Growing into the Job: Little Santa by Jon Agee

AT THE NORTH POLE, IN A LITTLE CABIN, LIVED MR. AND MRS. CLAUS AND THEIR SEVEN CHILDREN, LARRY, MARY, WILLIE, MILLIE, JOEY, ZOE, AND SANTA.

LIFE WAS TOUGH IN THE NORTH POLE. THE CLAUSES WERE MISERABLE.

EXCEPT FOR SANTA.

HE LOVED MAKING SNOW ANGELS, DECORATING PINE TREES, AND MAKING GINGERBREAD COOKIES IN THE SHAPE OF PEOPLE.

MOST OF ALL HE LIKED SLIDING DOWN THE CHIMNEY.

Finally, after a particularly hardknock winter, the Claus family had had it with chopping wood and ice fishing. Father Claus declares that they are moving to Florida.

Everyone is on board with the plan except Little Santa. He loves everything about the North Pole. But before they can load up and head south, an incredibly icy snowstorm buries their little house all the way up to the chimney top. It looks like nobody is going any where until the summer thaw.

But Little Santa, adorably attired in his little red onesie with a pointy hoodie, has a suggestion:

"I CAN SHIMMY UP THE CHIMNEY," SAID SANTA.

Little Santa scoots and wiggles his way up and climbs out into the deep snow, heading off to find help.

The first thing he sees is a reindeer, who offers him a lift and turns out to be able to fly, when necessity requires it.

"GEE WHIZ!" SAID LITTLE SANTA.

Soon Little Santa and the reindeer come to a little house, which seems to be a dormitory for dozens of green-clad elves, who offer to make up lots of shovels and a sleigh to haul them back to the Claus cabin to dig the family out.

"HOLY SNOWFLAKE!" SAID LITTLE SANTA.

Little Santa and the eager elves pile into the sleigh and the reindeer hauls them back to rescue the Clauses.  The family is grateful, but not enough to stay at the North Pole any longer than they have to. As soon as the snow melts enough to load up the family station wagon, the Clauses head for the sunny shores of south Florida.

But Little Santa cheerfully elects to stay behind with his new friends, the clever woodworking elves, learns animal husbandry from the flying reindeer, and gradually exchanges his red onesie for a fur-trimmed red suit, tasseled cap, and big black boots. And every Christmas he loads up the sleigh with the elf-made gifts, hitches up his whole herd of flying reindeer, and heads off into the night.  He's all grown up, but he's still fond of chimney-sliding.

AND YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY.

Jon Agee's latest, Little Santa (Dial Books, 2013), is a full-blown, brand-new Christmas classic.  His Little Santa is an appealing kid St. Nick, who follows his bliss into a full-time career of chimney sliding and gift-giving all over the world. Agee's deadpan delivery has a just-right tone, and his text and charming illustrations, a bit reminiscent of William Steig's classic works, are executed with strong black lines and a light touch of watercolors except for Little Santa's Christmas red coverall and pointy hood. Winning starred reviews all around from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly, this one is an must-have Christmas readaloud, even if you do know the rest of the story!

Once Upon A Christmas Eve.... The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen

It was Christmas Eve and Ollie had just gone to sleep when

....JINGLE! JINGLE! JINGLE!

She awoke with a start.

Like all startled sleepers on Christmas Eve, Ollie runs to her window to see the source of that sound, but all she sees is a blanket of white covering everything. She runs outside, still in her reindeer pajamas and knitted hat with horns, to catch a fluttering flake, when she hears that magical tinkle again. She follows the notes into the wood, where she spots something red.

Hanging from a branch was a collar with silver bells!

Who could it belong to?

Of course, the collar belongs to a reindeer, who kneels obediently before little Ollie and lets her fasten the collar. And then, Ollie climbs on her back for a magical midnight ride through gold and silver stars, the snow-covered landscape flowing beneath her. At last, her new friend deposits her back home, where yawning, she sleepily makes her way up to her bed to continue dreaming of her fantastical jingling journey until morning comes. But her Christmas adventure remains the best present.

"See you next year," she whispers.

It's indeed a magical mystery tour, in Nicola Killen's The Little Reindeer (Simon and Schuster, 2017). In a softly-told Christmas Eve story, author Killen foreshadows the reindeer ride in Ollie's little onesie pajamas and her bedtime toy reindeer, echoed in artist Killen's lovely muted grayscale illustrations, accented only with touches of red--in Ollie's cheeks, in the windows of the sleeping houses, and in the reindeer collar, and in the silver and gold of sleighbells repeated in the starry night sky. This is a gentle Christmas bedtime story with promises of sweet dreams for a long winter's nap. "Die cuts, foil accents, and bits of red detailing bring flair to Killen’s hushed black-and-white snowscapes," says Publisher's Weekly.

Left Behind: The Last Christmas Tree by Stephen Krensky

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The trees arrived for the holiday. On the day before, the lot had been empty.

Now it was full to bursting--almost like magic.

There are balsams, firs, spruces, and pines, all lined up.

The big perfect trees crowd the rows of greenery. But squished into the middle of one row, there is a different sort of tree. Dwarfed by the big, unnaturally conical green giants, the little tree looks even smaller, unsymmetrical, with branches missing in crucial places, a little off-balance and certainly scraggly. He's clearly no one's first choice.

Still, no tree was more filled with the spirit of the season. Surely everyone would see that at once.

But no one does. The fine trees with big swishy branches are quickly snapped up by families with kids excited by the idea of decorating the tree and the hope of the beautifully wrapped gifts soon to be underneath.

In no time it seems that the little tree has plenty of room. He tries to spruce up his branches and stand as straight and tall as he can. But all the buyers pass him by.

By Christmas Eve, only a few trees remain for last-minute seekers. And as twilight deepens and stars begin to twinkle, the little tree stands alone in the cold wind-swept lot, with the most humiliating sign of all hanging from his sad, drooping branches.

FREE!

But just before dawn, there comes a sound.

JINGLE, JINGLE, JINGLE! JINGLE, JINGLE, JINGLE!

The little tree finds a home in the far north, where he stands proudly, decorated and lighted by a cheery fire in a fireplace where eight stockings hang, each with the name of eight famous reindeer, in Stephen Krensky's latest holiday story, The Last Christmas Tree (Random House, 2014). Youngsters who are familiar with the Charles Schulz's A Charlie Brown Christmas will probably guess where this story is going early on, and others familiar with Hans Christian Andersen's evergreen The Little Fir-tree will be ready to empathize with the sad little tree waiting and longing to be chosen, but Krensky's version gives the story a new twist, with the sad little tree given an honored place in the living room of Santa himself.

It's not exactly a new story, but veteran author Krensky tells it well for his young readers, catching the magic of the coming holiday and the longing of the last little tree to find a happy place of his own. Artist Pascal Campion takes special honors for the pathos in his subdued but lovely holiday colors and evocative cartoon drawings that extend Krensky's story movingly. With a pleasing marriage of art and prose, Krensky's newest offers a fresh take on an old theme that should find a place in the crowded calendar of Christmas stories. As Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona says in Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, "Christmas has a magic of its own."

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.

Dear Reindeer: The Reindeer Wish by Lori Evert

LONG, LONG AGO, FAR TO THE NORTH AND HIGH IN THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS THERE LIVED A KIND LITTLE GIRL NAMED ANYA.

ANYA HAD MANY FRIENDS AT SCHOOL, BUT SHE SOMETIMES GOT LONELY AT HOME.

MOSTLY SHE WISHED FOR A PUPPY.

Hoping that Santa Claus has received her Christmas wish letter, on the day before Christmas Anya goes out skiing in the perfect snow. She forgets about time and finds that it is growing dark and she is not yet home.

Suddenly, she meets an old friend perched in a fir tree.

"ANYA, I NEED YOUR HELP," SAYS THE CARDINAL.

"THERE IS A BABY REINDEER ALONE UNDER A TREE NEAR YOUR HOUSE. CAN YOU GET YOUR SLED?"

Following the bright red bird, Anya finds the lost baby lying under a tree and takes him home. The reindeer is tiny, but she gives him a big name to grow into--Odin, for the king of the Norse gods.

And Odin grows fast and soon is big enough to follow Anya to school, where the other children are delighted with their surprise visitor. Odin grows a lot over the summer, big enough for Anya to ride like a pony. He grows real reindeer antlers and when winter comes, he learns to pull her sled, which they use to bring home a tall Christmas tree. Anya is never lonely with Odin to be her friend.

But one day close to Christmas, when they are walking in the woods, the wild reindeer come near.

ODIN HAD A TEAR IN HIS EYE. WOULD HE BE HAPPIER IF HE COULD RUN WITH HIS HERD?

IT WOULD BREAK HER HEART TO LOSE HER BEST FRIEND, BUT SHE WANTED HIM TO BE HAPPY.

Anya does the right thing. She takes Odin to Santa Claus, who can always use a strong, young reindeer in his stable... and then Santa takes her to see his new puppies.

"CHOOSE ONE!" HE SAYS.

In the third book in their best-selling Anya series, The Reindeer Wish (Random House, 2016) author Lori Evert combines a dream-like story with the realistic but beautiful photographs of Per Breiehagen in a Christmas tale that evokes Jan Brett's Christmas classic, The Wild Christmas Reindeer, in its quaint Scandinavian settings, with snowy evergreens, cozy cottages, and brightly decorated knit sweaters and stocking caps, and all the  Scandinavian Christmasy trappings. What primary grader wouldn't love to ride a reindeer to Santa's workshop and go home with a furry white puppy? It's a dream-come-true of a holiday story sure to please.

Evert and Breiehagen's other stories of their daughter Anya include The Christmas Wish and The Tiny Wish.

Bunny Girl: The Little Rabbit by Nicola Killen

Ollie and her toy bunny had been waiting a long time for the rain to stop.

At last the day had arrived!

Ollie in her bunny suit and yellow rain boots ventures outside, her buddy rabbit stowed in a basket. They have a date with some puddles just waiting to be splashed in!

But before they reach the puddles, a spring wind whooshes past, bringing glittering silver blossoms past them.

Suddenly, Bunny twitches his nose and everything is changed.

Ollie thought she must be imagining it, but when she looked again, Bunny's ears were moving, too!

Ollie watches in amazement as Bunny jumps out of his basket to join a group of rabbits at play and disappears through a big hole in the hillock and is gone. Ollie follows, emerging near a pond, where she spots Bunny crossing over some stepping stones. And there's a storm brewing ahead.

The water was rising and Bunny was in danger!

But then Ollie recalls that she still has her yellow umbrella along. Can she turn it upside down and use it as a rescue vessel?

It's a bit of a down-the-rabbit-hole story, in Nicola Killen's latest in series The Little Rabbit (The Little Animal) (Simon and Schuster, 2019). Luckily for Ollie, there's an easier way home--right through the convenient die-cut openings in the page, where she and her toy bunny have a magical flight with her umbrella among golden petals on a favorable spring breeze. There's no place like home, and, like Dorothy in her return from Oz, Ollie soon finds herself snugly tucked into bed. Bunny seems to be back to being a cuddly toy ..., but she spots a tiny nose twitch that may mean more adventures ahead for Ollie and Bunny.

Nicola Killen's sweet spring fantasy is illustrated primarily in grey line drawings, with accents of seasonal yellows and greens that direct the young reader's attention. Accents in glittering silver and gold presage the whimsy of this fantasy tale and die-cut openings in the pages ground the two adventurers and open the way to their happy return. Says Publishers Weekly, this just-published bunny tale offers "light enchantment [in] this quiet story of a rainy day adventure."

Killen's companion book for the winter season is The Little Reindeer (The Little Animal) (see review here).

Hitchhiking with Santa: Christmas Wombat by Jackie French

I'M A WOMBAT.

ENJOY SLEEPING, SCRATCHING, AND EATING.

ESPECIALLY EATING.

ESPECIALLY EATING CARROTS.

Wombat lives a simple life. sleeping in a hole in the ground, and eating grass when he can't get carrots--the only thing in life that gets him the least bit excited.

But then, pushing past some annoying "dangly" things inexplicably hanging from a tree, he catches a whiff of something irresistible and follows the scent to an amazing sight--a small plate of cookies and glass of milk and a large basket of CARROTS! With a sign.

FOR SANTA
AND THE REINDEER

To Wombat, all carrots are HIS carrots, and after a serious staring contest, he convinces the reindeer that they are HIS. YUM!

Eating taken care of, Wombat goes on to his next favorite priority--SLEEP.

He finds a comfortable little spot on a big red thing with curvy runners parked near his hole and curls up for a nap, but while he snoozes deeply, as only a wombat can, the sleigh (yes, it's Santa's, stopping off down under), moves on to colder climes. When Wombat awakes to a novel snowy scene, he catches a familiar scent.

I SMELL CARROTS!

A strange rounded white figure in a knit cap and scarf is right in front of Wombat's nose, but it's the nose on the figure he's interested in. Crimey! It's a carrot! YUM!

There seem to be plenty of carrots in this cold place, and if he can just make those reindeer back off, they are all for Wombat! In fact, everywhere this strange sleigh goes, there are more carrots, even down that strange brick wombat hole, hung with socks at the bottom. YUM! Before long, Wombat and those reindeer work out a truce, as there seem to be plenty of carrots for everybody.

But all this travel and fine dining is tiring. Time for a scratch and a snooze in his special cubby in that red sleigh. Let the reindeer do the work. ZZZZZZZ.

And when Wombat wakes from his long winter's nap, he's luckily back home down under, right where he began. The weather is warm again, and the grass is green and lush. But Wombat finds that it has lost its appeal.

GRASS DELICIOUS. BUT FOR SOME REASON NOT HUNGRY.

Jackie French's latest, Christmas Wombat (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2012) has her lovable little Wombat finding his own version of a Christmas dinner as Santa's stowaway. As illustrated by ace artist Bruce Whatley, French's characters are as plushy and cuddly-looking as always, and fans of her matter-of-fact little marsupial, a critter of few words and fewer passsions, will love this wry and charming holiday outing. Santa, his chosen conveyance, and his team of reindeer are mostly shown only in part, and, as are the full, always-in-profile illustrations of her main character, who as always finds adventure while simply following what's right in front of his cute little nose.

Other books in French's popular series include Diary of a Wombat, Diary of a BABY Wombat, and How to Scratch a Wombat: Where to Find It . . . What to Feed It . . . Why It Sleeps All Day.

Once More Down the Chimney : The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Holly Hobbie

It is a blue and silver midnight, snow settling over a long and low log cottage and bare trees. Only a lonely snowman and a prowling red fox stand watch to witness a flash in the sky and a sleigh descending on that low rooftop, the lead reindeer just swerving to miss the chimney.

Inside the mice are sleeping, and so are the children, one toddler and two sisters and a brother, in their cozy room, while dad is just shedding his robe and slippers to slip in beside his sleeping wife.

The sudden clatter above wakes the snoozing cat; the toddler sits bolt upright between his sleeping siblings, eyes wide; and Dad dashes to the window, tugs it open to peer out and is chilled by a swirl of snowflakes invading the bedroom.

Followed by the curious cat, the toddler in his little drop-seat footie sleeper pads down the stairs carefully, while Dad, believing he is the only one up, flattens himself against the dining room wall as someone emerges from the fortuitously unlit fireplace, a someone in a long, fur-trimmed red robe and black boots.

In disbelief Dad runs his hands through his already disheveled hair, and the tot and cat are astonished at what they see going on beside their tree. Only the cat approaches the midnight visitor, tail up, to get a treat.

Yep. It's A Visit from St. Nicholas, all right, no doubt about it!

Veteran illustrator Holly Hobbie has a freshly-conceived and illustrated version of The Night Before Christmas (Little Brown, 2013) which supersedes her 1978 effort in more ways than one. As the author admits, "The prospect of illustrating a long-revered classic is intimidating--all the more daunting because it has been celebrated by such a wide spectrum of accomplished artists. I wanted mystery and wonder-- a fresh perspective to the tale. Here's a child who gets to see the unseeable!"

And readers get to see it through the eyes of that small child (and Dad, the designated necessary narrator) in a beautifully conceived and executed version of Clement Moore's poem, one altogether in a league with all those "accomplished artists" who have gone before. Hobbie's setting is a more modest, Norman-Rockwellian one than most: no elaborately decorated Victorian mansion like Jan Brett's, no folkloric colonial house like Tomie de Paola's, no stately early nineteenth-century burgher's home such as Dan Santore's. Hobbie creates a comfortable house somewhere between all the others, one furnished solidly with a retro-styled sleigh bed for parents who don't need a kerchief or cap against the cold, a home decorated with a few hand-knit, homemade adornments and a touch of hand-me-down antique furnishings here and there. The toddler himself is at the center of this retelling, his body language, his surprise and wordless wonder telling the tale visually and well.

Hobbie's watercolor, ink, and gouache artwork in full-page, double-page, or spot vignettes paces the story perfectly, done with tasteful palette and keeping the inevitably adorable qualities of the little eyewitness a bit understated. A treat for the eyes and the heart, helping Clement Moore's magical story come alive once more in an admirable new edition.

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.

With A Little Help From My Friends: The Polar Bear Wish by Lori Evert

Long, long ago, so high in the mountains and close to the stars that on a clear night you don't need a lantern, lived an adventurous girl named Anya.

It is almost Christmas, and little Anya wishes for a sled for her dog Birki to to take her to the big Christmas party, which promises games and dances and treats. And when her cousin Erik appears with his sled pulled by his dog Bria, Anya happily hitches Birki up with Bria, and the two are off through the snowy Scandinavian scene. But a sudden blizzard strands the two children, where they are led by friendly wolves to shelter overnight in the storm.

To add to their problems, a little polar bear named Tiny appears, lost from his mother, and Anya and Eric are diverted from their journey to reunite the little bear with his family, a magical trek through fantastic icy fjords to a ice palace where they rest overnight. But can they find Tiny's mother and still make it to the Christmas party?

In true fantasy fiction style, they do. Mother Bear and Tiny are reunited, and Anya and Eric feast and dance through the long Arctic night, in Lori Evert's second book, The Polar Bear Wish (A Wish Book) (Random House, 2018). Although Per Breiehagen's striking Nordic photos of his and Evert's own daughter are as charmingly appealing as in their earlier The Reindeer Wish (Wish Series), there's a bit of cognitive dissonance between the realistic photos and the fantastical storyline--offset a little by the trusty old ambivalent ending in which Anya awakes in her own bed ...

...to wonder if it all was a dream....

And for those who dote on truly snowy Scandinavian Christmas images, share this new one with Jan Brett's famous folkloric artwork in her The Three Snow Bears and The Wild Christmas Reindeer.

Who Very Soon Will Come Our Way? Must Be Santa by Tim Moore and Pete Whitehead

WHO'S GOT A BEARD THAT'S LONG AND WHITE?

You know and I know who owns that iconic beard, but for those tots just coming into one of their first holiday seasons, this sturdy little book based on the familiar popular song, a staple of the season right up there with "Jingle Bells," is just in time to introduce them to everyone's favorite saint.

Featuring the familiar folk call-and-response format, Must Be Santa (Big Little Golden Book) offers charming double-page spreads, complete with red-clad Santa and his precious pack, gambling green-clad little elf helpers, and the requisite pajama-ed tots spying as he makes his rounds at the fireplace and Christmas tree, as one by one the questions of the song are posed.

In most cases, the following page features the answer, telling the reader that You-Know-Who has a beard that's long, white and so on through the song. Each call and answer has its own recap, as we work through the entire description of Santa, giving kids time to learn the answer and chime in with the verse or sing along with the song. With more jolly verses describing the whole operation, Santa's reindeer and sleigh, Santa soon coming our way...., the conclusion sums up the whole description with Santa's complete M.O., working backwards to the beginning:

CAP ON HEAD,
SUIT THAT'S RED,
SPECIAL NIGHT,
BEARD THAT'S WHITE...

It must be Santa who's coming our way with lots of anticipation for his visit from holiday newbies, and here to put some HO-HO-HO in the holidays is Tim Moore's new Must Be Santa (Big Little Golden Book) (Random House, 2011). Pete Whitehead provides the perky comic characters and all the trimmings, and the book's simple but effective design catches the infectious rhythm of the song to a T for tots.

Jaded adults may have heard this tune a time or two, but for tiny tots it's a great NEW song--easy to sing and offering learning opportunities in its cumulative format, recurring rhyme scheme, as well as great opportunities for the narrator to ham it up and for group singalong opportunities which make it a staple for seasonal storytimes. If you're rusty on the music, watch Raffi's traditional run-through for kids here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U7MZkSlsOU or for a refresher with a more offbeat adult presentation, Bob Dylan, complete with mystery fugitive, polka-dancing revelers, and look-alike accordionist, does it all here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qE6WQmNus&ob=av2e

School Library Journal says, "Charming, colorful cartoon illustrations accompany the classic song written by Hal Moore and Bill Fredricks in 1960."

Greed is NOT Good! Pig the Elf by Aaron Blabey

Dear Santa,
May I please have something nice for Christmas?
--From Trevor
P.S. I love you so much!

Trevor, the humble little dachshund, has penned a modest little letter to Santa. But that other dog in the household is something else again!

Pig the Pug's Christmas list is a bit more... shall we say, extensive?

He'd written his list.
And he'd asked for a lot,
But Santa takes orders,
So why the heck not?

Pig is a pug who only wants one thing--MORE!

Pig's list is long--yards and yards long--with wishes for everything from a unicorn (real, not fake) to longer legs. And when Trevor dutifully points out that Santa won't come until they are abed, Pig is having none of his silly Christmas Eve rules.

"Sleep is for fools!
Sleep is for losers!
I won't go to bed
With the rest of you snoozers!

Pig the Pug stands guard by the twinkling tree, vowing to see that he gets his due. But the wait is tedious and Pig nods off a bit, waking to find a portly old guy depositing gifts in two equal piles, one labeled "Trevor" and one labeled "Pig." Pig the Pug in indignant!

"I asked for MORE!" shouted Pug,
Sounding very unkind.
Then he nipped poor old Santa's
Big rosy behind!

Santa tries to make his escape up the chimney, but Pig is pugnacious, his jaws clamped on Santa's derriere all the way to the rooftop sleigh. Santa orders his reindeer into the air, and they leap upward with Pig still dangling from the, er, rear.

Pig's selfish greed has indeed gotten him once more into a regrettable situation, in Aaron Blabey's Christmas cautionary tale, Pig the Elf (Pig the Pug) (Scholastic Press, 2017). Will Pig cool his ardor for acquisitiveness in the cold polar air, or will he meet his long overdue downfall this time? Author Blabey has just the right ending in store for his greedy pug pup, and kids will giggle with glee at the irony of Pig's comeuppance, (although secretly they may hope that Pig the Pug won't totally reform before the next book is written). Blabey's jolly quatrains rhyme their way merrily through this little morality tale, while his illustrations are just as over-the-top hilarious as ever, with both front and back endpapers fittingly filled with Pig's avaricious wish list.

Other popular picture books about Pig are Pig the Pug, Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug), and Pig the Fibber.

"Tis the Season: The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Robert Ingpen

Clement C. Moore's classic poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" has inspired legions of illustrators.

It is a picture book artist's dream--well-known text lines in a perfect anapest which trip off the tongue--describing sweeping moonlit landscapes, snow-swept and lighted with a silvery glow, graceful reindeer, a chubby comical elfin saint swooping out of the night, cozy holiday interiors which have run the picture-book gamut from Cajun cabins to Victorian mansions, cherubic children snugly sleeping as they dream of sugarplums, and the delicious chance for the bemused pater familias to spy upon the elfin Christmas benefactor as he goes about his secret midnight gift-giving. It is an opportunity which must make a veteran illustrator's fingers itch to grab that pen and paintbrush and create their own scenes.

Another of this year's entries into that august but crowded genre is Aussie artist Robert Ingpen, whose new The Night Before Christmas (Sterling, 2010) and is a worthy inheritor to this venerable illustrative tradition. Ingpen, whose draftsmanlike skills have a strong realistic bent, here lets his imagination loose. His landscape is typically wintry and typically stunning, with shifts in perspective which show his "jolly old elf" Santa as a jovial, rotund, but tiny figure, with his miniature sleigh--not the usual generously-proportioned rococo Victorian conveyance--but a smallish, Finnish-style sled shaped of carved rounded wood. Depicted in a sepia and gray palette, his farmhouse is a solid English stone house, graced with a steep slate roof, several chimneys, and small shuttered windows suited to a harsh climate. Ingpen varies his view, from a closeup of a jolly little Santa to a sweeping wide-angle view of the reindeer precariously parked on the roof's peak.

Ingpen's interiors suggest sturdy comfort rather than elegance, with ordinary woolen stockings of various lengths hanging from a small, plain fireplace mantel, adorned only with a single candlestick and carved duck decoy. The dazed, abruptly-awakened father, his single candle drooping dangerously, is startled to see the sooty intruder picking himself up from the fireplace opening, scattering soot all over the floorboards, but he quickly recovers as the little saint chuckles at his embarrassment, bestows his goodies, and makes his exit expeditiously the way in which he came.

Illustrators from Leonard Weisgard to Tasha Tudor, from Tomie de Paola to Jan Brett, from Tom Browning to James Marshall have taken up this classic story over the years, and all of their versions are delightful and delighting in their own way. Robert Ingpen's latest version, The Night Before Christmas takes its place rightfully with the wonderful retellings of that Christmas Eve visitor.

For more nostalgic holiday atmosphere, there is also Ingpen's wonderful illustrated version of Dicken's A Christmas Carol.