STORIES FOR THE STOCKINGS
It should come as no surprise that publishers every fall release books geared to the holiday season. Christmas titles, particularly, are a staple of book displays in stores at this time of year. Below, a sampling of some recent releases:
The Lost Christmas Gift, by Andrew Beckham (Princeton Architectural Press, 40 pages, $34.95), is probably the most extraordinary one in this bunch; there’s certainly no denying the sophistication of its subject matter and the ambitious illustrations that accompany the text. In a nutshell, it purports to be the account of a man (Emerson Johansson) who befriended the author/ illustrator’s family and who told him about an adventure he and his father experienced when he was a child. It began when they set out for the forest near their Colorado home to pick a Christmas tree, and were stranded there by a severe snowstorm. Having lost their bearings, it took a mysterious skier to help them find their way home — a skier who young Emerson thought he had captured on film with his new camera. The glass plate negatives, however, went missing, and it wasn’t until many years later that Emerson saw the images he had recorded — artistically embellished by his father, who had gone to war shortly after the two had their adventure and whose parcel with the images went missing in the mail for decades. Beckham would have us believe this book is the result of Emerson’s reminiscences and vintage photos with transparent overlays drawn by his father as a record of their encounter with St. Nicholas. Beautifully executed, this book nevertheless will appeal to a limited audience — and one not likely to include preschoolers or very young children. The text is relatively formal and occasionally jarring (on one page Emerson and his father are following a skier; on another the skier suddenly has a sled and reindeer, and is referred to as St. Nicholas) and the illustrations, while detailed and intriguing, have limited colour. The publisher’s bumf promises this book is “destined to become a Christmas classic,” but I suspect that will only happen in families where the adults love it so much that they take time to pass that love for the book on to their children. Best for ages 12 and up (perhaps as a gift combined with a camera for Christmas). Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, check out Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Christmas, by Montreal’s Mélanie Watt (Kids Can Press, 80 pages, $18.95). The latest in a series of colourful little books about a squirrel who leaves nothing to chance and is always prepared for the worst, this volume offers tips on how to stay safe during the holiday season — everything from dealing with the weather and avoiding holiday obstacles to creating safe decorations for the tree, building a gingerbread house “to code” and “shopping for the difficult individuals in your life.” As always, Scaredy notes that if all else fails, you can resort to playing dead — although in this book, even that can be a source of fun (as an excuse for making snow angels). Best for ages 4 to 8.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas?, by Jane Yolen (Blue Sky Press, 32 pages, $18.99), is part of an extensive series of picture books that deal with dino manners, presenting first the wrong way to do something and then the right way. Large, colourful illustrations by Mark Teague are the main appeal of this series, which, formulaic rhyming text notwithstanding, has found its fans. This particular volume, released the same day as a Hanukkah counterpart (mentioned on the Books page Dec. 1), has the rambunctious, oversized reptiles first wreaking havoc, scattering Christmas gifts and decorations, and then calmly joining in the warmth of family celebrations. For ages 2 to 7. The Christmas Quiet Book, by Deborah Underwood (Houghton Mifflin, 32 pages, $14.99), a companion volume to two earlier titles, The Quiet Book and The Loud Book!, has the look of a book for the very young by virtue of its minimal text and the sweet, endearing illustrations by Calgary’s Renata Liwska (whose characters all look as though they could step off the pages as felted toys). But there’s tongue-incheek humour here that will appeal even to adults reading the book aloud: “searching for presents quiet,” for example, shows two bunnies who stop their game of table tennis to root around in a cupboard for hidden gifts; “Nutcracker quiet” has more than a few youngsters in the audience dozing off during a performance; and “trying to stay awake quiet” shows a young bunny asleep in a chair, having eaten half of a cookie clearly intended for Santa. For ages 3 to 7.
There’s nothing quiet about Santa Is Coming to My House, by Steve Smallman (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 32 pages, $10.99), which features chunks of oversized font that will encourage anyone reading the story aloud to use more than a basic inside voice. The story isn’t overly inspiring
— basically, it’s the account of a Santa who relies much too heavily on his non-reindeer navigational device, with some unfortunate consequences, and a young reindeer who’s more interested in devouring carrots and responding to bells than staying in step with the rest of the team. Cartoonish illustrations by Robert Dunn account for most of the book’s appeal. Ages 3 to 7.
Finding Christmas, written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko (North Winds Press, 32 pages, $19.99), will be welcomed by fans of Canada’s popular and prolific author/illustrator team, as it is their first holiday book. Based on Munsch’s family, the text notes that daughter Julie always searches for Christmas gifts before they appear under the tree; in this story, told with Munsch’s usual rhythms and repetitions, that search takes Julie to a rooftop Santa display, where she falls asleep and emerges as a gift herself
— one the parents bicker over. But all’s well that ends well, as befits a Christmas story: Julie is joined under the tree by siblings Andrew and Tyya. Wrapping themselves (and their dog) as holiday gifts, they prove more than enough for both parents. Ages 3 to 8.
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, by Eric Litwin (HarperCollins, 32 pages, $19.99), bases its rhyming text on The Night Before Christmas, but gives it a modern twist — as one would expect from Pete, the groovy black cat created and illustrated by James Dean and featured in three other picture books. When Santa (a tabby cat) falls ill, he asks Pete to deliver the toys to deserving children. “Although I am small, at Christmas we give, so I’ll give it my all,” Pete replies, heading north in his red VW-type bus. At the North Pole, he harnesses Santa’s reindeer to the bus and manages to deliver all the gifts just in time for Christmas Day. Ages 3 to 7.