The Perfect Christmas

by Eileen Spinelli, JoAnn Adinolfi (Illustrator)

Overview

Family one: exquisite pastries, a beautifully trimmed tree, and festive cello music.

Family two: an artificial tree, rock hard candy, and custom kazoo carols.

Full of silly humor, this cheerful picture book proves that no matter how you celebrate Christmas, it's the spirit of the holiday that counts the most.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429961622
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	68 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Eileen Spinelli is the author of many books for young readers, including The Perfect Thanksgiving and In My New Yellow Shirt, which was a Bank Street College of Education Best Book. She lives in Pennsylvania with author Jerry Spinelli. Sometimes Eileen hides the Christmas cookies from Jerry so well she doesn't find them until Valentine's Day.

JoAnn Adinolfi has illustrated twenty-five books for young readers, including Halloween Hoots and Howls, The Perfect Thanksgiving, and Hippopotamus Stew. Born and raised on Staten Island in New York City, she now lives in New Hampshire with her family.

Editorial Reviews

The creators of The Perfect Thanksgiving celebrate another holiday in this companion book that revisits an endearingly flawed family. Once again, the narrator laments that her clan’s festivities fall far short of their neighbors’: “Abigail Archer’s family/ is perfect as can be./ They drive into the countryside/ to chop down their Christmas tree.” In contrast, “Our tree is artificial,/ completely out of shape,/ with several branches missing/ and one held on with tape.” Merrily underscoring the differences between the two households, Adinolfi’s quirky mixed-media art is a playful jumble of geometric shapes and holiday motifs. Ages 4–7. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

...tasteful and tacky go head-to-head in "The Perfect Christmas," a lighthearted study in contrasting holiday styles.” —NYTimes.com

“…the jolly collage art ties it all together, depicting each family's traditions with finesse.” —Horn Book Magazine

“This is a cheerful, funny, and respectful portrayal of two very different families and their holiday celebrations.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 3—In this lighthearted rhyming companion to The Perfect Thanksgiving (Holt, 2003), the same unnamed narrator compares and contrasts her own family's Christmas preparations with those of her wealthy friend Abigail Archer. "On Christmas Eve at Abigail's/her relatives come in cars./Chauffeur-driven! Glamorous clothes!/They look like movie stars./My relatives come in pickup trucks./They clatter up the walk./They ho-ho-ho and jingle bell./They shout instead of talk." Cartoon art in bold colored pencil, gouache, and collage adds to the humor. This is a cheerful, funny, and respectful portrayal of two very different families and their holiday celebrations.—Maureen Wade, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Spinelli and Adinolfi team up again for a look at another perfect holiday celebration, following the same families chronicled in their collaboration onThe Perfect Thanksgiving(2003).

The unnamed narrator describes her family's preparations for a casual, homemade Christmas celebration, contrasting their way of doing things with those of her best friend and neighbor, Abigail Archer. In rhyming quatrains, the narrator tells about Abigail's family, "as perfect as can be," cutting their own Christmas tree, arranging elegant decorations and serving gourmet treats. The narrator's family has a more casual approach, with a scrawny, artificial tree, recycled decorations and cookies so hard one once "broke my uncle's toe." Though the comparisons are humorous and both girls seem happy, the Archer family is obviously wealthier than that of the narrator, and some of the comparisons (for example, between a chauffeur-driven limousine and a pickup truck) are both exaggerated and elitist. By the conclusion, both families are outside on equal footing, enjoying a snowfall together. Adinolfi's cheerful collage illustrations in a naïve style provide a bright, detailed environment and multiracial families in both homes.

The author's point may be that anyjoyous celebration with a happy family is a perfect Christmas, but this class-based comparison doesn't seem to be the aptest focus for a children's holiday story.(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews