How Santa Lost His Job
Author-illustrator team Stephen Krensky and S.D. Schindler are once  again intent on demystifying the big guy in red—. They seem to be having a good  time doing it, and it's pretty hard not to get caught up in the fun.Just as they did inHow Santa Got  His Job, a tongue-in-cheek account of Santa's circuitous entrée  into the Christmas biz, Krensky and Schindler go behind the scenes to tell  another true story from the life of Mr. Claus. This time, the trouble starts in  the North Pole employee break room, as some of the elves are grumbling over  coffee and donuts about Santa's annual procrastination and last-minute rush:  "Why can't Santa plan better?" "How come he's so slow?" One bespectacled elf  named Muckle goes further: "Santa is too set in his ways.... He wastes time and  energy." Sure, but what can you do? Santa's "only human." And that gives Muckle  his big idea.In a few months, the Deliverator is unveiled, an automated, UFO-style,  present-delivery solution that might just put Santa out of a job. Well, there's  actually no "might" about it--remember the book's title--but Santa doesn't go  down without a head-to-head, John Henry-style competition. You can imagine how  this goes: both manage to whiz down the chimney in a second flat, but only Santa  stops for milk and cookies--"Chocolate chip... my favorite."So the only question remaining is whether and when Santa gets his groove back.  And between Krensky's carefully staged story and Schindler's playful, often  subtle illustrations (schematics of the Deliverator, a frazzled Muckle on his  laptop), you can bet you'll have a good time finding out. (Ages 4 to 8)--Paul Hughes--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.