Thursday, December 17, 2015

When Santa Was a Baby

When Santa Was A Baby. Linda Bailey. Illustrated by Genevieve Godbout. 2014/2015. Tundra Books. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: When Santa was a baby, he was soft and round and cuddly, and his parents thought he was wonderful.

Premise/plot: Ever wondered what Santa was like as a baby or a child? This picture book aims to tell just that. There are clues throughout the text that Santa has always been very Santa-like even as a baby. For example, as a baby his mom notes, "And his dear little nose, like a cherry!" And instead of cooing or making other gentle, baby noises, Santa booms loudly and strongly: Ho, Ho, Ho!

My thoughts: I don't know honestly what I think of this one! Just when I think, yes, I like this one, I'll keep reading and change my mind again. I think I changed my mind two or three times as I was reading and rereading. There are definitely some cute instances in this book, if nothing else.

For example,
What a lovely time Santa had opening his presents! He had an even lovelier time wrapping them up again and putting them in a sack. "What's he doing?" asked his mom. "Beats me," said his dad. They watched in amazement as Santa rode down the street, giving away his presents to all the boys and girls.
The illustrations are unusual. Delightful at times, and, just a bit strange at other times. There were things I definitely liked, and things I definitely didn't like about the illustrations. Just so you know, there are at least two naked baby bottoms, and quite a few diaper bottoms.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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