Santa Is Coming to New York

September 10, 2012
Whiteout conditions make navigation difficult for Santa on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, the sleigh isn’t the only thing that feels off-course in this overstuffed yet underwhelming picture book, part of a series of customized titles spotlighting North American cities and regions. In a holding pattern over Manhattan, “the youngest reindeer” tugs the team of six (not eight) toward the “ding-dong” of bells of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and crashes into the Empire State Building before getting on with deliveries. Though Smallman rattles off the names of landmarks in the text, neither the writing nor the illustrations (few of which are actually specific to New York) contain enough detail to make this a treat for either residents or vicarious visitors. Ages 4–up.

September 1, 2012
Santa Claus delivers many presents to the children of New York City in a slight story with too many words and too many changes of type size. On Christmas Eve, Santa and his team of reindeer get lost in a blizzard outside New York City. (Children will be sure to notice that there are only six reindeer in this interpretation.) When Santa's navigation system fails, the youngest reindeer hears the bells of St. Patrick's Cathedral and leads the team down toward the city. After getting stuck on top of the Empire State Building, Santa and the team stop in Central Park and then deliver presents to all five boroughs. Attractive watercolor-and-pencil illustrations create a distinct personality for Santa and his elves and provide some dramatic nighttime views of the Manhattan skyline. Dunn provides varied perspectives in the illustrations, with many snowy airborne and rooftop scenes. The story is overenthusiastic and a little wordy, with too many New York attractions shoveled into the text. The major drawback is the excessive use of enlarged type and additional display type throughout the text, which loses any special effect through overuse. While this title may be of interest mainly to children in the New York City area, it is one of a series that takes Santa to other cities and regions in the United States and includes the generic Santa Is Coming to My House. (Picture book. 4-7)

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October 1, 2012

K-Gr 2-This decidedly New York-centric offering imagines that Santa has only one destination as many small elves load up his sleigh with a huge sack of presents for the children of the Big Apple. Tapping the coordinates into his "Santa-nav," the big man leads the reindeer south across the North Sea, "flying above Buffalo and on over Albany," until a sudden blizzard causes the sleigh to crash into the Empire State Building. All ends well as Santa maneuvers his sleigh through the five boroughs, delivering presents and taking note of numerous famous landmarks on his way. In spite of the inclusion of navigational technology, this book has an appealing old-fashioned feel both in text and illustration. However, it is hard to imagine that children outside New York City will appreciate a story that has Santa returning to the North Pole after his deliveries while bypassing the rest of the world.-Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

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