cover image Twelve Gifts for Santa Claus

Twelve Gifts for Santa Claus

Mauri Kunnas. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $10.95 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-517-56631-2

Willie is a tiny elf in Santa's workshop who doesn't really have duties of his own yet. He has undertaken a different kind of projectto give Santa one present on each of the 12 days left before Christmas. To readers' eyes, all of Willie's gifts backfire, but Santa loves each one: Willie tries to knit a cap for Santa, but it becomes a kitten snarled in a ball of yarn; he makes a batch of ginger cookies, eats them all and presents Santa with the delicious crumbs; he creates a card that is so large and so full of paint that it must be left outside to dry; he sculpts a reindeer from snow that becomes a puddle as soon as he takes it to Santa in the exercise roomthere are 12 disasters in all. But on Christmas Day, Santa is happy to hold the tired Willie, exhausted from playing. This companion book to Santa Claus and His Elves captures the most innocent aspect of the holiday season: the wish to give, no matter how insignificant the present. Each page is packed, Kunnas-style, with details of the busy life in the workshop; the flurry of activity, served up with comic flair, is depicted in one happily frantic frame after another. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)