December 2009

TITLE: Horrid Henry’s Christmas
AUTHOR: Francesca Simon
ILLUSTRATOR: Tony Ross
PUB DATE: August 2009
PUBLISHER: Jabberwocky/SourceBooks
ISBN: 9781402217821
AGE: 7-10

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Horrid Henry sabotages the Christmas play; tries to do all his Christmas shopping without spending any of his allowance; attempts to ambush Santa Claus (to get more presents, of course); and has to endure the worst Christmas dinner ever!

MICHAEL’S THOUGHTS:

We love Horrid Henry and are always laughing when we read the books. This is our 5th Horrid Henry book we have read and we are looking forward to reading much more of Horrid Henry’s adventures.

This is a great and funny Christmas book. Inside it are four stories: Christmas Play, Christmas Presents, Ambush and Christmas Lunch.

Christmas Play is about the day Miss Battle Axe assigns parts in the Christmas Play. Horrid Henry was to be Joseph but gets really upset when Perfect Peter gets the part and Henry is the innkeeper. Henry will do anything to ruin it for Peter. When Henry forgets his line he improvises and you know someone will be upset and mad and Henry.

Christmas Presents- Henry’s mother has allowed henry and Peter to decorate the tree and each of the boys want it done a certain way and Henry tells him to stay on his side while Peter says there is no sides. The boys fight because Henry is claiming all the decorations. Then Henry’s mother asks him if his presents are all wrapped and he lies and says yes. Henry didn’t buy any presents. He didn’t want to spend his allowance on anyone so he decides to make his own presents. What kind of presents did henry give his family? Will they like them?

Ambush- Its Christmas Eve and Henry was very specific in his letter to Santa about what he wanted for Christmas and he was hoping that this year would be the year he would get everything off is list. That night before going to bed he booby traps his room and ambush Santa Claus. How will his plan to ambush Santa work?

Christmas Lunch- Finally its Christmas Day. Henry is excited to see what was left for him by Santa. As you can tell probably Henry didn’t get all that he asked for and is disappointed in his presents. When the guest arrive Henry rushes to the door demand his presents. We all know that is rude to do. What will the family think of Henry’s presents? How will the Christmas Lunch go?

We loved all the stories in this book and what a great book to read the week of Christmas.

Thanks to Source Books/Jabberwocky for sending us this finished copy to read and review.

TITLE: Mrs Claus Explains It All
AUTHOR: Elsbeth Claus
ILLUSTRATOR: David Wenzel
PUB DATE: October 2008
PUBLISHER: Jabberwocky/SourceBooks
ISBN: 978-1-4022-1105-8
AGE: Children’s picture book

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Every year millions of letters to Santa reach the North Pole. Many are requests for presents. And many letters have questions about Santa, the elves and workshops, the reindeer, and, of course, the North Pole.

Now Mrs. Claus has her own gift for you – for the first time ever, she’s taking a break from her very busy schedule to answer real questions from children of all ages. Join her on a tour of the North Pole and learn some of the best kept secrets of Christmas from the person who knows it all – Mrs. Claus!

* How does Santa get into my house if we don’t have a chimney?
* What is Santa’s favorite kind of cookie?
* Where do elves come from?
* Can all reindeer fly?

MICHAEL’S THOUGHTS:

I have to admit that I am so thankful for Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks when they contacted me to see if I would read and review this for the blog. I actually didn’t hesitate at all to send my reply back with a huge yes.

Just before receiving this request Michael had asked me one day after school if it was true that there was no such thing as a Santa Claus and that moms and dads bought the presents to put under the tree? I was totally shocked when he asked me. In my head I kept saying “He is only 6 years old, its too soon.”

I say this because apparently my niece was in grade 5 when she found out there was no such thing and I asked a few other friends who had kids and they all said the same thing that their kids were much older.

I admit I am a bad mother (HAHA) and lied and said “Michael there is a Santa Claus and he brings presents to you.” So I think this will be the last year that he will believe in Santa Claus. My little boy is growing up.

Anyways back to the book. This is a great book and after reading it I could see that Michael was thinking of many more questions about the North Pole etc he wanted to know so i told him that he should write a letter and perhaps he would get a reply back.

There was so many great questions that Mrs Claus answered that even I wanted to know the answers too.  Such as:

What is Santa’s favorite cookie? Did you know that Santa loves all kind of cookies and he hasn’t come across a cookie he didn’t like? But his favorites are chocolate chip, ginger snaps, peanut butter and oatmeal.

How can I become an elf? Now that would be a job I would love to have. You have to finish school before you can begin Elf training and you have to be good, helpful, obedients, take care of your pets and toys. Only a few get accepted into Elf training.

Plus many other great questions from how does Santa know where I live to how does he get into my house?

This would make a great gift to give children who are curious about Santa Claus.

Thanks again to Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks for sending us this finished copy to read and review.