How Santa Got His Job

I think I showed a modicum of restraint by waiting a full week after Thanksgiving to review this. 

THREE PROS

*Stephen Krensky does an amazing job of dreaming up believable jobs that Santa could have done as a younger man in order to gain the skill set required of the world's favorite gift delivery guy  

*Throws in a nod to the Boy Scout motto, by teaching that even Santa likes to be prepared (even for something he's done countless times before)
*It might be overlooked by most, but I loved how the story doesn't include even one mention of the word Christmas 

THREE CONS 

*It's awful presumptuous for me to tell Kresnky how to write, but if he's gonna give us the Claus backstory, then tell us where Mrs. C fits into the picture 
*I wasn't blown away by S.D. Schindler's illustrations -- they were creatively decent but had a depressing sheen to them 

*Speaking of that artwork, I had no idea how disconcerting I found monkeys with afro puffs until I opened HSGHJ for the first time

ONE DAD'S OPINION
By the time you are old enough to have kids of your own, you probably feel like you've heard every yuletide story there is to know.  That is, until you happen upon this effort. What a great idea Krensky had taking a stab at filling in the gaps surrounding probably the most famous fictional character!  But is it a welcome addition to your Christmas list? It's only a reindeer or two short of being a Buy; yet even with a heaping dose of holiday spirit, I don't think i could find it in my heart to call it anything above a Borrow.      

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy