Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho!

Starred review from September 14, 2015
If the sight of Duck—outfitted with night-vision goggles, climbing spurs, and a Santa hat—ziplining across a cold winter’s night toward Farmer Brown’s chimney doesn’t provoke laughs and smiles, then the War on Christmas is as good as over. Cronin never exactly discloses what Duck is up to, but it soon becomes moot: he gets stuck in the chimney, and the other animals follow suit as they attempt to “unstuck Duck.” It’s up to the real Santa to set things right. Echoes of Moore’s “Visit from St. Nicholas” can be sensed throughout (“A few creatures are stirring” as the book opens, and Farmer Brown rushes to the window as he senses Santa’s approach), but Cronin and Lewin make this slapstick story all their own, leaving readers (and the farm’s human and animal residents) with a big dose of holiday cheer. Ages 4–8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

October 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-It's Christmas on the farm and Farmer Brown thinks he hears Santa coming. Unfortunately for him, it's not Santa but that mischievous duck getting onto the roof and then proceeding to get stuck in the chimney. The rest of the animals try to help Duck get unstuck, only to end up stuck themselves. Who will help all the animals free themselves? Children and parents will enjoy the simple text and the comical illustrations. VERDICT A perfect Christmas read for any fans of Farmer Brown and his farm animals.-Graciela Gallegos, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2015
Preschool-K On a snowy Christmas Eve, Farmer Brown is hanging his stockings with care when a pitter-patter on the roof sends him scooting off to bed. Surely it's Santa! Nope. It's only Duck, who has climbed onto the chimney to await the big man's arrival. Ho! Ho! Uh-oh. Duck catches sight of the sleigh in the distance and topples into the chimney, getting unequivocally stuck. Next up on the roof are the sheep, who try to unstuck Duck, only to tumble in themselves. The sheep are followed by the cows, the pigs, and the remaining barnyard animals, who all become helplessly wedged until Santa arrives to lend a hand. In a poof of soot, everyone lands in the warm glow of Farmer Brown's living room and celebrates with festive cheer. The spare, repetitive text gets an extra boost of silliness in Lewin's watercolor illustrations, which show the animals dangling from a rooftop zip line and packed tightly in the chimney. Another giggle-inducing story from Cronin and Lewin.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2015
It's Christmas Eve, and Farmer Brown (Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, rev. 3/00) is putting the final touches on his holiday decorations. When he hears a pitter-patter on the roof, he runs off to bed, believing Santa has arrived. But the pitter-patter isn't Santa: Duck is attempting his own Santa-like entry. When Duck gets stuck in the chimney, the sheep, cows, pigs, and rest of the farm animals arrive to lend a hoof, paw, or webbed foot. Lewin's watercolor illustrations, with their slapstick situations and expressive animal body language, work beautifully with Cronin's humorous ( Ho! Ho! Uh-oh ) text: a smattering of expertly placed wordless spreads allows Duck's stealth antics to do the talking. sian gaetano

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)