DASHER CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS
by Matt Tavares ; illustrated by Matt Tavares
Tavares returns with another Christmas treat for readers.
Building on the success of Dasher (2019), which shared the origin story behind one of Santa Claus’ flying reindeer, this latest offering revisits the young doe. Fairly bursting with anticipation, Dasher can’t wait for Christmas. Each night, she looks forward to pulling Santa’s sleigh. The night before Christmas Eve, she can’t sleep, so she leaves the North Pole. Unfortunately, Christmas lights catch her eye as she flies through the night sky, and she ends up getting lost. Just as children helped her out of a bad situation in the prior book, a child comes to Dasher’s aid in this story, too. Dasher makes it back to the North Pole and is reunited with Santa and the rest of the reindeer—and just in time to deliver presents. What goes around comes around, and Dasher puts a plan into action to thank the helpful child. This happy ending fits the book’s overall gentle, celebratory tone, which is enhanced by painterly digital illustrations in a realistic style that somehow feels simultaneously nostalgic and current. Santa and the child are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Christmas-book lovers should dash to add this one to their shelves.
(Picture book. 3-6)