PreS-Gr 1--Santa is ready to make his Christmas deliveries, but his reindeer fail to heed his repeated calls to hitch up to the sleigh. "Dancer danced, Vixen vexed," "Cupid crooned," "Donner dozed," and each of the others continued doing their own thing. Santa tries repeatedly to call his team to action, but the sound of his horn, the ringing of his sleigh bells, and even his jolly "HO! HO! HO!" are ignored. Finally, taking his cue from Comet, pictured commenting, "WOW!" as he reads a book, Santa announces, "STORY TIME!" Surrounded by his attentive animals, he reads their favorite, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." The text is brief, with comical alliterative descriptions of the reindeer's activities and their comments on the reading. Humor abounds in the digitally created cartoon illustrations as well. Santa's horn stretches across a spread. He appears on skis searching through binoculars atop a hill. Cupid croons "It'll be a kissin' Christmas!" into a mike suspended from a tree branch. "Let's bring a/merry Christmas to ALL,/and to ALL a good night," Santa calls, as he and the reindeer, finally ready, fly across the sky. VERDICT Interesting vocabulary, a touch of suspense, and a satisfying conclusion make this simple story a good addition to holiday collections. Of course, it should be followed by a reading of the reindeer's favorite poem.--Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA

On Christmas Eve, Santa is ready to go, but his reindeer are off strutting their own alliterative stuff: "Dasher dashed," "Prancer pranced," "Vixen vexed," "Blitzen boasted," and "Cupid crooned" into a microphone ("It'll be a kissin' Christmas!"). Finally, Santa spies Comet holding a book and realizes that he's forgotten a crucial annual ritual: reading "The Night Before Christmas" to his coursers, who apparently have no intention of pulling the sleigh without hearing the poem. After he complies, the reindeer happily lift off, towing Santa and his bag of goodies while gift-holding animals look on from the ground. Hillenbrand reveals the spirited goings on in snowy, buoyant digital pictures featuring expressive reindeer and a jolly Santa who would be right at home in an animated movie. A light and cheery holiday tribute to tradition and storytelling. Ages 3--7. (Sept.)

Santa knows just the trick to bring his team of reindeer together for their Christmas Eve flight.It's Christmas Eve, and Santa (who appears to be white with light skin and white hair and is accompanied by a small dog, unnamed by the text) can't find his reindeer. As he searches in vain, readers are treated to five spreads showing Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen cavorting about the snowy, nighttime, North Pole setting. Hillenbrand's digital illustrations have a pleasingly soft visual aesthetic, and his text offers playful riffs on the coursers' names: "Dasher dashed," "Dancer danced," and "Prancer pranced," of course, but then Willenbrand reports that "Vixen vexed," "Comet commented," "Cupid crooned," "Donner dozed," and "Blitzen boasted." The alliterative, assonant wordplay supports the story's resolution, which is that the only way to get the reindeer to return to the sleigh is for Santa to call out "STORY TIME!" Then, all eight gather round "to hear their favorite story." It is (what else?) the famous poem "A Visit From Saint Nicholas." After thanking Santa for this gift of a story, the reindeer are hitched to the sleigh and then they take off to deliver "a merry Christmas to ALLand to ALL a good night."A merrily-ever-after read. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.