School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Gonyea, a graphic designer, tries his hand at a very simple Christmas story-with mixed success. The simplified comic layout and the nearly wordless text show what happens when a boy wishes he had elves to help with his Christmas chores. All too soon, his "Woo Hoo!" reaction turns to "Oh no!" as the elves cause more trouble than they're worth and prove to be hard to get rid of. In the meantime, Santa is overworked, trying to get Christmas under control, and wishes he had his elves back. Vibrant, modern blocks of flat red, green, yellow, black, and white are at times visually compelling but more often, confusingly cluttered.-Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this irreverent graphic novel-style picture book, a boy wishes that, like Santa, he had elves to subjugate, er, help him with his chores. He gets his wish, but discovers that elves can be troublesome. In festive reds and greens, Gonyea's high-contrast panels reduce the characters to their most elemental (Santa consists of a few circles, and the elves are wedges with feet and faces). The boy's Wimpy Kid-like mix of laziness and mischief make this a Christmas story for those at risk of getting coal in their stockings. Ages 2-5. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Schlepping gifts, untangling lights, shoveling snow -- it's enough to dampen any kid's Christmas spirit. For the main character, the last straw is having to clean his room. Life would be easier if I had elves, he muses, and the next day, Santa's little helpers arrive and prove useful -- at first. Enormously amusing cartoon panels show the little buggers commandeering the remote, hogging the bathroom, and making general nuisances of themselves. Crisp, geometric, Christmas-hued illustrations use only the simplest of forms (e.g., Santa is all circles; the elves are triangles), but a tilt of the main character's rectangular eyebrows speaks volumes. Likewise, the text is economical, with just a few speech bubbles doing most of the work. Young listeners will be tickled by this be-careful-what-you-wish-for story. elissa gershowitz (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The picture book takes graphic-novel form with a minimalist story about a boy who wishes he had his own set of elves to do his bidding. Santa's elves hear his wish and, with the help of a bright star, somehow transport themselves into the boy's life. The elves do the boy's chores and homework but in comically unreliable fashion, so then he has a new problem: how to rid himself of the increasing annoying elves. (An irate Santa arrives to solve that issue.) The illustrations are laid out in sequential, mostly wordless panels, with the story conveyed through the art, speech balloons (mostly funny elf comments) and signs and posters. A limited palette of reds, greens and yellow and simple shapes provide a sharp, contemporary look that will appeal to older children with limited reading skills. (Picture book. 4-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
