A debut children’s story about how elves came to work for Santa.

One evening, Santa and Mrs. Claus walk through the Christmas Tree Forest together and decide that they’d like to have a tree inside their home. They decorate the first indoor Christmas tree, but because they don’t know proper tree care, it catches fire and endangers Santa’s Christmas preparations. The tragedy would have set Santa’s overloaded schedule back further if not for the appearance of a magical Christmas tree elf, nicknamed Blink, who teaches the Clauses how to safely take care of their tree. He and other elves want to be useful, so Santa enlists them to help build toys in his workshop, but they also have another mission—to take care of all the trees that come from the Christmas Tree Forest. “Every home should have a Christmas tree,” Blink tells Santa, and every tree must have an elf to look after it. The gorgeous illustrations of Santa, Mrs. Claus, their dog, Blazer, and the pointy-hatted elves will make older readers pore over the details, and young readers will be delighted by the story. However, children who read the book may want their own toy elf to tend the tree in their home, similar to the tradition created by the popular 2005 book The Elf on the Shelf. Fortunately, the book stands on its own without a potential toy, and it’s worth reading for the brightly colored, painterly pictures alone. The story’s lesson may also help get children involved in taking care of indoor Christmas trees—rather than forgetting about them after they’re decorated.

A promising debut that families that celebrate Christmas will likely enjoy.