Elmore the Christmas Moose
by Dev Petty; illus. by Mike Boldt
Primary    Doubleday    40 pp.
10/24    9780593487167    $18.99
Library ed.  9780593487174    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780593487181    $10.99

Elmore the moose applies for his dream job as one of Santa’s reindeer, but there’s one problem: he can’t fly. Santa eventually figures out a different job for Elmore that fits his skill set: Official Manager of Assorted Goodies, Treats, and Sugary Delights. Boldt’s cartoon-style illustrations playfully embrace the absurdity of Petty’s story (e.g., Santa hires a flying walrus named Abner to pull his sleigh). Handwritten letters between Elmore and Santa add to the dynamic page compositions, and entertaining North Pole classified ad pages for endpapers round out this “Christmas kind of story.”

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.