You won’t want to miss this review of a hilarious, entertaining holiday book! How to Catch a Santa is one of many of the highly successful How To………..Series by Jean Reagan and Lee Wildish. Enjoy!
Ready for a cup of hot cocoa and an entertaining book to start the holiday season? Even if you don’t like hot cocoa, Dr. Toughlove is confident you will enjoy reading How to Catch Santa written by Jean Reagan and illustrated by Lee Wildish.
The Reagan/Wildish team has worked together to create the riotously successful How to…. Series. They have published close to twenty books (and counting). If the How to….Series sounds familiar, it may be because Dr. Toughlove has reviewed two other books in this series; How to Raise a Mom in May of 2021 and How to Babysit a Grandpa in June of 2022.
The How to….Series consistently presents its stories from the point of view of two unnamed protagonists, and the whimsical, enchanting and hilarious attributes they possess. How to Catch Santa is no exception.
In this book, the main characters decide that in order to maximize their time once they catch Santa, they need to create a laundry list of questions for him. These questions include but are not limited to: What about houses with no chimney? Who invents new toys? The elves? Mrs. Claus? You? Do you really eat all the cookies at everyone’s house? (p. 2-3). As the book unfolds, a variety of strategies are devised to satisfy their curiosity about Santa. The adults who read this book aloud will have their hands full keeping a straight face. When Dr. Toughlove read How to Catch Santa aloud to her grandchildren she didn’t even try.
Dr. Toughlove often remarks about the symbiotic relationship that occurs between the written words and the illustrations in an exemplary children’s picture book. Jean Reagan and Lee Wildish execute this to perfection. The children will see many of the unspoken themes that are embedded in the illustrations and will probably identify many of subtleties in the text as well. In addition to the story itself, the front and back inside covers of the book (they are called endpapers) contain adorable “letters to Santa” that youngsters will enjoy hearing or reading themselves. They are an extra bonus that adds charm to an already delightful book.
How to Catch Santa is an ideal holiday book for December for kids aged 3-7, but can be enjoyed by kids and adults of all ages. It can be found at your local library.