Poppa's Itchy Christmas - Hardcover

Kindergarten-Grade 3?George and his grandfather, introduced in Poppa's New Pants (Holiday, 1995), return in a Christmas tale about unforeseen gifts. When the boy opens his first long and narrow box (he hopes it's a BB gun), he's dismayed to find a long, ugly rainbow-colored muffler. The next package is worse: itchy, red wool underwear. His grandfather also gets a pair. But, when George opens his last package and finds a pair of ice skates, he's overjoyed. The child's first-person narrative is honest and energizing. Gleefully, he describes the Christmas Day activities, until Big Mama corners him and sends him out to chop wood, making sure that he is bundled up in his dreadful new gifts. On the way out, George grabs his skates. Even though readers may guess what eventually transpires, the story is still satisfying. The garments that George initially disliked save his life. Through bright, bold full-page paintings, Ward portrays a closely knit African-American family. Especially entertaining are the characters' varying facial expressions. A warm and fuzzy holiday selection.?MMH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-6. George is less than thrilled when he receives an ugly scarf and red long underwear for Christmas, but a pair of ice skates makes up for them. He is warned not to go skating because the ice is thin, but trying out his new skates is too tempting. Sure enough, George falls through the ice, and it is only his unsinkable underwear and his long scarf, used as lifeline by Poppa, that save him. As in Poppa's New Pants (1995), the focus of the story is an African American family living in a rural area perhaps 50 or 60 years ago. The time of the story is something of a problem, though; red long underwear and wood stoves suggest that earlier era, but the clothing in the artwork seems perfectly contemporary, and there is no precise setting of time in the text. Still, adults may be more conscious of these details than children, who will like both the predictable yet satisfying story and the very appealing pictures that focus on the family members and catch all the humor of their interactions. The best double-page spread is a close-up of George and his new skates--he is one happy boy. Ilene Cooper