Donaldson and Scheffler, the team behind Room on the Broom
and The Gruffalo
, find a roundabout route to Christmas in this bouncy tale. Stick Man is just that, a brown stick with twig arms and branch legs. His story is delivered in perfect meter: “Stick Man lives in the family tree/ With his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three.” One spring day, Stick Man unwillingly joins a dog's game of fetch, is sent downstream by children and woven into a swan's nest. As the seasons change, Stick Man travels farther from home, futilely protesting (in vehement Green Eggs and Ham
style), “I'm not a mast for a silly old flag,/ Or a sword for a knight... or a hook for a bag.” In his darkest hour, he nearly becomes kindling, only to have Santa arrive down the chimney. Donaldson and Scheffler's poignant, suspenseful profile of an inanimate object recalls Laurie Keller or The Velveteen Rabbit
. Donaldson's rhymes never skip a beat, and Scheffler personalizes the many animals, people and settings in his witty watercolors. This yarn could become a December perennial. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)
