Santarella - by Suzy Senior (Hardcover)

About the Book

"It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus has hurt his back--and now he can't deliver the toys! Luckily, Cinderella is here to help. Hooray for ... Santarella! A merry twist on Cinderella, and finding your own happy-ever-after."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

In this hilarious retelling of Cinderella, it's Christmas Eve, and Cinderella is disappointed that her sisters have gone out and left her home alone. But then Santa Claus shows up at her house and needs help--and Cinderella is eager to lend a hand!

In this hilarious spin on the traditional fairy tale Cinderella, it's Christmas Eve, and Cinderella's sisters have left Cinderella home alone to take care of the housework. Then Santa Claus shows up at Cinderella's house and needs help: He hurt his back, and now he can't lift his bag of toys! Cinderella eagerly lends a hand, and the two spend the evening delivering toys all around the world. When they're done, Santa offers to drop Cinderella off at the big party--but Cinderella decides there's something she'd much rather do instead. This humorous story offers up a fun take on the traditional fairy tale with rhyming text and energetic illustrations.

Review Quotes

Suzy Senior's Santarella (9781664300323, $18.99) features an engaging twist on two classic themes: Cinderella and Santa Claus. Lucy Semple's colorful and detailed, playful drawings enliven the spin on a Cinderella experience which takes place at Christmas and involves not a fairy godmothers, but Santa's intervention in her life. Christmas is more about jobs and gift-giving, however, as Cinderella lends a hand and discovers unexpected results from her efforts. --Midwest Book Review--Children's Bookwatch

Santarella by author/storyteller Suzy Senior and artist/illustrator Lucy Semple is a laugh-out-loud take on the traditional fairy tale of Cinderella. Original, memorable, humorous, and fun, "Santerella with its deftly blending of a rhyming text and with energetic illustrations is unreservedly recommended as a prized pick for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 3-7. --Midwest Book Review--Children's Bookwatch

"Cinderella" gets a Christmas-y remix in Senior's modern rhyming rendition with a feminist twist. Classic meets contemporary in opening scenes of pale-skinned Cinderella grappling with the mess left by her "grumpy, bossy sisters" before they departed for a palace ball: "But back to Cinderella, / in the kitchen, on her own, / about to watch a boring/ Christmas movie on her phone." A jingle and bump announce the arrival of someone down the chimney, and though Cindy's hope for a fairy godmother is dashed by the arrival of Santa Claus, the can-do protagonist readily agrees to help white-presenting St. Nick deliver presents, instead. The globe-trotting that follows proves sufficiently revelatory to empower the heroine, who departs from fairy tale norms even as the story embraces folktale characters. Semple's soft-edged renderings mingle magic and modernity throughout this appealing twice-told tale. Characters are shown with various skin tones. Ages 3-7. [em](Sept.) --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Suzy Senior lives and works at the top of a huge hill in Sheffield. She lives with her family, a small group of squeaky pets, and quite a lot of books. She loves writing picture books, making things rhyme, and eating jaffa cakes, ideally all at the same time!

Lucy Semple lives and works as a children's illustrator in Nottinghamshire, England. She loves to create her art digitally but sometimes dabbles in traditional media in her free time. She can often be found curled up with a book, a cup of tea in hand, and her dachshund, Frankie, asleep on her knee.