James Rice (1)

I was expecting a lot more from this book. Sadly, it didn't reach my expectations. When I was reading it, I felt like I was given a glimpse into a true redneck Christmas [this one's for you Cletus!], considering the house came complete with gun over the fireplace. I get that everyone who lives in Texas has a gun, but its never propped up so nonchalantly. I love Texas, but this book did not give me Texas. It gave me a creepy Santa Claus with rather oddly named longhorns...except for Sam, I show more rather liked Sam. The rhyme was ok, but it didn't sound proper when read with a Texas drawl...even though since it takes place in Texas I believe it should. Not a hit for me. Texas deserves better than this. I would very much like to toss this book and every copy of it out of the Lonestar state. =( show less

St. Nick makes a visit to the Louisiana bayou, with a sled pulled by alligators and a sherry red nose. He comes down the chimney, but burns a hole in his pants! After his work is done, he flies off into the night.
I spent Katrina on the bayou with my grandparents, both Cajuns. The book is written in Cajun dialect and reading it made me feel like I was back with them. The book could also be used as a way to teach how some writers use a unique voice, and that not everyone speaks Queen's English.

Take the traditional story of jolly old St. Nicholas, place it in a Louisiana Bayou setting, dress Santa Claus in a muskrat from his head to his toes, pile his skiff with toys and hitch it to eight friendly flying alligators and you have Christmas on the Bayou! This is a very fun and intriguing take on the classic Christmas book. I do believe that this book isn't grammatically correct but hey its Cajun. This isn't a book that can be easily read or even understood in your head so it's best to show more be read aloud. If I were to read this to my classroom, I would have someone or a tape with the actual Cajun dialogue reading it to my students. show less

My favorite thing about this book was the language! "He got on his foots! an' jump like a cat, out to de flo' where he lan' wit' a splat!". That is the kind of authentic language you can expect from this book, and it's amazing. I also like how funny this book is. Santa has gators (alligators)! Reindeer were nowhere to be found. We see a very vivid depiction on what Christmas on the bayou is like. I would recommend this book to locals, and others. I was in Barnes and Noble and I decided to show more get this book for my friend's son, because she is from here but lives away. I think she will totally LOVE reading it to him. I will be mailing this soon. It also has a matching coloring book, that can be purchased separately. show less