Santa Claus Can Drop Off This Book Anytime!

I love Christmas music. I always get a little giddy around Thanksgiving when the stores begin blaring Bing Crosby and the Chipmunks, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller. When I can turn on the radio and tune into a station playing exclusively Christmas tunes all month. When I can break out my own favorite albums, which I've dutifully neglected throughout the rest of the year. On Denver! On Muppets! On Diamond! On Larry! On Garrison Keillor and Pete, Paul and Mary! Oh, yes. It's enough to make me jump for joy.

I'm starting to think that Bruce Whatley must feel the same way. Here Comes Santa Claus is the third picture book I've come across that consists of the lyrics to a Christmas song and Whatley's illustrations. This Gene Autry classic, which he wrote along with Oakley Haldeman, has been covered by the likes of Alvin Seville and Elvis Presley, and it's unusual in the way that it directly mentions both Santa Claus and God in an apparent effort to bring the gap between secular and sacred celebrations of the holiday. The tone of the lyrics is both energetic and pleasantly reverent.

Whatley's version, which includes sheet music on the inside cover to make for easy sing-alongs, doesn't overlook that aspect of the song. In one of my favorite illustrations, little Matthew, the boy who is a focal point of this story, gets tenderly carried off to bed by his dad. Through the window, the silhouette of Santa's reindeer-drawn sleigh is clearly visible against the moon, while on the windowsill rests a Nativity scene.

The primary focus, though, is on Matthew, the sleepy lad who wants a dog for Christmas, and the white pup who stows away in Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. As soon as a group of carolers arrives at Matthew's door and we get a peek inside, it's pretty easy to guess that the boy and the dog are destined to cross paths. The illustrations follow both of their journeys until Santa finally realizes he has an unintended visitor aboard who may just be the answer to the last-minute wish of the little boy we have been observing.

I adore Whatley's rendition of I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, but this one shows even more creativity since he invents his own side narrative to augment the song lyrics. He's got lots of material if he wants to make a habit of creating picture books out of Christmas songs. Here's hoping there are lots more to come!

This Pachyderm Present is Perfectly Pleasant

Last year, when my favorite radio station decided to play nothing but Christmas music for the month of December, I discovered a lovely little novelty number entitled I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. I've always had a soft spot for hippos, so I could sympathize with the girl's plight, and besides, the song was just so darn catchy. It was sung by Gayla Peevey, who had a remarkably developed voice for a ten-year-old. I at first assumed it was a grown woman trying to sound little girl-ish, but she really was a little girl back in 1953, and thanks to her enthusiastic performance of John Rox's jingle, the Oklahoma City Zoo soon was able to buy its first hippopotamus, Matilda.

As an homage to my obsession with the song, I bought myself a hippo at Build-a-Bear when it had its grand opening here in Erie in September. Like Matilda, my hippo is female; I named her Minerva, after one of my favorite Hogwarts professors, and garbed her in a purple witch's outfit to match her fuzzy fur. Granted, hippos don't really have fur, and they're not really purple, either. But a massive purple hippo is just what I found on the front cover of I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, the picture book adaptation illustrated by Bruce Whatley.

The book, published in 2005, features a little girl in pink pajamas complete with footies; they remind me of Ralphie's get-up in A Christmas Story, sans the bunny accoutrements, and she seems much more content with her clothing than he did. She has a wide, gleaming grin and sparkling eyes, and her hair is a lustrous Ginny Weasley shade of red.

The hippo is huge, and his smile is even bigger. He seems absolutely thrilled to be in her living room on Christmas morning, apparently having decided that it was worth all the trouble of Santa shoving him through the door and wrapping him in striped paper just to see the delight on his new caretaker's face. It's hard to say which of them is more excited; in one illustration, the hippo is reflected in the joyful girl's indigo eyes, while another shows the ecstatic hippo's brown eyes reflecting the girl.

The illustrations are marvelous, depicting such amusements as her mopping his head in the garage to get him squeaky clean and riding with Santa in a hippo-drawn sleigh. My favorite picture, however, which made me laugh out loud when I saw it, is the first one in which we see the girl and the hippo together. She stares in open-mouthed ardor, while he stretches out his pudgy arms for a hearty hug. Meanwhile, Dad blinks up at the hippo in half-awake confusion while Mom claps a hand over her forehead in a gesture that indicates Santa may have a rather indignant letter headed his way.

The text of the book is basically the song lyrics, though for some reason the verses begin "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, a hippopotamus is all I want," while in the song it's "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, only a hippopotamus will do." I'm not sure why the change was made; maybe "only a hippopotamus will do" seemed too repetitive, since that is the way the line reads during the chorus. At any rate, a recording is, most unfortunately, not included - though sheet music is - so kids who haven't heard the song won't have Peevey's rendition as a basis for comparison.

Hippo lovers, or anyone who's ever craved an unusual gift come Christmas, will likely get kick out of this fun little book. If only Santa would bring me a hippo too!