The Oldest Elf [Library Binding]

James Stevenson (Author)

Book Description

In Santa's workshop the elves are busy building video games, helicopters, dolls that walk and talk, and racing cars that go wherever you tell them to go. No one seems very interested in the old-fashioned toys that Elwyn, the oldest elf, is making. In fact there is so little interest in them that Santa and the sleigh leave without them. It is Blitzen who tells Elwyn what happened. And Blitzen, himself too old to go dashing through the night has been replaced by a doe named Josephine. With his well-known wit and ingenuity, James Stevenson solves the problem and adds his fresh touch to this original Christmas story. Ages 5 up.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

You're never too old to deliver Christmas cheer?even if you're the oldest elf (or reindeer) on Santa's staff. While young whippersnappers busily buzz in the main workshop, Elwyn still builds toys the old-fashioned way in a quiet cellar room. But for all his care, Elwyn finishes his creations 20 minutes after Santa has taken to the skies on Christmas Eve. Fellow retiree Blitzen the reindeer comes through in the nick of time, and the experienced duo fly off to make their own special deliveries. Framed by his unmistakable, jaunty ink-and-watercolor art, Stevenson's (The Worst Person's Christmas) latest is thoroughly sweet, but lacks the punchy wit and heart-tugging tenderness found in many of his other works. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Scientific American

In Santa's up-to-the-minute workshop, video games beep, battery-operated toys are the order of the day, and Blitzen has been replaced by a female reindeer, Josephine. Only Elwyn clings to the low-tech handmade playthings of the past, and he's so behind the times (his most recent calendar "said 1984") that he misses Santa's sleigh by 20 minutes. Elwyn's toy sack lies buried in the snow until Blitzen rallies the elf for a toy-delivery mission of their own....

Created by an elf who's no where near Elwyn's age, this Christmas fantasy is written with sweetness and wit, infused with nostalgia for the good old days, and brimming with appeal for the good old now. (Picture Book. 5+)

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 1 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688137563
• ISBN-13: 978-0688137564
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,888,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Reindeer in Winter, May 19, 2007

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Oldest Elf (Hardcover)

James Stevenson is one of my favorite children's writers. Like the great Daniel Pinkwater, Stevenson has a droll sense of humor that alternates between subtle, dry ironies, and outrageous comic exaggerations that he treats as nothing out of the ordinary. Pinkwater has his mischievous talking bears; here, Stevenson lets us eavesdrop on Santa's reindeers, as if it were completely expected that they talk to each other, and that their chat would seem more like human than animal concerns:

In the stable the reindeer had a hard time tyring to sleep.
"All those lights and noises, said Prancer.
"I can't get any rest at all."
"How soon is Christmas Eve," asked Donner.
Tomorrow night, " said Dancer.

THe reindeer are grateful. While they await flight night, the elves still make toys, but they now live in an age of whiz-bang video games and remote control automobiles. However, one elf, the oldest elft, Elwyn, stil makes hand-crafted, quality wooden toys: Painted biplanes, China dolls with ribbons, trains, rocking horses--the kind of toy one sees now either in museums or as boutique toys for the very wealthy, more likely for display than for play.

Elwyn, just like the reindeers, has some trouble keeping track of time, and he misses Santa's sleigh. So does one of the more famous reindeer:

"YOu missed then," said an old voice....
"Who's that,?" said Elwyn.
It's me, Blitzen, said Blitzen.
"...Did you miss them, too?"
"Heck no," said Blitzen. "I got too old for those last-minute rides through the night." No more 'On DOner! On Blitzen!' for me."
Blitzen's been replaced by a new reindeer named "Josephine," so new that later Santa forgets her name!)

THe story turns when tired Blitzen think so f the "kids who would love to get [Elwyn's] toys." After a dramatic search for Elwyn's snow-covered bag of toys, Blitzen instructs Elwyn how to hitch him to a toboggan (!), attach some bells ("might as well do things right"), and shout the requisite "On Blitzen!" Flying through the night, they meet Santa and help distribute the toys. The suggestion that this may be Blitzen and Elwyn's swan song gives the story a bittersweet undertone. However, the conclusion is filled with such joy and spirit that one feels this Christmas adventure of renewal and hope won;t be the last for either the oldest elf or the retired reindeer. Stevenson's pen and watercolor illustrations are pulses of color, giving a vibrating energy to both new and old tradtions. Excellent as a Christmas story, of course, but appropriate in any season.