SANTA'S SURPRISE BOOK

Santa's Surprise Book
Author: Joan Potter Elwart
Illustrator: Florence Sarah Winship
Publisher: Western
Edition: Sixth (1976)
First pressing: 1966
Pages: 24

Given the time of year, how better to kick off this blog than with a seasonal offering? Santa's Surprise Book is a Little Golden Book told in a series of simple rhymes, beginning with "One night before Christmas old Santa sat rocking, / Wondering what he could stuff in each stocking." The premise established, Santa soon gets an idea for a brand new stocking stuffer. ("He had always left candy and nuts, it's true.") In a mad bout of creativity, Santa goes to work in his shop, revealing the fruits of his labor to his elves the following night. In true meta fashion, what he's been working on is the very book we're reading. He even magically jumps into the book at the end "to spend Christmas with you."

The self-reflexive ending is similar to that of The Monster at the End of the Book, a classic that emerged five years later. But the real beauty of this book is its simplicity. The narrative is compact and nicely guided by the rhyming, and the depictions of Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves are timeless and affectionate. (The only innovation, to my knowledge, is the addition of a black-and-white cat at Santa's side.) Florence Sarah Winshop's full-color illustrations are warm and bright, with splashy embellishments capturing the magic at Santa's fingertips.

This is a gorgeous, old-school treat that holds up. Every kid deserves a copy.