Customer Reviews

SantaKid

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

You would have to be living under a rock if you're a reader not to know the name James Patterson. While his earliest books never made a big splash with the publication of Along Came A Spider, this author burst upon the bestseller screen and hasn't been off there or the lists since the early days of Alex Cross. And as if writing one suspense series wasn't enough, Mr. Patterson then began writing a second one which featured 4 women from different walks of life who band together to solve some real challenging murders. Most writers would be satisfied with their career at this point, but then Mr. Patterson wrote a very popular romance novel which was quickly followed by another one this year. And now to this ever growing list of genres, this year Mr. Paterson followed in the footsteps of other best-selling authors like John Grisham, Janet Evanovich and Fannie Flagg by writing a holiday book for children called "SantaKid." Once again I was curious as I've been before when Mr. Patterson wrote for a new genre that I couldn't miss the opportunity to read this book.

When a giant corporation takes over the North Pole and the elves and Santa's job, thinking they can do it better and faster, sound familiar -- it's up to "SantaKid," his beloved daughter to make things right. While Santa falls into a depression at the thought of losing his job, his beloved daughter fights with the leader of the corporation to make Christmas like last year and continues to hope along with the elves that somehow they will triumph. How "SantaKid" ultimately saves Christmas that year from big business is the focal point of the book.

This was a good read which I imagine children will enjoy. It also serves as a good lesson concerning the real meaning of the holidays. It should be added to other holiday books which tell a moral tale and can be read by all ages and appreciated. It is also much to Patterson's credit than he can cross over to other genres so successfully. In addition, I also must applaud the illustrator of this book who did a wonderful job of conveying the story through pictures. With bold colors and large figures I couldn't wait to see the next pages as the book became more alive.

I do recommend this book and wish all a happy holiday and ho ho ho!!!!!!

Chrissy, the daughter of Santa, was always told that you have to believe in something bigger than yourself, but that statement was put to the test one day when Christmas and the North Pole was taken over by Exmas Express, a big business that would change Christmas forever and not for the better. When the big day came to deliver the presents the snow was so bad, the Exmas Express trucks got stuck and could not leave the North Pole and Santa had put on so much weight from his bout of depression that he could not fly in the sleigh so it was up to Chrissy to believe that she could deliver all the presents on her own.

Santa Kid is a book that any child would love because it reinforces the fact that "kids are small, but kids are smart and kids are the ones that know how to believe."

I loved this story and laughed aloud as I read it in the bookstore. I quickly piled several copies into my arms to send to each of the families with children on my list...until I checked the price! Does anyone but me find it ironic that a children's Christmas book about the true meaning of the holiday being obscured by corporate greed retails for close to what one of the best-selling author's hard cover novels might sell for? $18.99? Are you kidding me?

Luckily we have Amazon. Needless to say, I put the bookstore copies back on the shelf.

The story is cute, I've heard this story before he just switched some of the characters. The drawing in this book are superb, totally worth purchasing. The story on the other hand didn't seem to hold my son's interest.

This is a good book which will bring you lots of enjoyment and laughter. It is NOT a mushy Christmas story but a fun one. I have to warn you though... my daughter is 5 years old and she doesn't understand the concept of big corporate takeovers! This book is aimed toward older children, I think (maybe 7 and up?) and even adults. Also it's a fairly long-ish story and definitely not a quick bedtime book. These are not complaints, just warnings so you know what you're getting. I will probably put it away for a few years. Enjoy!

We received this as a gift (so glad it wasn't my money that was wasted on this book!) and I don't know what I'm going to do with it now b/c the story is an utter disappointment. The story is told from the point of view of Santa's daughter and explains that most of the year Santa looks like any other dad--he just stuffs his costume to look fat for Christmas and grows a beard that her mom bleaches to look white. What?!! The writing is full of lame filler lines like, "Don't shake your head--something might come loose in your brain....Anyway, here's what happened." I liked the big bold illustrations, but reading about an attempted corporate takeover of the North Pole just doesn't do it for me, and only older children would get the concept anyhow. More than anything, I suppose I was annoyed by the "just believe" theme that was constantly reiterated without any deeper message about the true spirit of giving. Even if it's not a religiously themed story, I still expect a Christmas story to have some underlying reference to kindness, charity, selflessness....something besides a vacuous notion of believing in "something bigger than yourself" (what does that mean to a child anyway?). I doubt I'll read this to my daughter again...and I doubt she'll request it.

Just tried to read this story to my 4 1/2 year old. Unfortunately it didn't hole either of our interests. Half way through I just couldn't go on and had to put the book down and pick something else!
Here are the main problems: the story was incredibly thin. An entire page of the story would likely only include 1 or 2 relevant sentences that actually moved the storyline - the rest was all filler, like "pretty cool huh?" and "don't giggle. This isn't funny. Well, sometimes it is", and "all those who want to live at the north pole , holler I WANT TO LIVE AT THE NORTH POLE"

Do you see a pattern? The main character breaks from the story on every page to give pointless comments to the reader, and none of it makes sense (or is even funny.)

the plot is so thin. The villain lands at the North Pole with absolutely no set-up, and each turn of events (and the villain himself) is very implausible. There's just no believability in the motives or events. Yes, I know this is a kid's book, but I've read plenty of great kid's books!

The dialogue is really stale too. like "Not nice." "Not nice at all". This repetitive, bland dialogue just drve me crazy.

Like I said, I only scanned the last half of the book it was so poor. I appreciate that the author was trying to teach the evils of Corporate America to children, but it just didn't come off well. It feels like Patterson wrote this book in 10 minutes.

Trying to emulate other high profile authors of adult thrillers who have written successful children's picture books such as Dean Koontz, James Patterson falls long short of the mark. Santa Kid is the story of a girl named Chrissie who is the child of Santa and lives at the North Pole. Some rich guy turns up to buy the place and even though Santa says Christmas is not for sale, on the next page without explanation the ruthless rich guy and his corportation owns the place. It is up to Chrissie to bring back moral and save Christmas from the business corporation. About the only clever thing about this book is that the cover design resembles a present.

A very weak story, like a lot of Patterson's recent work not much effort has been into this. Patterson has written some sensational stuff in his days but this book is not one of them. The illustrations by Michael Garland are pretty average as well and what a pathetic present on the last page. If you want a good picture book for children written by a normally adult author buy Dean Koontz's masterpiece Santa's Twin instead. Gary Larson's There's a Hair in My Dirt is another great children's picture book written by an author whose work is normally targeted at adults.

I have been a James Patterson fan since the first Alex Cross novel but I had never thought of Patterson as a children's author. When I flipped through Santa Kid in the book store I had to check the authors picture to see if it was the same James Patterson.
The book is very well written and illustrated and nothing like Patterson's adult novels. I loved it, and despite reading the whole thing standing up in the store I bought it and added it to my children's book collection - By the way I dont have kids so this was a book appreciated by an adult.

Michael Garland beautifully illustrates this book. The pictures pull the children into the story. The only sound I heard while reading this to my class was "I can't see the page". I was a bit concerned (class size of 12 w/ 9 boys and 3 girls) that the boys would not be interested or as into the book as the girls, since SantaKid is a female. I could not be more mistaken. This book is the hands down winner over The Polar Express. You will not be disappointed with James Patterson's SantaKid. Happy Reading