Merry Christmas, Splat

by Rob Scotton, Rob Scotton (Illustrator)

Overview

The fun of Splat the Cat continues in New York Times bestselling author/artist Rob Scotton's paper-over-board format of Merry Christmas, Splat! It's the night before Christmas, and Splat wonders if this year he's going to get the really big present he wants. Has Splat been good enough or will Christmas wind up ruined?

Fans of Splat will delight in this hilarious holiday tale. Rob Scotton has even hidden Santa in some of the pictures so kids can search for Kris Kringle right along with Splat!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062124500
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Series:	Splat the Cat Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	153,373
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD460L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Rob Scotton is the bestselling author and illustrator of Russell the Sheep; Russell and the Lost Treasure; Russell’s Christmas Magic; Splat the Cat; Love, Splat; Merry Christmas, Splat; and Scaredy-Cat, Splat! His work can also be found on greeting cards, ceramics, textiles, prints, stationery, and glassware. An honors graduate of Leicester Polytechnic, Rob now lives in Rutland, England, with his wife, Liz, who is also an artist. You can visit Rob Scotton online at www.robscotton.com.

Rob Scotton is the bestselling author and illustrator of Russell the Sheep; Russell and the Lost Treasure; Russell’s Christmas Magic; Splat the Cat; Love, Splat; Merry Christmas, Splat; and Scaredy-Cat, Splat! His work can also be found on greeting cards, ceramics, textiles, prints, stationery, and glassware. An honors graduate of Leicester Polytechnic, Rob now lives in Rutland, England, with his wife, Liz, who is also an artist. You can visit Rob Scotton online at www.robscotton.com.

Editorial Reviews

Scotton’s popular feline (Splat the Cat, Secret Agent Splat) sends off his gimme-letter to Santa (“Dear Santa, Can I please have a really big present for Christmas? Thank you, Splat. P.S. I have been a very good cat”) and then begins to second-guess the truthfulness of his postscript. It is time to chalk up some goodness points, so Splat sets about washing already clean dishes, overloading the Christmas tree with extra ornaments, and causing a snow disaster by over-zealous attempts at snow removal. It is starting to look as if Santa is not going to come with that really big present for Splat, after all, until Splat finds an extra big surprise just for him on Christmas morning. Splat’s materialistic, self-focused greed is left unchallenged anywhere in the story, which never shows him realizing any standard Christmas lessons about the joy of giving rather than receiving or of appreciating Christmas in a non-commercial way. Still, young children are likely to identify with Splat wholeheartedly and enjoy his comically misguided efforts to reap his reward. It is unclear why Splat’s family decides to organize Christmas morning essentially as a surprise party for him, and we never do find out what is in the very big box he receives. Again, young readers are unlikely to complain, instead enjoying the fun of posing their own answers. Scotton’s pictures depict Splat as grotesquely large and goggle-eyed, but his little mouse friend, Seymour, is pretty darned cute. Reviewer: Claudia Mills, Ph.D. AGERANGE: Ages 4 to 7.

Children's Literature - Claudia Mills