aliens are excited,
For tomorrow’s Christmas Day,
So instead of stealing underpants,
They’re giving them away!

Those aliens who were besotted with briefs, doting on drawers, and wild about underwear are back just in time for a Christmas Eve caper with their favorite saint, Panta Claus. No they're won't be filling those stockings with sugar plums or passing out dollies or skateboards. It's underthings in jolly Christmas colors for everyone this year in Claire Freedman's latest undergarment undertaking, Aliens Love Panta Claus (Aladdin Books, 2011).

The usual helpers, those little green-jacketed workshop elves, get to take the night off, as Santa, er, Panta Claus, takes off with the lingerie-loving green aliens riding shotgun in their flying saucer. And when this Kris Kringle has a crash with his sleigh and reindeer, it's a spaceship for St. Nick, as he has to hitch a handy ride with the aliens with their load of unmentionables on board. The alien pilots manage to hover and land deftly on snow-capped roofs and other domiciles around the globe and even loan their hero some waistband elastic on which to rappel down the really tall chimneys.

The aliens follow Santa
As he tiptoes to each bed.
They take down the stockings,
And tie up underwear instead.

For waking kids who find their Christmas trees trimmed with underthings, our British author and illustrator have their aliens leave behind a cheery Cockney-accented note: "Aliens wuz 'ere!"

For fans of their previously published chuckle-fests, Aliens Love Underpants! (Book & CD) and Dinosaurs Love Underpants, Freedman and Cort have another winner. And who wouldn't ho-ho-ho a bit at this silly seasonal story in rhyme, augmented by Ben Cort's now familiar comic portrayals of undie-loving extraterrestrials sporting brightly-colored briefs. So... here's my, um, brief versified review:

With aliens on Santa's midnight ride,
There'll be cause for plenty of snickers,
'Cause what kid wouldn't get the giggles,
When aliens pass out the knickers?

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL TIGHTY WHITIES!