Memoirs of an Elf

September 15, 2014
Scillian and Bowers return to the format they introduced in Memoirs of a Goldfish, delivering a tech-savvy elf’s by-the-minute chronicle of Santa’s Christmas Eve journey around the world, which involves texting with Santa (“Time to fly, big guy!”) and snapping multiple “elfies” to commemorate the occasion. Bowers’s high-energy illustrations show the sleigh soaring above snow-covered neighborhood, as well as scenes of a rather dotty, dilly-dallying Santa: “Starting to worry about falling behind,” reports the elf. “Santa always wants to stop and pet every dog.” A canine stowaway presents an amusing quandary and a light message about the meaning of the holiday. It’s a lighthearted diversion with a few modern twists for readers who wonder if Santa uses GPS. Ages 6–9. Illustrator’s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content.

September 1, 2014
Santa's head elf delivers an hour-by-hour report as he and two other male elves assist Santa with his Christmas Eve deliveries, as well as an emergency delivery on Christmas morning. This 21st-century elf uses a smartphone, takes "elfies" and communicates with the North Pole with a phone headset. Santa needs his head elf to keep him on track to get through the night, so the elf urges him along with a text: "Time to fly, big guy!" Each page indicates the number of hours left until Christmas morning along with the sleigh's current location, problems solved and a feature called "Little Known Facts." For example, "Santa loves dogs and dogs love Santa." The deliveries are completed by sunrise, but Santa and the elves find a stowaway dog named Tugboat hiding in the bottom of the toy bag, necessitating a return trip. The story tries hard to be humorous and up-to-the-minute, but it is neither new nor particularly funny. Cartoon-style illustrations are adequate but also rather pedestrian. In addition, though the general elf crew is multiethnic, the head elf is Caucasian, and all the elves and the stowaway dog are male, along with Santa, of course. Mrs. Claus is the only female character, holding a tray with hot chocolate and yelling at the menfolk to do the right thing. A 21st-century Mrs. Claus might grab some gal-pal elves and return that dog herself. Little Known Fact: lots of cheery text, exclamation marks and trendy electronic devices do not necessarily add up to a successful Christmas story. (Picture book. 4-7)

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October 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1-Armed with a smart phone for texting, navigating via GPS, and using the camera feature to take an "elfie" of himself and his crew before taking off with Santa on Christmas Eve, Spark is truly a millennial elf. At times, his Type A personality surfaces whenever it seems that Santa is falling behind schedule, but Sparks' heart, following truisms like "No Santa, no Christmas," is in the right place. After Tugboat, an adorable stowaway dog, accidentally hitches a ride to the North Pole, Spark witnesses the heartwarming, more-important-than-Santa side of the holiday when they reunite Tugboat with his family. Cartoon illustrations blend the modern and festive well (the microphone on Spark's headset is red-and-white striped and his phone is holly leaf green), making the book as a whole appeal to children regardless of their tech savvy.-Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

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