posted on 12 Dec 2024

Mr Santa by Jarvis

Manchester-based artist, Jarvis has previously worked in animation and record cover design and is now a well-established and much-loved children’s book author and illustrator. I am already a big fan, so I was pleased to see his recent contribution to the world of Christmas themed books that is clearly influenced by the seasonal classic, ‘The Snowman’ by Raymond Briggs. 

This time it is Santa who is invited into the home of a little girl who is bursting to show him her pets, share some gingerbread and dazzle him with her recorder playing. He then treats her to a ride on his sleigh where they meet penguins and take time to have a rest sitting on a cloud before returning back home. Did all this really happen or was it merely a dream?

I liked the way in which the excited little girl leads the story throughout by posing Santa with interminable questions such as ‘Can reindeer talk’ and ‘Do you stop at traffic lights?’ As he never replies, this creates some interesting spaces to explore when reading aloud to children. When I shared this story with a group of three-to-five-year olds, one suggested that ‘she should wait to listen to him and stop chattering so much’ and another thought that he had lost his voice.  At the end of this delightfully interactive book, we were inspired to think about additional questions, just in case the opportunity should arise to interrogate him at a Santa Grotto!

Jarvis uses a very pleasing gentle style of illustration, again reminiscent of Raymond Briggs’ use of pastels and crayons. One of the observant young children noticed the unusual pinkish tone of Santa’s traditional costume on the front cover, and we decided to look for more examples through the story. All of the illustrations are suffused with soft colours conveying a comfortable atmosphere which has exactly the right ‘cosy’ requirement for a Christmas themed story. My favourite double page spread is the one that shows the reindeers leaping across the night sky with a huge pink crescent moon at the centre of the right- hand page. We all shouted out ‘MR SANTA’, encouraged by these words emblazoned above the sleigh. A little boy pointed out that the moon was ‘the wrong way around’ and clever girl explained that it was ‘a waning crescent moon.’ Later, we all looked at some examples of other crescent moons in picture books and found that they varied – an unexpected outcome of reading the story. There is so much to stimulate discussion and to inspire creative artwork from children of all ages that I very much look forward to using again next December.        

Published by Walker Books and guided for children aged 3+, this special picture book can be obtained from your local independent bookshop, who will order it for you if they don’t have a copy on the shelf. 

Karen Argent

December 2024