Santa Claws A Scary Christmas

Grade 1-4–In this slightly macabre parody of Clement Moore's The Night before Christmas, readers are introduced to Mack and Zack, two monster boys preparing for Santa Claws. They hang up their smelly socks and blistertoe, decorate their dead pine tree, and make eggnog mixed with spider feet. Kids will eagerly pore over the vintage monstrous newspaper ads found on the endpapers. The rhyming text is clever and amusing but it falls a bit flat, leaving one wishing more would happen, especially at the end. The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are a bit too sophisticated for young children, but older kids will love Grimly's quirky, Tim Burtonesque style art. An alternative for those who like a bizarre twist on a traditional tale.–Maureen Wade, Los Angeles Public Library 
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Laura Leuck is the author of several deliciously spooky stories. She has two sons and lives in New Jersey.

Gris Grimly is the author and illustrator of several books for children and is the founder of Mad Creator Productions. He lives in Southern California.