Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas - Hardcover

Primavera, Elise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152024417 ISBN 13: 9780152024413

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002

Synopsis

It's getting toward Christmas at the Bing Cherry Hotel, and Auntie Claus is preparing for her annual "business trip." Just before she is ready to leave, her favorite nephew, Christopher Kringle, begins to have doubts about the family business. To settle the matter, Auntie Claus summons Chris for tea, but like any self-respecting Kringle, Chris decides to take matters into his own hands: He plans to get on the Bad-Boys-and-Girls List on purpose! Even after his older sister, Sophie, reveals that their great-aunt, Auntie Claus, is really Santa's sister, Chris needs to see for himself, in order to believe.
In this companion to the much loved Auntie Claus, come along on a magical journey with Sophie Kringle's little brother, Chris, to a place you may have seen only in your dreams. And discover that anything is possible, when you have the key to Christmas!

About this title

Review:

The companion book to Elise Primavera's much-celebrated Auntie Claus, Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas, gives Sophie Kringle's younger brother, Christopher, a turn in the starring role. Finally, Chris will learn the Kringle family secret--that his great-aunt Auntie Claus, inhabitant of penthouse 25C of New York City's Bing Cherry Hotel, is Santa Claus's older sister! When Chris overhears someone say that only babies believe in Santa Claus--and then repeats the rumor!--he is immediately summoned by Auntie Claus for tea, marmalade cake, and a talking-to. During teatime he learns of the PRUNES--Parade Rainers United National Elite Society (people who would dare to say there's no Santa) as well as the B-B-and-G List (Bad-Boys-and-Girls) that Santa makes each year. Taking it all with a grain of salt, Chris decides to use the scientific method: he'll behave so boorishly that he'll get on the List--if he still gets presents, he'll know it's all a hoax. Sophie attempts to demystify Christmas for him once and for all, sending him up in a magical elevator to the North Pole where he discovers (1) he made the List, (2) PRUNES exist, and (3) Santa exists. Sharing some of the smart-alecky humor of Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio series (Ozzie and Pam Spam are on tour promoting their new book We're Geniuses and Yer Not!, for instance), Auntie Claus then dashes the comparison with a sweet-as-cherry-pie maxim--"the best things are invisible"--which also happens to be the key to Christmas. Once again the whimsical, grand, richly colored paintings steal the limelight in this o'er complicated holiday tale. Still, those enchanted by the first Auntie won't want to miss it. (Ages 6 and older) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

ELISE PRIMAVERA has illustrated many books for children, including the bestselling Auntie Claus, which she also wrote, and Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen, which was honored with the Christopher Award. She lives in New Jersey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0152024417
• ISBN 13: 9780152024413
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40