Endeerments!: Our Little Deer by Sandra Magsamen

YOU'RE A GIFT TO US

IN SO MANY WAYS.



A little one in the house is a joy during the holiday season, a gift we have given ourselves.  But what to put in the little one's stocking?

Sandra Magsamen's latest offering, Our Little Deer (Earesistables) (Scholastic Press, 2016), is great for the youngest ones in the house, a book which sparkles like the Christmas lights that this little deer gets tangled in his antlers, as it introduces wordplay between the words "dear" and "deer."

There are plenty of endearments for the little one, as Mom and Dad share loving thoughts and wishes for a merry holiday season, and the plushy, three-dimensional antlers, which will no doubt serve as handles, make this little board book a cuddly, snuggly, lovey little lapsit holiday gift to share.

Stocking Stuffer: Reindeer Are Better Than People (Frozen) illustrated by Jerrod Maruyama

When I need a friend....

When Kristoff from Frozen, needs a real friend, one who is strong and can be counted on, who's he gonna call?

There are lots of candidates. Anna is funny and faithful.

Elsa has magic which can make it snow.

And Olaf, the silly snowman, is surely sweet, from his orange nose down to his snowy feet.

But... take it from Kristhoff...

Reindeer are better, and the best is Sven!

Just right for the coming Yuletide is Disney's board book for the youngest Frozen fans featuring Sven the Reindeer, complete with felt antlers well stuffed with fluff, for topping off stockings with some plush punch, in Frozen Reindeers are Better than People (Disney Frozen) (Disney Enterprises, 2015). Perfect for the preschool set, pair this one with Disney's Olaf's 1-2-3 (Disney Frozen) (Glitter Board Book) for a Frozen fest!

Stocking Stuffer: Baby Reindeer (Finger Puppet) by Yu-Husan Hoang

WHEN BABY REINDEER WAKES UP, HE SHAKES HIS THICK COAT AND TAKES A DEEP BREATH.

Little folks can follow this baby reindeer though the day, from wake-up time to his breakfast, the lichens which Papa Reindeer digs from under the snow with his sharp hooves.

Then the little one hears Mama calling him to run across the tundra to her for his reindeer lesson for the day, swimming across an icy river.

And finally it grows dark, and Baby Reindeer snuggles sleepily into Mama Reindeer's warm shaggy fur for her goodnight nuzzle and kiss.

In a winsome and inexpensive little stocking stuffer for the very young, Yu-Husan Hoang's charming miniature board book, Baby Reindeer: Finger Puppet Book (Little Finger Puppet Board Books) (Chronicle Books, 2016), offers a very clever finger puppet book with a wintry theme.  Any size finger, from grownups to toddlers, fits inside the plushy pocket in the back to move Baby Reindeer's head to animate him in each scene in this small and sturdy board book. Baby Reindeer can  shake off the snow, nibble moss, and nuzzle Mama to follow along with each page. Toddlers can do it for themselves, and older kids will happily vie for a turn to perform this story for the very young.

Pair this one with Little Snowman: Finger Puppet Book (Little Finger Puppet Board Books) for more finger fun.

Reindeer Countdown: Eight Jolly Reindeer by Ilanit Oliver and Jacqueline Rogers

SIX JOLLY REINDEER, STRETCHING UP TO HEAVEN.

UP GOES DONDER, AND THEN THERE WERE...

What number comes before eight? Which reindeer does Santa urge on next?

These reindeer do more than mount to the rooftop, click, click, click! As they wait to be called to their place in harness, they limber up, stretching, kicking a soccer ball around, doing some jumping jacks, and running in place.

The countdown continues from eight down to one, from Dasher right through Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen.

With tabs for each reindeer and sturdy board book composition, this one is just right for small fingers and young minds, with the added bonus of rhyming text and the practice of guessing the next number in the countdown with each page turn. There's a bit of Christmas learning as well as fun in Ilanit Oliver's Eight Jolly Reindeer (Scholastic/Cartwheel Books, 2014). Jacqueline Roger's illustrations offer everything but, alas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in this jolly holiday book, perfect for preschool stocking stuffing.

Workshop Walkout: The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer

NO PAY
NO SLEIGH

It's what any entrepreneur fears! A work stoppage on the EVE of a major deadline!

But that's the situation Santa faces on Christmas Eve. The product stands ready for delivery. Clients are waiting for their shipments as always, with visions of sugarplums to keep them awake for that happy sound of hooves on the roof.

But the hooves are a no go. The reindeer are picketing the workshop with signs and chanting:

"We're striking, dear Santa.
And until things get better,
No pulling or flying.
We're in this together."

Labor relations have definitely broken down, along with St. Nick's transport system, and to meet his reindeer-power needs, Santa realizes that he's going to have to scare up some scabs. An ad produces lots of would-be workers. Dogs, cats, flamingos, kangaroos, elephants, all show up, hoping to harness up and share the glory of delivering the goods on Christmas Eve.

But each group has its limitations: the dogs veer off course at the first sniff of something delicious; the cats are sidetracked by mice; the flamingos, although natural flyers, discover that they can't stand on rooftops on just one leg; and the kangaroos--well, they shoplift from the workshop, hiding the stolen goods in their pouches. Elephants are honest and dependable, good landers and standers, but their weight proves too much for the test rooftops, which collapse before Santa can even climb down their chimneys.

At last St. Nick agrees to negotiate with his rebellious reindeer, who settle for a few perks--a whirlpool sauna in which to relax after their annual trip and a lifetime contract for cable TV for their break room. At last the transportation department does its duty and Santa's delivery gets off the ground just in time to whirl around the world before dawn.

Lisa Trumbauer's and Jannie Ho's latest collaboration, The Great Reindeer Rebellion (Sterling, 2009), adds another roguish reindeer narration to the bookshelf of Santa's jolly journeys on Christmas Eve.

Move Over, Rudolph! Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold

Back in her doghouse, Olive was wrapping presents and listening to the radio. She heard that same song again.

"All of the other reindeer..." went the song.

"Olive, the other reindeer..." Olive sang along.

"Olive, the OTHER reindeer?" said Olive. "Hmmm. I must be a reindeer."

It was the time of year when all reindeer reported to the North Pole to help Santa Claus. Olive put down her scissors and marched out the door.

Olive arrives outside Santa's workshop just as he is going through his pre-flight checklist, and St. Nick is a bit perplexed to find Olive lined up beside Dasher and Dancer.

Santa knew a lot about dogs. For instance, he knew
they couldn't fly. But as it was time to go, he decided to give Olive a chance. Comet, the biggest reindeer, used a piece of extra ribbon to make sure Olive was tied in safe and tight. Now they were ready to go.

And in the best Christmas magic tradition, Olive finds that she can fly, dangling just below the eight official coursers. Although Olive is cool with it all, the flying reindeer are so curious about Olive that they fail to gain enough altitude and crash into a tree, leaving Santa's sleigh stuck among the top branches. Of course, chewing sticks is almost a daily duty for dogs, and Olive soon has her crew freed of all entanglements. It's not an uneventful flight that night, but Olive's canine talents come to Santa's rescue repeatedly before the deliveries, made a bit late but thankfully well before dawn, are finally done.

But it is at the end of flight, when Santa is making his final landing approach back at the North Pole, that things get dicey. It's the dreaded North Pole Fog, and even Rudolph's nose couldn't have lighted Santa's way through this one. Luckily, although her nose doesn't glow, it still works in the proper canine manner, and sniffing Mrs. Claus' cookies through the gloom, Olive realizes that she's got the right sniff, er, stuff to complete this mission.

"Olive, won't you guide my sleigh this morning?" pleads Santa, and Olive's doggy sense of smell brings them down right on the runway. For her canine capabilities, Olive the other reindeer is rewarded with her own ceremonial set of antlers with which to join the reindeer games.

J. Otto Seibold's and Vivian Walsh's special edition of Olive, the Other Reindeer (Chronicle Books, 2009) is out for this Christmas season to add to that shelf of traditional "Santa's helper" books.

Available to accompany this newest reindeer recruit is the very popular Olive, the Other Reindeer Pop-Up Advent Calendar and its equally famous companion for the Christmas countdown, the Olive the Other Reindeer CD, narrated by Drew Barrymore--not to mention the plush Olive the Other Reindeer Toy for a complete Olive the other reindeer Christmas.