  | Santa claws Author: Heos, Bridget | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Santa Claws celebrates Christmas in the Cretaceous world. Every year, Santa Claws delivers presents, spreading cheer wherever he goes. Every dino in the land gets into the Christmas spirit: Boneheads make toys, Gallimimus trims the Christmas tree, and Tiny T-Rex makes sure Santa doesn't go hungry.
| Illustrator: | Bernstein, Galia |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (07/01/25)
School Library Journal (09/01/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 07/28/2025 Reptiles from the Cretaceous Period, they’re just like us-at least when it comes to Christmas traditions, according to Heos and Bernstein’s lighthearted snapshot of a T. rex known as Santa Claws. Images in a range of greens and browns, often accented with lush ferns or other flora, feature friendly-faced creatures. Young dinos sit on the lap of the red-hatted terrible lizard, ask for chiseled toys, and leave out scavenged meat for the figure. Though some rhymes are uneven, scenes depicting families making holiday preparations or receiving gifts sustain a joyful energy, and youngest dino fans will clamber to see smiling "Tricera-moms and ’cera-pops/ Hang stockings for tricera-tots" in this punny offering: "Merry Christmas to all-/ I shall try not to bite." Features fact-filled closing pages. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) - Copyright 2025
School Library Journal - 09/01/2025 PreS-Gr 2—Readers will enjoy meeting Santa Claws, a T. rex wearing a red holiday hat and driving a sleigh pulled by pterosaurs. All the elements of the holiday season are here, from tree-trimming to making toys to delivering food treats, but the participants are creatures from the Cretaceous Period doing human holiday tasks. For example, gallimimuses trim trees with magnolia blossoms, while tiny T. rexes set out scavenged meat for Santa Claws. The rhyming text is upbeat and highlights the incongruities of dinosaurs celebrating Christmas. Illustrations add greatly to the story, combining whimsical dinosaur drawings with enough realistic details to keep dinosaur fans happy. The spread with the rhyming lines "Onward to the ocean deep—/ Sea monsters are fast asleep./ While they nestle in their beds,/ Ammonites drift overhead" is an example of how the rhymes are brought to life by the colorful, clever drawings. End pages provide brief descriptions of all the Cretaceaous Era creatures featured. Although this story does not tug at readers' heartstrings, it will provide chuckles to all the little dinosaur fans. VERDICT This rhyming Christmas story will appeal to young children who love dinosaurs.—Sally James - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
