How Santa Lost His Job

by Stephen Krensky, S.D. Schindler (Illustrator)

Overview

Santa has the best job he can think of — brining presents each Christmas to children all around the world. Every year he prepares for his trip: He trims his beard, takes a bath, gets dressed, and packs up his sleigh fort he long night ahead. But there are always a few unexpected delays that make things a little hectic. Muckle, one of the elves who helps Santa, thinks he can come up with a more efficient way of delivering the toys — a method that won't involve Santa at all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689871474
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	10/01/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	667,541
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Stephen Krensky is the author of more than a hundred books for children, including How Santa Got His Job (an ALA Notable Book) and Big Bad Wolves at School. He and his wife, Joan, live in Lexington, Massachusetts. You can visit him at StephenKrensky.com.

S. D. Schindler is the popular and versatile illustrator of many books for children, including Ursula K. Le Guin’s Catwings series; Skeleton Hiccups and Monster Mess!, both by Margery Cuyler; Big Pumpkin and the ALA Notable Children’s Book Don’t Fidget a Feather!, both by Erica Silverman; How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky; and Johnny Appleseed by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benét. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His website is SDSchindlerBooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal, starred review [Krensky's] text and Schindler's wonderfully energetic illustrations depict the elusive qualities that make Santa the best choice [for the job].

From the Publisher

In How Santa Lost His Job by Stephen Krensky, illus. by S.D. Schindler, downsizing hits the North Pole when the elves vote to sack Santa in the name of efficiency. Clever, humorous details abound in Schindler's pen-and-ink art (the elves upgrade to computer ordering; reindeer help Santa clean house). A fitting follow-up to How Santa Got His Job. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 4-In this companion to Krensky's How Santa Got His Job (S & S, 1998), St. Nick faces a common work dilemma-the automation of his job responsibilities. When the elves grumble about his inefficiency, nerdy Muckle invents the Deliverator, a robotic replacement for Santa. The old man protests, "There's more to my job than meets the eye," but allows the elves to judge for themselves-man versus the machine. Subsequent text and Schindler's wonderfully energetic and detailed illustrations depict the elusive qualities that make Santa the best choice. When the Deliverator malfunctions and crashes on Christmas Eve, the jolly man graciously and with the utmost professionalism resumes his duties. "After that, nobody talked of replacing Santa again. Each year there were new delays or mix-ups. But the elves didn't mind. They realized now that this was all perfectly normal." Even libraries that don't own How Santa Got His Job will want to purchase this title, both for holiday enjoyment and for classroom use.-L. F. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Assembly-line workers are being replaced by machines-but Santa? That's just what Muckle the elf has in mind. Annoyed at Santa's last-minute changes and the inefficiency of the whole setup, he decides there must be a better way. Behind the text boxes, readers can see the incredibly detailed blueprints for Muckle's wondrous new machine, the Deliverator. In lighting speed it matches children's letters with a gift. It can travel around the world in one night, and zip up and down chimneys to make deliveries. But Clara, the mail carrier, has her doubts that the Deliverator can do everything that Santa does. After all, who will eat the milk and cookies, and who really knows the children as well as Santa? Predictably, a glitch causes the Deliverator to fail-and during the most hectic year of all. But the uncomplaining elves have learned that Christmas is not about a schedule, rather about caring, something that can't be programmed into a computer. And Santa makes a couple of changes of his own: the elves now track orders from a bank of computers in the workroom. However, his other major change-marriage to Mrs. Claus at the finale-seems not to fit in with the flow of the story. Krensky (Shooting for the Moon, p. 802, etc.) has crafted a tale with an obvious lesson, but somehow this does not detract. Rather, it highlights the importance of personal attention and the "little things" in the celebration of Christmas. This is a wonderful complement to Krensky's first Santa book, How Santa Got His Job (1998), which documents the job experiences and skills that make him perfect for the position. Schindler's (The Cod's Tale, p. 1294, etc.) drawings are masterworks of detail, from the reindeer snitchingcookies in Santa's kitchen, to the steam coming from Muckle's head as he has to reprogram the Deliverator. Keep on truckin', Santa. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews