An Elf for Christmas

Reviewed: December 17, 2004
By: Michael Garland
Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
30 pages, $0.00

When Hieronimus Tingle, Santa's' hardest working elf, finally overdid it, he collapsed inside the cockpit of the toy plane and fell fast asleep. No one noticed when he went through the boxing and wrapping line and ended up as part of a Christmas present for a young boy who loved airplanes and was thrilled that his had a tiny little man for a pilot. It's just as well Tingle was scared stiff at the time he was unwrapped.

Actually, dealing with the little boy was no problem at all. The dog turned out to be a little bit of a problem when Tingle fired up the plane in order to make his escape, but he got away via the same route Santa used and was soon on his way to the North Pole. The real problem was that battery operated airplanes just don't have the endurance of a sleigh using reindeer power, and so Tingle plummeted from the sky quite some distance from his goal, and if it hadn't been for the helpful polar bear, he might never have gotten home.

They replaced Joey's airplane of course - even to putting a little elf in the cockpit.

Garland has written and painted a delightful story for the season.

Print Preview