It's Christmas Eve, and Santa needs YOUR help in this fun, interactive picture book from the New York Times bestselling author of How to Catch an Elf!
It's Christmas Eve, and everything at the North Pole is going according to plan...until an elf discovers that Santa doesn't have a present ready for Mrs. Claus! Time is running out, and you're the only one who can help. But you'll have to honk, whistle, wiggle, and shake to make things turn out all right.
September 4, 2017
Wallace moves from hunting Santa’s helpers in How to Catch an Elf to giving one of them an assist in this irreverent holiday romp. After Wink Silverbells, one of the elves, discovers what he believes is a list of items Santa meant to give Mrs. Claus, he asks for readers’ help in gathering them. The gifts are straight out of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and finding swans a-swimming at the North Pole isn’t easy. Some replacements are necessary—turtles instead of turtle doves, four birds with phones who “text more than they call”—and readers assist by making noise (honking to summon geese, yodeling to alert milkmaids) and dancing (“More butt wiggling!”). Bruner’s cartoons of selfie-snapping penguins, stereotypically French hens (one’s decked out to look like Napoleon), and assorted lords and ladies add to the fun. And like the best parties, this one ends with lots of dancing. Ages 5–10.
September 1, 2017
Santa's head elf, Wink Silverbells, gathers all the items from "The Twelve Days of Christmas" so Santa can give them to Mrs. Claus as her Christmas gifts. Wink, a boy elf with light skin and dark hair, serves as the first-person narrator, with his dialogue displayed in blue speech balloons. He finds the list of the unusual Christmas items in Santa's office, including the words, "My true love gave to me..." and assumes that Santa needs to acquire these things as gifts for Mrs. Claus. The elf asks readers to help, a conceit intended to encourage participation later with whistling, honking like geese, and dancing. The concluding dance party finds Wink urging the readers to "Wiggle that butt!" and "Wilder! Crazier! More butt wiggling!" These comments are illustrated with a view of Wink from the rear holding up his tunic to display his candy-striped tights. Other cheap, above-children's-heads moments include the comment, "What the elf?" and Wink's assertion that the word "yes" in French is "wee." Cartoon-style illustrations are humorous but very busy, including both male and female elves and several characters with brown skin tones; Santa is white. He explains to Wink that he doesn't need all the items from the song for Mrs. Claus because he already bought her a vacuum. What the elf, Santa? Mrs. Claus deserves better. A nonsensical title and premise, frenetic illustrations, and butt jokes do not add up to a noteworthy Christmas story. (Picture book. 4-7)
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October 1, 2017
PreS-Gr 2-It's the day before Christmas, and head elf Wink Silverbells is thrown into a panic when he discovers what he thinks is a list of presents that Santa wants to give his wife. Wink begins gathering the gifts, starting with a partridge in a pear tree, and occasionally improvising, as with five donuts standing in for five golden rings. Wink addresses readers directly with directions to yodel or dance in order to attract the appropriate items on the list. Wink gathers everything, only to be told gently by Santa that this is in fact a song, not a gift list. Wink seems satisfied, but readers may feel a sense of forced jollity as they are exhorted to keep partying with the dancing ladies and leaping lords. Cartoon illustrations and speech bubbles against a white background depict a host of North Pole and Christmas carol denizens, only a very few of whom are people of color. VERDICT This book-like the elf-tries too hard to drum up enthusiasm, with lackluster results.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
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