Santa Paws? The Animals' Santa by Jan Brett

IT'S YOUR FIRST CHRISTMAS EVER, LITTLE SNOW."

THE ANIMALS' SANTA COMES TONIGHT," BIG SNOWSHOE TOLD HIS LITTLE BROTHER.

"I THINK YOU ARE FOOLING ME," SAID LITTLE SNOW.

The little snowshoe hare is skeptical. Who could this Santa be? Hasn't anyone ever found his tracks? Somebody must have seen him!

Little Shoe sets out on a fact-finding mission. He interviews Porcupine, Squirrel, Raven, and Arctic Fox, who describe how the gifts just seemed to drop from above for them. They each have their own ideas--from a mouse to a white wolf--but Little Shoe thinks they are all wrong. And he's going to prove it.

Meanwhile Big Snowshoe decides it is time to put up some Christmas decorations, and breaking the ice on the stream, he hangs the frozen shards from the fir branches to make Yuletide wind chimes. It's all quite lovely, but Little Shoe sees no trace of this animals' Santa anywhere.

BUT SUDDENLY A BUNDLE OF FRESH CLOVER FALLS AT HIS FEET!

A year without a new Jan Brett holiday story is like a winter without a snowflake, and this year we're in luck with Brett's latest, The Animals' Santa (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2014).  Filled with her painstakingly detailed draftsmanship  and glorious colors set against the whitest of snowfalls, this latest Brett tale tells the old story of the little doubter who sets out to prove who or what Santa really is. With her trademark foreshadowing borders decorating each delightful page, this is yet another great story to join her many Christmas classics, Home for Christmas, The Wild Christmas Reindeer, Christmas Trolls, The Night Before Christmas, Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? and The Twelve Days of Christmas, to cite some of Brett's many holiday gifts to children.

In the Stable: An Otis Christmas by Loren Long

IT WAS WINTER TIME ON THE FARM, WHERE THE FRIENDLY LITTLE TRACTOR NAMED OTIS LIVED.

SNOW COVERED THE HILLS, CHURCH BELLS RANG THROUGH THE COLD WINTRY VALLEY, AND CHRISTMAS WAS ALMOST HERE.

And to make things perfect, the farmer gives Otis his Christmas present, a shiny brass horn, early on Christmas Eve. Now Otis has a horn just like his friend the truck. Chuff chuff puff puttedy beep beep HONK!

It's a perfect Christmas Eve, until Otis wakes in the middle of the night to hear voices from the mare's stall near where he is parked. She is expecting a foal and things are not going well:

"WE NEED DOC BAKER!"

The roads are too drifted and icy for the truck to go for the doctor. Otis knows that only he can make it through the woods to Doc Baker's house and get him back to the barn in time to save the mare and her foal.

After many snowdrifts to overcome and a perilous slippery slope along the way, the little tractor finally puffs up at the good doctor's darkened house. Otis revs his engine and flashes his lights desperately. But there is no reaction from Doc Baker, still sleeping inside.

And then, just in time, Otis remembers his new horn, in Loren Long's latest tale of his doughty little tractor, An Otis Christmas (Philomel, 2013). Long's mega-charming artwork, with his palette of midwinter blues and the little tractor's old-fashioned, faded red and cream paint, lights up this familiar plotline with a fond glow that warms even the old barn with a Christmas radiance, as the new Christmas foal, with a white star on its forehead, watches the sun come up with his mother and Otis on Christmas Day.

Long's other Otis stories include Otis, Otis and the Puppy, and Otis and the Tornado. (See reviews here.)

Meet the Prince!: Ella Ballerina and the Nutcracker by James Mayhew

ELLA BALLERINA’S BALLET CLASS WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN.  OUTSIDE THE OLD THEATER IT HAD STARTED TO SNOW, WHILE INSIDE, THE CHILDREN WERE VERY EXCITED.

“IT’S THE PERFECT WEATHER FOR TODAY’S LESSON,” SMILED MADAME ROSA, LEADING THEM TO THE STAGE.

On the stage is a glittering tree, and the students are surprised to begin their warm-up on stage with holiday scenery, but with a mysterious smile, Madame Rosa motions for them to follow her backstage, all the while relating the story of the Nutcracker and Clara’s visit to a fairy kingdom.

“I’D LOVE TO TELL YOU MORE OF THE STORY, BUT THEN  WE WOULDN’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SURPRISE.... FOLLOW ME!”

“A PARTY!” GASPED THE CHILDREN.

Beautifully decorated tables laden with Christmas treats await them, and the students are delighted, but then Madame Rosa remembers something left behind.

“ELLA BALLERINA, WOULD YOU FETCH THE MUSIC BOX?” SHE ASKED.

“THEN WE CAN HAVE SOME MUSIC FOR DANCING AT OUR PARTY!”

Ella hurries back into the darkened theater for the music box, but can’t resist opening it to hear that tinkling music that reminds her of the snowflakes outside. But when she does, she notices a figure under the tree, that of an older girl in a white nightdress, clutching a large nutcracker, and just waking up. She tells Ella her name is Clara and begins to tell her a story that sounds so familiar, how her mischievous brother Fritz has broken the clever nutcracker her uncle had given her. Then suddenly Ella notices something frightful.

"WE ARE SURROUNDED BY MICE!”

As so Ella finds herself part of the story of the Nutcracker as she and Clara defeat the Mouse King, release the Prince from the evil spell, and travel with him to the Land of Sweets for a whirlwind tour led by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

James Mayhew’s just-out installment in his ballet series, Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker (Barron’s, 2012) introduces young ballet fans to the famous Christmas ballet that all young dancers yearn for this time of year. Mayhew’s lovely watercolor illustrations set just the right fanciful tone for this dreamlike reenactment of the well-known story, the wonders of the land of the nutcracker king
as seen by a young ballerina like themselves.

Other books in this series include Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella, Ella Bella Ballerina and Swan Lake, and Ella Bella Ballerina and The Sleeping Beauty, a collection that is sure to delight balletomane fans of Marilyn Singer’s Tallulah books and Grace Maccarone’s Miss Lina's Ballerinas series.

Not a Creature Is Stirring: The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood

It's just before Christmas and all through the land . . . 
What do we hear?

Well, there are plenty of sounds to be heard everywhere--jolly songs about jingly bells and geese getting fat, soaring songs about ringing bells and heavenly hosts, the gabble and giggles of class parties,  the blare and boom of holiday parades, the oohs and ahhs and applause for lights suddenly shining on tall trees.

But what about Christmas quiet?

SEARCHING FOR PRESENTS QUIET

LISTENING FOR SLEIGH BELLS QUIET

TRYING TO STAY AWAKE QUIET

Deborah Underwood's newest, The Christmas Quiet Book (Houghton Mifflin, 2012) listens deep into the holiday time for those precious quiet moments that often pass without reflection but in themselves have so much meaning.

There's the quiet of looking out the window and wishing for a nice, slow snow day, the painful quiet in the audience when someone forgets his lines in the pageant, the muffled sound that knocking on doors with woolly mittens makes, the momentary awe when the town Christmas tree lights are first turned on, the shocked silence when  something blows and the tree goes dark, the quiet of reading by the fireside at night, and the hush and slush of ice skates on the smooth ice.

While parents might prefer Underwood's book to end with that last, late-night quiet on Christmas Eve, with the tree glowing and all the presents finally spread beneath it to wait for that early morning joy, kids will appreciate her final page showing the surprised quiet just before the whoops of fun as presents are opened and new toys discovered. Underwood's spare, poetic word choices in the text are well set off by artist Renata Liwska's subdued and soft-focus illustrations of little rabbit, bear, and mole children sharing the rare but wonderful quiet times of Christmas. There are plenty of noisy stories for the holiday season, but this book reminds us that there are always some quiet times to treasure as well.

Companion books by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska are The Quiet Book and The Loud Book!

Heartwarming: Heart of a Snowman by Mary Kuryla and Eugene Yelchin

Owen knew that at the heart of a snowman is a perfect snowball. To make a perfect snowball, you need the powdery kind of snow that's a touch melty.

"You make the best snowman," says his little sister. "His eyes are looking at me."

"But how will you keep him warm?"

"He does need to be warm," said Owen. "He's cold all the way through."

"But he's warm inside," she said, sure of it.

Owen shapes his snowman with artistry, perfect spheres of snow, finishing it off with his little sister's scarf, old and soft and full of holes, which drapes warmly around the snowman's neck.

But despite his care, Owen's Christmas Eve snowmen always begin to melt by Christmas Day. Determined to discover the cause this time, Owen lies awake to watch, only to see an amazing sight, a strange craft which hovers over his snowman and begins to beam it up. Owen barely manages to grab his snowman as it slides into the vehicle's port, and Owen finds himself among a strange group of animals, all studiously devoted to dissecting his snowman--carrot nose, button eyes, right down to the threads in the scarf and the branches on each snowflake inside, all in the interests of building the perfect snowman. Owen thinks he has at least solved the mystery of why his snowmen always melt on Christmas.

"Everybody thinks the sun melts snowmen, but you're wrong. Snowmen are just brought here."

But, as Owen explains to these scientifically minded rabbits and puffins, the secret lies not in the de-construction and physical perfection of the parts, but at the heart of the snowman himself.

"I'll show you how." Owen scooped up a handful of snow. He held the snow until it got a touch melty from the warmth of his hand. Now the snow rolled nicely into a round ball.

At last the alien creatures get it. Perfect carrots, perfect scarves, perfect coals from the fire, perfect snowflakes are not the secret of the best snowmen.

"When a boy makes a snowman, he gives it a heart," said the puffin. "It gets so warm inside, the snowman can't last."

Back home, Owen pulls his little sister on his sled to the site of his snowman.

"Look, your snowman melted," she said.

"Don't you know it's not the sun that melts the snowman?" said Owen.

"I know," said his sister.

Owen retrieved her scarf. His sister noticed the scarf was woven like new. "That's all right," she said, wrapping it around her. "I'll have it comfy by next Christmas."

A stunningly illustrated wintry tale, Yelchin's and Kuryla's recent Heart of a Snowman (HarperCollins, 2009) is a layered fantasy like Raymond Brigg's modern classic, The Snowman, with which it shares a theme, that the meaning of a snowman is not the impermanent object which is fashioned, but the experience of imagination and artistry, the human touch of creation itself which is what endures. It's a strong and complex theme, possibly too deep for its intended audience to comprehend fully at first reading, but one that will perhaps remain, like the warmth of the human hand which shapes the snowman's core, to warm their understanding in another time.

Hogging the Spotlight: Olivia Acts Out by Jodie Shepherd

"I have some exciting news," announced Olivia's teacher, Mrs. Hoggenmuller.

"Our class play this year will be "The Fairy Queen!"

"And I will play the Fairy Queen," Olivia whispered to her friend Julian.

Olivia, that perennially perky porker, cannot believe her ears when Mrs. Hoggenmuller continues with the announcement that Francine--FRANCINE!--will play the Fairy Queen. To add insult to injury, Olivia waits for her role until there are only two left. Julian is happy with his non-speaking role as Tree, but Olivia is devastated with her part--COW NUMBER TWO. Not even Cow Number One! And the part has only one line--MOO. What can a born actress do with a line like that?

At home her dad listens sympathetically and then offers one bit of stage advice:

"Just remember: it's not what you say; it's how you say it."

Olivia is not reassured. After all, how many ways are there to say MOO? She tries out a few variations: full voice: MOO! soft and low: moo. plaintive: m-o-0-0--0-0-0! No good. This line just doesn't allow for much range. Olivia pins her hopes on Francine's failure. Francine does get rattled when Julian, allergic to his tree costume, keeps sneezing in the middle of her big lines. Maybe, just maybe, Olivia can be the understudy who goes on to save the show. "Don't worry," she confides to Mrs. Hoggenmuller. "I know every line and gesture."

But that doesn't happen. Francine forges on through rehearsal after rehearsal, and Olivia despairs of stardom until a chance remark by Julian gives her a great idea.

"What have cows EVER done that's interesting?" Olivia moans.

"Well," said Julian, "there was that one cow that jumped over the moon."

Suddenly Olivia's got it. If she doesn't have any great lines, there's always stage craft, and suddenly she has an idea for an over-the-moon bit of stage business that will steal the show right out from under Francine's queenly trotters!

Jodie Shepherd's adaptation of the screenplay, Olivia Acts Out, (Simon and Schuster, 2009)(based on the Nickelodeon production featuring Ian Falconer's character) gives the effervescent Olivia her spot in the limelight, in an ending which will delight young readers. Equipping herself a la Peter Pan, Olivia accompanies her one MOOO! with a show-stopping leap, landing just in time to take a bow, center stage, with Francine AND get the last line.

THE END!

Olivia is nothing if not a born diva, and kids will enjoy her attempts to steal the show, even if they themselves, like Julian, would prefer an anonymous tree costume between them and the footlights. And don't forget Falconer's 2008 sweet and saucy Olivia Helps with Christmas (Olivia Series). These great stories, along with the charming Olivia in Classic Red Dress Doll, make a great stocking stuffer this year.

Packin' It In: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro

There was a kids' author whose name was Lucille,
Who for greedy old ladies had quite a feel.
Whether bell or bat or shell or snow,
There's no gustatory challenge where she won't go.

(So for strange holiday cravings, call Ms. Colandro.)

And for the Santa season, the symbols of Christmas are not off limits to Lucille Colandro's favorite old lady's appetite either.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bell!
How it jingled and jangled and tickled as well!

Now I don't know why
She swallowed a bell.
I wish she'd tell!

Surrounded by plenty of fluffy snowflakes and festive greenery, the capacious old lady puts away bows, gifts, a sack, a sleigh, and some reindeer in short order.

There was an old lady who swallowed some reindeer,
Those reindeer in full gear, those soaring reindeer!
She swallowed the reindeer to steer the sleigh.
She swallowed the sleigh to carry the pack,
She swallowed the pack.
It was easy to pack, a very big sack.

The seasonal symbols all go down smoothly, until the the old lady gets a yen for a candy cane treat to top it all off.

But when she heard a jolly "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
She knew it was time for her to go.
So she whistled loudly and soon by her side
Was Santa Claus waiting for a ride.

The old lady whistled up everything she had swallowed, now all neatly pre-packed in Santa's sack and loaded on the sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. With a "Happy Holidays to All," the old lady and old St. Nick are off into the Christmas sky.

Famed illustrator Jared Lee (known for his illustrations for the wildly popular The Teacher from the Black Lagoon series) provides his comic googly-eyed characters to keep the jollity coming in merry measure. To all kids familiar with the "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly" folk song, Lucille Colandro's There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bell! is as welcome as the first signs of Christmas coming