The Year Without a Santa Claus [Hardcover]

Phyllis McGinley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1981

Did you ever hear of the curious, furious, fidgety year when Santa Claus unhitched his sleigh and vowed he was taking a Holiday?

The elves, the reindeer, the gnomes, and, most of all, the children around the world are upset when they hear the news. But then one six-year-old boy in Texas comes to Santa’s rescue. "Santa deserves a holiday," he says. "It’s a day to give as well as to get." And so the children send presents to Santa—and their kindness makes him so happy that he jumps into his sled and away he goes on his Christmas journey! John Manders’ illustrations painted in gouache and pencil bring new life to a classic tale first published in 1956.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 3–This new version of McGinley's poem, originally published in 1957, is illustrated with gouache and pencil cartoon artwork that highlights the humor in the text. Santa decides to take a vacation, his first in a thousand years. When the children of the world get the news, most give way to tears. Not Ignatius Thistlewhite, however. He organizes a movement to send gifts to Santa, who is so moved by this response that he gives up his plans and gets back on the sleigh. While the story is a tad long for most storytimes, it nonetheless begs to be shared aloud.Virginia Walter, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

This lengthy poem, originally published in 1957, is given fresh life with jolly new illustrations. The narration refers back to a specific Christmas when Santa decided to take a holiday from delivering presents. When the news breaks, children dissolve in tears, except for Ignatius Thistlewhite, who inspires children the world over to unite in a giant campaign to give gifts to Santa. Santa is understandably moved by the outpouring and has the elves stack all the toys that were intended for the children in the sleigh to make room for the new stuff. Santa then realizes he wasn’t meant to have a vacation, and since the sleigh is packed and ready to go, he happily flies off to make his deliveries. Colorful cartoon illustrations give a sense of the activity without being overwhelmed by the magnitude of contributions collected for Santa. The length of this poem makes it inappropriate for a traditional storytime, but it could be used one-on-one or in a classroom situation. Grades K-3. --Randall Enos --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (September 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0397303998
• ISBN-13: 978-0397303991
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,106,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cute and different, January 7, 2008

By 

Heidi (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year Without a Santa Claus (Hardcover)

We enjoyed this book very much. It is a long poem about one year when Santa decides to take a vacation. My son enjoyed the story and I also enjoyed the words (and names) they used to come up with rhymes. I would recommend it for grades 1 - 4th.