Presents Through the Window

Starred review from September 26, 2016
First published in Japan in 1983, this delightful holiday tale features die-cut windows through which Santa peers into the houses he visits. But Gomi’s Santa—who tools around in a helicopter and wears a mustache instead of a beard—isn’t paying the closest attention to who lives in each house, and that’s the source of this story’s substantial charm. “A little kitten must live in this house,” Santa proclaims in one scene, but a page turn reveals that the “kitten” is just an image on the nightshirt of a snoozing pig. “A zebra definitely lives here,” declares Santa at the next house, dropping off a striped scarf; too bad those “stripes” are actually the long white necks of three swanlike birds, sleeping side by side against a black wall. Luckily, the seemingly mismatched gifts are a hit with everyone. Gomi’s vibrant, pared-down artwork and the effervescent fun of Santa’s well-intentioned bumbling make for laughs on every page. Ages 3–5.

This year Santa is in a big hurry with his Christmas Eve deliveries. In fact, he's so rushed that he is delivering packages by helicopter. He dashes up to each house, takes a quick peek in the window, and tosses in a present for the sleeping animal or child with an accompanying comment in a speech balloon. The windows are die-cut shapes in the right-hand pages, with each one revealing just a small portion of the sleeping resident. After the first present is delivered, Santa's snap judgements go awry, as he mistakes a dinosaur's plates for the ears of a fox, rows of bunny ears for a crocodile's teeth, and so on. After the die-cut page is turned, the reader can see what the animal really is, but Santa is blissfully unaware. Young readers will love knowing more than Santa does. A delightful finale finds all the animals and one boy enjoying their presents, which all work out just fine in the end. Gomi's understated illustrations use geometric shapes, deep, saturated colors, and the cleverly placed window die-cuts to give the story added dimension. This Santa is an older Asian man with a white mustache and a deep pink suit. The only other human character is an Asian boy with dark tan skin and black hair. There's a subtle lesson here to slow down and evaluate before making a decision. But with this book, a snap judgement holds up--it's a winner. (Picture book. 2-7) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-In this picture book, a nontraditional Santa arrives by helicopter on Christmas Eve to deliver presents. After landing, he walks from house to house with his sack, deciding which present to leave by looking at the recipient through the window. However, what he thinks he's seeing isn't quite right. The "little kitten" is actually a pig in a sleeper with a kitten picture on it. The "zebra" is three swans sitting together on the bed with their necks extended. And poor bear! Since all Santa can see is the bear's dark fur through the window, he doesn't think anyone is home and leaves nothing. Santa's wrong assumptions create some humorous gift choices, but all works out in the end. Gomi's signature uncluttered use of color and shape draws the eye to Santa and the windows, with a bit of pattern thrown in to warm up the interiors. VERDICT This combination holiday story and "eye spy" game is perfect for sharing and will bring a smile to young readers as they guess what's really going on through the cutout windows.-Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

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