Santa Baby

by Jonathan Stutzman, Heather Fox (Illustrator)

Overview

Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox, the duo behind Llama Destroys the World, take their trademark hijinks up to the North Pole in this laugh-out-loud, heartfelt Christmas-themed picture book.

Santa is feeling old, and being in the business of Christmas for centuries is . . . well, it isn't all milk and cookies. In hopes of regaining some of his pep, Santa asks the spirit of Christmas to give him something for a change: skim off a couple of years and make him younger.

But Christmas magic is powerful, and Santa gets more than he wished for. Instead of a fresh new outlook and boundless energy, he needs diapers and a nap—stat. With Christmas only a few days away, the elves rush to teach Santa Baby the basics. But will there be enough time to prepare their new bundle of holiday joy for the job?

Funny and spirited, bright and inspiring, and with an unforgettable title, Santa Baby is destined to be a yuletide read families revisit every year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250255617
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.54(w) x 11.15(h) x 0.33(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jonathan Stutzman is an award-winning filmmaker and a picture book author. He is the author of numerous books for children, including Don't Feed the Coos, Santa Baby, the Llama trilogy, and the Tiny T-Rex series. He received his masters at Temple University for film and digital media. He lives in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with his wife, the illustrator Heather Fox. Fitz and Cleo is his debut graphic novel.

Heather Fox is an illustrator and graphic designer, creating art in pen and ink, digital, and gouache. She is the illustrator of Don't Feed the Coos, Santa Baby, and the Llama trilogy. She lives in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with her husband, the writer Jonathan Stutzman. Fitz and Cleo is her debut graphic novel.

Editorial Reviews

09/21/2020

In this sprightly caper, Santa is feeling no holiday spirit and his body aches (“Ho, Ho, Oww”), so he summons the “magic of Christmas” to make him young again. When he morphs from an old man into a baby, the elves frantically test his Santa skills, and he fails miserably—and comically. He refuses to pop down chimneys, opens rather than delivers packages, and chews his list, twice. But thinking of the children he’ll disappoint if he doesn’t make his Christmas Eve rounds, he dons his “big-boy cap,” climbs into his “safety-approved sleigh-seat” and takes off. After stumbling, he “hurried down the chimney in fright” (a riff on the 1950s song with which this volume shares a name), but encounters a girl whose kindness rekindles the “beauty and wonder of Christmas” and he’s restored to his jolly old self. The developmental logic is iffy—how does Santa Baby understand the global stakes when he can’t even say “Ho Ho Ho”?—but Fox’s bustling digital cartoons and the elves’ attempts to communicate with their blathering infant boss amplify the tale’s blithe humor. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Plenty of laughs...playfully complemented by Fox’s child-friendly illustrations." —Horn Book


Praise for Llama Destroys the World:

Summer 2019 Kids’ Indie Next List Pick

"Silly fun."—People Magazine

"Filled with llama drama and will having everyone laughing out loud."—Romper

"[A] super silly, amazingly original, best-when-read-aloud picture book."—BookPage

"Dessert has never seemed so epic." —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"The goofy premise itself will elicit giggles, but it’s innocently wide-eyed Llama who really sells the silliness of the story."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred Review

"Will make Rubin and Salmieri's fans split their own pants." —Kirkus

"[T]his story will have readers chuckling again and again and coming back for more, just like Llama."—School Library Journal


Praise for Don't Feed the Coos:

"If it's true that being pooped on by a bird brings good luck, Stutzman and Fox's protagonist accrues some serious great fortune...Coo-coo storytime fun."—Kirkus

"Fox’s graphic illustrations echo the text’s giddy rhythms, with the pigeons styled...as pert, wide-eyed, always-in-profile graphic motifs that skip, flit, and, yes, poo prodigiously across the pages." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2020-08-18
A babe in toyland spells trouble for Christmas.

Poor Santa is struggling with major burnout at the beginning of this laugh-out-loud Christmas book. Stutzman’s skillful, witty turns of phrase and Fox’s uproarious comic illustrations depict a decidedly old St. Nick. The opening pages are so strong and funny it’s a shame to see a textual misstep when, just before Christmas, a weary Santa who seems ready to throw in the towel frets that “all the children in the entire world were counting on him.” Most children reading this book will undoubtedly be among those who celebrate Christmas; but it does neither them nor others any good to reinforce Christmas as universally celebrated. Such textual erasure of non-Christian children may undermine the story’s playful tone for some readers when Santa summons Christmas magic to make him young again. His wish comes true to an extreme degree, and the North Pole is left in the tiny hands of his transformed, titular Santa Baby self. Seeing his ineptitude (he can’t even say “Ho Ho Ho!”), the elves initially fear Christmas will be cancelled, but they rally around Santa Baby, who also gets help from a bighearted child in one of the homes they eventually visit. By the book’s end Santa is restored to his status as jolly old elf, and Christmas is saved. Santa presents White, and the elves are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.5% of actual size.)

Funny and fun with a fundamental, if not fatal, flaw. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews