Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin [Hardcover]

Dean Koontz (Author), Phil Parks (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

Dean Koontz kicks the holidayseason into high gear with a wildly inventive and wickedly funny sequel to his perennial Christmas bestseller Santa's Twin.

The Claus family's bad seed, Bob, is back and dishing out a second helping of holiday havoc and headaches for his twin brother, Santa. Exactly a year has passed since Bob kidnapped Santa and visited Charlotte and Emily in his stead, bearing gifts of mud pies, cat poop, and broccoli. After his defeat at the hands of the two brave sisters, Bob has worked hard to redeem himself in Santa's eyes. Unfortunately Bob's spare time has been spent secretly building a robot Santa Claus. Super Santa One was designed to help Santa halve his delivery time, but Bob has left a screw loose on his creation (several screws, actually), and this Christmas Eve, a badly malfunctioning robot Santa Claus is coming to town.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–In this sequel to Santa's Twin (Morrow, 1996), the big man's brother Bob tries to help out by building a robotic Santa and reindeer, and trains a gorilla to drive the rocket-powered sleigh. Sure enough, things go wrong; by the time the surrogate St. Nick reaches his first house, he's having major software trouble and is downright scary. Meanwhile, the gorilla takes over the kitchen and starts cooking up a storm. Luckily, Emily and Lottie (stars of the first book) restore order and sanity, with some help from their dog Woofer and the real Santa. The tale is told in many, many rhyming stanzas, which can be rather exhausting to read, but there are enough laughs, wordplay, and clever twists to hold the interest of most kids, especially if they hear it read aloud. The illustrations are slick, smooth, and rather stiff, which works well with the robotic characters but not so well with the real ones; Emily and Lottie look as though they are made of plastic. If Santa's Twin is popular at your library, this title will be a hit as well.–E. M.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Dean Koontz was born in Everett, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Bedford. When he was a senior in college, he won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. Today he is a world-famous author whose novels have sold 225 million copies in thirty-eight languages. He has numerous New York Times adult best-sellers, including his most recent From The Corner Of His Eye. Dean Koontz is also the author of the children's book Santa's Twin. He lives in southern California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Stated first edition. edition (September 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060509430
• ISBN-13: 978-0060509439
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Humorous

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When I was a senior in college, I won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and have been writing ever since. My first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where I was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. During my first day on the job, I discovered that the previous occupier of my position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and I was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. I wrote nights and weekends, which I continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, my wife, Gerda, made me an offer I couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of my writing career. Gerda and I, along with our dog, Trixie, live in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Original Santa's Twin is Still the Best, July 11, 2005

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin (Hardcover)

The sequel to Dean Koontz's sensational picture book Santa's Twin although entertaining in its own right, like most sequels is no where near the groundbreaking quality of the original masterpiece. Koontz has however again accomplished what other usual writers of adult thrillers such as James Patterson have tired and failed at, by writing a great children's picture book whose quality would sell the book alone without needing to rely on the author's famous name to put it on the best seller lists.

In Robot Santa a year has passed since Charlotte and Emily saved Santa and Christmas from Santa's evil brother Bob. Now reformed and leaving his evil past behind him Bob has decided to redeem himself by training a gorilla to drive a sleigh manned by a robot Santa he built to ease the workload of Christmas Eve. Of course the gorilla gets bored and Robot Santa malfunctions and it is up to Charlotte and Emily to save Christmas once again.

Robot Santa again has the rhyming style and great artwork that the original contained. Some of the rhymes don't flow as easily as the first book though and the quality of the story wasn't quite up there with the original classic. Fans of Dean Koontz or the original Santa's Twin will definitely want to check this out though.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another tale of Christmas prose and delights..., November 20, 2004

By 

DanD - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin (Hardcover)

A year ago, Emmy and Lottie, two tough little sisters, did the impossible--they defeated Bob Claus, Santa's evil twin brother, in his dastardly scheme to take over Christmas. This year, they're understandably expecting some peace and quiet (although their new puppy, who started life as a cow, is still on the lookout).

Bob Claus has seen the error of his ways; but let's face it, he's still an idiot. In an effort to lighten Santa's load, he constructs Super Santa One--a robot Santa Claus that has a few screws loose. Along with a gorilla named Keith and a herd of robotic raindeer, Super Santa One has a new goal in mind...eat ceramics.

Ok, so not quite. And "Robot Santa" has quite a few flaws. There are the frequent changes in rhyme scheme, the pointless division of the storyline, and the occasionally forced rhymes. But there's also heart--heart and wit that borders on wisdom. Koontz is not at his best at prose, that much is obvious, but he's not too bad at it. And with Phil Parks doing some superb illustrations once more, "Robot Santa" is a sequal that, though it doesn't live up to it's predecessor, will be a delight to read for the holidays.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out Emily and Charlotte...Bob's at it again!, December 17, 2004

By 

Janice Sims "a reader & a writer" (Central Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin (Hardcover)

Those of us who read and enjoyed Santa's Twin know that sisters, Emily and Charlotte had to save Christmas last year (the events in this story take place a year later) by rescuing the real Santa Claus after his deranged twin brother, Bob, stuffed poor Santa in a sack, dropped him into the basement, then hijacked the sleigh and reindeer. Oh, the awful things crazy Bob left in unsuspecting kids' Christmas stockings! This time around, Bob is repentent and tries to make amends by building a robot Santa that will take some of the burden off his jolly brother, Nicholas. But, of course, the robot malfunctions on its first stop on Christmas Eve, Emily and Charlotte's house, and winds up TAKING instead of giving. It's one calamity after another as Emily and Charlotte try to prevent Robot Santa from destroying their house without awakening their parents. Their dog, Woofer, loyal pooch that he is, tries to help but is sidetracked by a trained gorilla named Keith who is supposed to be piloting the sleigh but instead goes into the girls' kitchen to whip up a tasty treat. Woofer is undone by his stomach, and follows the gorilla. All seems lost! Will Emily and Charlotte manage to get a message to Santa before Robot Santa turns their house into a disaster area? This was a funny follow-up to Santa's Twin. I wonder what's going to happen to the put-upon sisters next year. Hopefully Bob will get some therapy. After all, it isn't easy being the brother of someone as perfect as Santa Claus. I loved the illustrations as much as I did the hilarious story itself. Especially the drawing of Woofer floating through the air after a fall from the roof. The expression on his face is priceless! LOL!