Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

'Twas the night before Christmas

Kirkus Reviews

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the ship, / the pirates were planning a plundering trip." And so, to the meter and cadence of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," Capt. Bling and his crew are blown off course and run aground at the North Pole. Spying all the presents in Santa's workshop, the pirates storm it and run off with the loot. Sack on his back, Santa and the elves give chase, but "a sack versus swords was a surefire disaster," and in short order Santa's being forced to walk the plank. But it turns out he was chasing the pirates because he realized they've been neglected all these years and he wanted to make up with some gifts. Capt. Bling and the crew happily accept Santa's gifts but refuse to give back those they've stolen, instead hitching the reindeer to their bow and flying off into the night. Of course, they are doing this so they can deliver the toys themselves. It's an anemic tale, and children will wonder at Santa's decision to reward the pirates after they steal all the toys. In McClurkan's illustrations Santa is white, Capt. Bling is brown, and both elves and pirates are multiracial. (In attire, the elves look more than a bit like those in the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer animated TV special.) For settings in which pirates must be incorporated into everything. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

When Captain Bling and his pirate crew are caught in a gale, their Christmas Eve plundering plans are thrown off course. Their ship washes ashore at the North Pole, where Santa-s home and workshop await. The pirates pillage this trove of gifts, but Santa-s goodwill leaves them feeling contrite (-Overlooked every Christmas, they acted so rotten,/ thinking nobody cared... but they-d just been forgotten!-), and they swap their swashbuckling threads for elf suits. Although a touch clunky in places, Colby-s rhymes bounce along merrily, and McClurkan-s smooth digital cartooning is packed with visual humor. With ample room for presents aboard the pirate-s ship (and a Jolly Roger flag that features crossed candy canes instead of bones), readers may wonder why Santa ever flew anything else. Ages 5-7. Author-s agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator-s agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Group. (Nov.)