WHY FATHER CHRISTMAS WAS LATE FOR HARTLEPOOL
by Diana Hendry & illustrated by Sue Heap
In the attic of an empty house, four abandoned toys are exchanging amusing misinformation, albeit with poetic grains of truth (``A child has four legs, furry ears and a squawk''; ``I remember the window cleaner....He climbed a ladder one day and washed the sky''), when Father Christmas appears hoping to make a delivery to six-month-old Lily, scheduled to move in this very Christmas Eve. Just then, her family is heard below, so Father Christmas whisks into a cupboard to hide. Lily's parents, who plan to make the attic Lily's bedroom, are pleased to find the toys, though they need repair. It's past midnight when the parents finally leave their sleeping baby and Father Christmas can come out; still, he leaves some toy-mending materials before going very belatedly on his way. Hendry's charmingly offbeat story is nicely complemented by Heap's spare, delicately comical pen-and-watercolor illustrations. (Picture book. 4-8)