From verses about the Christmas tree and the Santa wish list to those about putting on a nativity play and singing carols, the poems in this I Can Read title celebrate warm holiday traditions with a wry sweetness, always true to a kid's viewpoint and beyond generic greeting-card representations. There are a number of fiascos. A girl has sent off her Christmas cards with her pictures and rhymes, but no one got them. Did she forget the stamps? When the family bundles up and goes out caroling on Christmas Eve, they sing so badly that the neighbors shut their windows. The girl, though, thinks that no matter how sour they sound, there's no family sweet as hers. Hafner's line-and-watercolor pictures illustrate the bouncing, rhyming words in clear, playful holiday scenes that show the mischief and mess-ups, and always the joy.

Getting underwear, contracting the mumps, and caroling with your tone-deaf family are three unfortunate scenarios featured in this easy-reader-format collection of Christmas poems. Each is witty, silly, and entertaining, and many pack punch lines with surprising, satisfying twists. The verses are now accompanied by Hafner's equally amusing illustrations, which animate the words for an extra kick of humor.

K-Gr 3 This newly illustrated title has been repackaged for the I Can Read series. The bright, full-color artwork is much more modern and appealing than the earlier editions static three-color version. It is interesting to compare the work of the same illustrator over the 27 years since the first edition was published; libraries should consider a fresh copy of this collection of poems for newly independent readers. Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library