Randy, the badly drawn reindeer

Back in his third book, (not-so-badly-drawn) horse Randy dreams of flying with Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve, "But alas, I'm just a beautiful horse!" An unseen kid artist provides speech-bubble commentary about what makes a good reindeer (being able to withstand the cold and enjoying reindeer games, for example), and Randy gives it all his best effort: "I love games...Checkers? Chess? Monopoly?!" Randy's can-do attitude helps him ignore the obvious and feel confident that he's ready "to join [Santa's] team of flying horses." He is not...until Christmas morning provides just the right bit of magic. Plenty of white space focuses attention on crayon-colored Randy's goofy shenanigans and clueless narration. Kitty Flynn November/December 2022 p.19(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A third metafictive story about the "badly drawn horse," this time for the Christmas bookshelf. As in the prior titles about Randy, illustrations look as though they were torn from a child's coloring book, with colorful, carefully crayoned detail. Speech balloon text from offstage characters--a child excitedly sharing the story with a caregiver before bed--focuses attention on Randy himself, whose dialogue forms the main text. He learns about Christmas and becomes enamored of Santa's reindeer. Following a suggestion from the unseen child ("If only Randy were a reindeer….Then he could help Santa!"), Randy decides he wants to join them in pulling the sleigh through the Christmas Eve sky. Alas, his attempts to prance, fly, and eat carrots are, though hilariously endearing, less than successful and tiring. A forlorn Randy collapses with exhaustion and is alarmed when he wakes up on Christmas morning, too late to pull Santa's sleigh. A happy ending emerges, however, when Randy discovers a gift from Saint Nick, perfect for his reindeer aspirations. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A merry, bright, and silly Christmas tale. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.