Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 2-4. The author of the wacky pseudo-engineering books How Dogs Really Work (1993) and The Truth about Cats (1996) now turns his attention northward to Santa's home. In this imaginative picture book, Santa oversees a vast operation with elves as toy designers, testers, makers, wrappers, and packers, not to mention spies (naughty or nice? asleep or awake?). The text is long and the design is too complicated for the true Santa set, but Snow's amusing take on the subject and the many comments and text balloons in small type will entertain older kids, as will the lively, detailed ink drawings with colorful washes. The large-scale, eye-catching jacket illustration features a Santa diagram, with his cap labeled thermal noggin protection, his beard called a soup filtering system, and his buttons styled suit control knobs. Even nonbelievers will enjoy the fun. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The science behind Santa's magic is revealed in How Santa Really Works by Alan Snow. In a format established with his bestselling How Dogs Really Work!, Snow devotes a spread to answering burning questions (such as "How does Santa know what you want?") and packs the pages with chatty elves that attend Christmas College for Elves, spy on hordes of naughty children and man posts in Santa's Production and Dispatch departments. Clever touches such as global gift transporters disguised as stray islands and elephants typify the droll humor. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3 Up-Snow's clever and ever-so-slightly subversive expos? will answer all the FAQs, and some new ones. Intricately detailed pen-and-ink, computer-colorized illustrations will keep viewers endlessly amused. The text is aimed toward sophisticated readers, and actually offers a nice overview of the steps that companies take to produce a product-brainstorming, research and development of prototypes, etc. There's a subtle British feel to the language and illustrations. Large quantities of homely little elves swarm over the last two-thirds of the book; they are young and old, with diverse skin tones; some use wheelchairs, and a few seem to be aliens from another galaxy. They talk to one another via speech bubbles, which, along with the crowded (sometimes chaotic) layouts, make this a book much more suited to personal perusal than sharing with a group. Even youngsters who don't believe in Santa or Father Christmas will find much to admire in Snow's creative take on a beloved holiday icon.-M. A. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The timeless questions (""Where does Santa live?"" ""How does Santa know if you have been good?"") are given information-age treatment in this tell-all about ""Santa and his international operations."" But after the novelty wears off, the festively busy and bright double-page spreads exposing the covert works of the CIA (Christmas Intelligence Agency), among other things, become more tedious than amusing. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
