WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Description
A holiday picture book from award-winning author/illustrator Lane Smith that features the woodland character, Stickler, who wanders the forest delivering Christmas presents. In a picture book that's both silly and sweet, readers will be inspired by this story of holiday kindness.
Happy-go-lucky Stickler, an original character covered in sticks, is celebrating Christmas by passing out presents for all his friends. He has carefully selected the right stick for each of them, including: a Hop-Higher Stick for Rabbit, an Idea Stick for Crow, an In-a-Pear-Tree Stick for Partridge. But Doug-the-Fir doesn't want a present, he is too worried about being covered with decorations and lights and being the center of attention. So, Stickler promises to think of a solution and finds the perfect stick. But in order to help his shy friend, Stickler needs to be the one to shine.
A Stickler Christmas encourages empathy and kindness with a joyful, lighthearted touch. Lane Smith, the award-winning author and illustrator of recent picture books, including A Gift for Nana (where Stickler first appears) and Stickler Loves the World, brings imagination and laughter to a clever story featuring a delightful character.
The textured mixed-media illustrations are classic Smith, as is Leach's spirited design, and both complement the wacky quality of his humorous story, which ends sweetly with Stickler also receiving the perfect present (spoiler: it's a stick).
Kirkus
Starred Review
To quote the strangest little fellow ever to star in its own Christmas picture book: “Joy.”
School Library Journal
Starred Review
PreS-Gr 1--In this follow-up to Stickler Loves the World, Stickler is back in a tender holiday tale about gift giving, friendship, low-stakes sacrifice, and celebration. Stickler, a bundle of sticks with a heart of gold, makes Christmas joyfully weird as it gives gifts--sticks, of course--to friends, including Rabbit, Snowman, Partridge, and Doug-the-Fir. Everyone is in good spirits, except for Doug, who is "not one bit jolly" about being the center of attention as a Christmas tree. Stickler finds a solution to help its friend by donning Doug's decorations and singing "O Stickler Tree," "Jingle Sticks," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Stick," and "Little Drummer Stick," to take the spotlight off of Doug. Smith's mixed-media illustrations begin with a daytime palette that grows in contrast as night arrives with a showstopping reveal of Stickler draped in twinkle lights, garlands of popcorn, and ornaments. Emphasized facial features (googly eyes and squiggly, animated mouths) give characters emotional range, while fluffy snowflakes and winter landscapes wrap the story in seasonal cozy. Dynamic design adds interest to each page as perspectives zoom in and out and text placement moves; a playful font shift to Old English adds pizazz to Stickler's singing of "O Stickler Tree, how lovely are my branches!" VERDICT Amid many holiday book options that retell the same stories, Stickler stands out as a fresh expression of Christmas spirit.--Nora Clancy
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Lane Smith is the award-winning author of 2012 Caldecott Honor book Grandpa Green, as well as It's a Book, and the middle-grade novel Return to Augie Hobble, among others. In 2012, the Eric Carle Museum named him a Carle Artist for lifelong innovation in the field of children's picture books, and in 2014, he was awarded the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Illustrators. In 2017, he was awared the Kate Greenaway Medal for There is a Tribe of Kids. He lives in an old house in Connecticut with the designer Molly Leach, pondering the goings-on in his own backyard.
