Redheaded Robbie's Christmas Story
Kindergarten-Grade 2-When Robbie is chosen to make up a Christmas story and tell it to the whole school at the holiday assembly, the second grader is worried that his nervous speech impediment will embarrass him. However, he attempts to write a story, going to each of his friends and asking them for ideas. In the process, he corrects their materialistic and selfish views of Christmas, which turns out to be helpful at the assembly. The plot is formulaic and the writing is stiff; there is nothing in the text to hold readers' attention. The illustrations have a cartoonlike, quirky charm, but they are not enough to rescue this heavy-handed tale.-E. M.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.