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Jeffers’ (The Nutcracker) version of this famous Christmas song is about a girl who travels with Santa Claus to the North Pole after she finds her hidden Christmas present and accidentally breaks it before Christmas morning. The illustrations make it look like her journey is a dream, but when she wakes up on Christmas morning, her partridge in a pear tree snow globe is fixed.
The characters in the story are based on the author’s friends and family (described in the notes section on the last page). The watercolor paintings are realistic in style, and yet--because the journey is to the North Pole--the characters seem to meet in a dream-like setting. The ladies dancing and the lords a-leaping twirl and fly in the air around the little girl and Santa Claus.
Rudolph does not lead the sleigh, and the refrains from the song are not repeated throughout the story (“On the second day of Christmas, Santa gave to me two turtle doves. On the third day of Christmas, Santa gave to me three French hens”). The previous stanzas are not repeated. This could make the story awkward to sing during a storytime setting, but because the song is not about the girl’s “true love”, the differences could be explained that way.
The best part of this book is the cover: it’s covered in sparkles. Unfortunately there are no sparkles inside, but it’s a beautiful book nonetheless.
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Tanya Boudreau/2016 for curled
up with a good kid's book |
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For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews,
visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)
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The Twelve Days of Christmas