Santa's Gotta Go!

by Derrick Barnes (Author) Courtney Lovett (Illustrator)

Santa's Gotta Go!
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
We all know that Santa Claus is one cool dude! But how is he as a houseguest? Find out in this hilarious picture book by bestselling author Derrick Barnes!

The number one thing on Monte and Mabel’s Christmas wish list is the chance to hang out with Santa Claus. So when his sleigh breaks down in their yard as he’s finishing up his last delivery, they couldn’t be more delighted--Santa’s gonna stay with them while he waits for spare parts to be delivered! It’s a dream come true . . . or is it? It turns out Santa doesn’t have a lot of experience being a houseguest, and likes to rock out late at night and swigs spaghetti sauce from the jar. But when he messes with Dad’s motorcycle and Mabel’s computer tablet, he’s gone a step too far and the whole family agrees--Santa’s gotta go! But how on earth do you kick out Santa Claus?

Readers will get a kick out of this hilarious holiday tale by New York Times bestselling author Derrick Barnes, with its funny reminder to be careful what you wish for and to remember that sharing the holiday spirit can take a lot of goodwill.
Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

A fun reminder about the holiday spirit of giving.

Publishers Weekly

In this lively holiday read, a Black family hoping to welcome Santa to their home get more than they bargained for after his sleigh breaks down. When Santa, portrayed with brown skin and sporting jeans and tattoos, agrees to a brief vacation while he awaits a new sleigh fuse, he quickly proves a difficult houseguest for the Mack family, holding loud jam sessions, eating everything in sight, and damaging Mr. Mack's motorcycle. When he cracks the tablet he brought Mabel for Christmas, the child declares, "Santa's gotta go!" Though Santa doesn't get the hint until after the family departs for a hotel, the Macks return to a tidied house--and a concerning promise that Santa will be bragging to his friends about the stay. Via blow-by-blow text and expressive thin-lined art, Barnes and Lovett bring comedic havoc to this vision of a Santa who's more chaotic than nice. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

PreS-Gr 3--After seeing a story on TV about a family hanging out with Santa Claus, the Mack family decides that they want to get Santa to stay at their house for a while. Their wish is granted when Santa's sleigh breaks down, and he has to wait three days for a replacement part to arrive. But hosting Santa is not the fun the family thought it would be: Santa eats all the food, makes noise late into the night playing music with guys from the neighborhood, and takes Mr. Mack's motorcycle out for a drive without asking. When Santa accidentally stomps on Mabel's new tablet, she "balled up her fists, scrunched her up her nose, and shouted: 'Santa's Gotta Go!!!'" Fed up, the Macks spend Santa's last night at a hotel and are surprised by what they find when they return home. This contemporary, creative story portrays a Black Santa Claus who works out, sports tattoos, and only has a slight belly. Children will delight in many modern elements of the story, such as Santa ordering a part for his sleigh online using a laptop. Crisp illustrations transport readers into the comfortable and loving home of a young Black family and clearly convey the family's emotions on their faces: exhaustion, annoyance, anger, surprise, and more. VERDICT Children will love seeing an easily relatable Santa Claus and family. Pair this fun story with Billy Sharff's When Santa Came to Stay.--Florence Simmons

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

The Mack family wants to host Santa Claus, but they don't realize what they're in for when their wish comes true. . . . Lovett's bright, wonderfully expressive cartoon illustrations feature a relatable Black family and a very modern Black Santa: tall and muscular with jeans, tattoos, and a red flannel shirt. Santa's outlandish shenanigans will have readers giggling and turning pages to see how the Macks will survive his stay. A fun reminder about the holiday spirit of giving. —Kirkus Reviews 
Derrick Barnes
Derrick Barnes (derrickbarnes.com) is the author of Like Lava in My Veins; New York Times bestsellers The Queen of Kindergarten, The King of Kindergarten, and I Am Every Good Thing, which won the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award and the Kirkus Prize; and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, which received a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Honor, the Kirkus Prize, and the Ezra Jack Keats Award. He also wrote the bestselling chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and their four sons.

Gordon C. James (gordoncjames.com) illustrated the critically acclaimed picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut (by Derrick Barnes), which received a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor, the Kirkus Prize, and a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. He also illustrated Let 'Er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People's Champion (by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson). He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593530436
Lexile Measure
710
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication date
October 10, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV039200 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Manners & Etiquette
JUV017010 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Christmas & Advent
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Santa Claus
Hospitality
Santa

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