A very quick festive read. That's the positives out of the way.
Dean Koontz is not a poet. This is written in bloody awful rhyming verses that don't scan. I'd be more forgiving of the book if it didn't make such self aggrandizing claims in the blurb on the inside of the dust jacket."At the request of his fans, bestselling novellist Dean Koontz has created a contemporary masterpiece that is destined to take its place alongside "The Night Before Christmas" and A Christmas Carol as a perenniel yuletide favourite"
Someone somewhere thought this was worthy to be mentioned in the same sentence as A Christmas Carol?
The storyline is pants, but it's a Christmas story about Santa primarily written for kids, so that's to be expected. However, even writing for kids, write your verse so it scans, make some effort to make it fun. This is too wordy for younger children and too childish for older. It falls firmly between two stools.
The illustrations are very good. I had quite a lot of fun playing "Where's the snowman" after I finished the book. There's a snowman hidden in every picture somewhere, even in the picture on the front cover - see if you can spot it.
I wish the story/poem was that much fun.
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