Santa Baby

September 1, 2020
A babe in toyland spells trouble for Christmas. Poor Santa is struggling with major burnout at the beginning of this laugh-out-loud Christmas book. Stutzman's skillful, witty turns of phrase and Fox's uproarious comic illustrations depict a decidedly old St. Nick. The opening pages are so strong and funny it's a shame to see a textual misstep when, just before Christmas, a weary Santa who seems ready to throw in the towel frets that "all the children in the entire world were counting on him." Most children reading this book will undoubtedly be among those who celebrate Christmas; but it does neither them nor others any good to reinforce Christmas as universally celebrated. Such textual erasure of non-Christian children may undermine the story's playful tone for some readers when Santa summons Christmas magic to make him young again. His wish comes true to an extreme degree, and the North Pole is left in the tiny hands of his transformed, titular Santa Baby self. Seeing his ineptitude (he can't even say "Ho Ho Ho!"), the elves initially fear Christmas will be cancelled, but they rally around Santa Baby, who also gets help from a bighearted child in one of the homes they eventually visit. By the book's end Santa is restored to his status as jolly old elf, and Christmas is saved. Santa presents White, and the elves are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.5% of actual size.) Funny and fun with a fundamental, if not fatal, flaw. (Picture book. 3-7)

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September 21, 2020
In this sprightly caper, Santa is feeling no holiday spirit and his body aches (“Ho, Ho, Oww”), so he summons the “magic of Christmas” to make him young again. When he morphs from an old man into a baby, the elves frantically test his Santa skills, and he fails miserably—and comically. He refuses to pop down chimneys, opens rather than delivers packages, and chews his list, twice. But thinking of the children he’ll disappoint if he doesn’t make his Christmas Eve rounds, he dons his “big-boy cap,” climbs into his “safety-approved sleigh-seat” and takes off. After stumbling, he “hurried down the chimney in fright” (a riff on the 1950s song with which this volume shares a name), but encounters a girl whose kindness rekindles the “beauty and wonder of Christmas” and he’s restored to his jolly old self. The developmental logic is iffy—how does Santa Baby understand the global stakes when he can’t even say “Ho Ho Ho”?—but Fox’s bustling digital cartoons and the elves’ attempts to communicate with their blathering infant boss amplify the tale’s blithe humor. Ages 4–8.