Julie Sykes

Oh, no! It’s Christmas Eve and Santa is sound asleep! The little mouse tugs at his beard to wake him; Santa hurries to get dressed. But when he gets outside, there are no reindeer to harness. He searches the woods for the reindeer, but only finds four of them? Will four reindeer be enough to pull Santa’s sleigh? Will there be toys under the Christmas tree for the Little Ones on Christmas morning?

And what is Santa’s surprise?

Three-year-olds and up are the target audience for this show more story. Santa bumbles and bustles his way through a variety of silly antics on his way to getting the presents delivered to all the children; young readers who feel rushed and hurried will appreciate Santa’s misadventures as he tries to deliver the toys. In its own comical way, the story shows young readers that everyone has difficult moments. And the reindeer giving Santa a gift at the end of the story is just plain sweet [and a lesson for young readers in giving to others].

The artwork is colorful and clever: the cat’s antlers have tiny fish dangling on them; the reindeer are having a snowball fight. There’s more than enough frenzy, energy, and chuckles to make this a holiday treat for young children expectantly waiting for Santa to appear.

Recommended. show less

I think this book is a good way to teach children not to underestimate others. Something I didn’t really like about the book was that both the Hare and the Turtle were using sneaky ways to win. I think that this gives kids the wrong idea about winning and playing fair.

Children at the afterschool (5-7 year old) loved it.
I found it a nice and funny read, with lovely illustrations. Very good opportunity to get a child to speak about their uneasiness around a new baby in the family. Don't look for a pre-packed, one-fits-all answer in the book's ending, of course. Not only such an answer doesn't exist; I also found this particular ending very distant from the way children look at the world. Nothing wrong with it: in the end it's just a story, and a good one.

This is a spin off of the well known story of the tortoise and the hare. When tortoise and hare decide to have a race, all of tortoises friends offer advice on how he can win. I like this book because it shows children how when something is difficult the best thing to do is just keep working through the situation. Along with that it shows them that cheating is never a good idea. I believe this book is appropriate for children of any age.