Auntie Claus, Home for the Holidays
(Auntie Claus #3)

K-Gr 4  Can you really have your cake and eat it, too? Sophie Kringle's Auntie Claus (Santa's sister) certainly thinks so. When Sophie has the opportunity to play the Sugar Plum Fairy in her schools presentation of "The Nutcracker", she is thrilled, but also sad, because her favorite aunt will be away on her annual business trip. Not true, insists Auntie Claus. Theyll just move the North Pole to New York City. It sounds like a good idea, but of course chaos ensues. Ghosts (Christmas Past, Present, and Future), elves, reindeer, and the real Sugar Plum Fairy descend upon the Bing Cherry Hotel, and the city is covered with snow and ice. As always, Primaveras exuberant and stylized acrylic paintings fill each page with color and excitement, and interesting details reward careful viewers. Fans of the first two Auntie Claus stories will not be disappointed. - Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library,

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

New York will be the new North Pole! declares cherry-haired Auntie Clausshe's decided to forgo her annual business trip up north so her niece, Sophie, can perform in the school play. Christmas characters like the Sugar Plum Fairy and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future flock to the decadent Bing Cherry Hotel, but transforming the Big Apple into the North Pole comes with humorous complications. Primavera's vibrant acrylics fill the city to the brim with holiday energy (including the milky glow of the aurora borealis), making the third in the series an enchanting spectacle. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2009, Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.