The Oldest Elf

By James Stevenson

Book Overview

There is so little interest in the old-fashioned toys made by Elywn, the oldest elf in Santa's workshop, that Santa's sleigh leaves without them. Blitzen, who tells Elywn what happened, is too old to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688137555
• ISBN13: 9780688137557
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Length: 30 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 12.3" x 0.3" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

The Reindeer in Winter

James Stevenson is one of my favorite children's writers. Like the great Daniel Pinkwater, Stevenson has a droll sense of humor that alternates between subtle, dry ironies, and outrageous comic exaggerations that he treats as nothing out of the ordinary. Pinkwater has his mischievous talking bears; here, Stevenson lets us eavesdrop on Santa's reindeers, as if it were completely expected that they talk to each other, and that their chat would seem more like human than animal concerns: In the stable the reindeer had a hard time tyring to sleep. "All those lights and noises, said Prancer. "I can't get any rest at all." "How soon is Christmas Eve," asked Donner. Tomorrow night, " said Dancer. THe reindeer are grateful. While they await flight night, the elves still make toys, but they now live in an age of whiz-bang video games and remote control automobiles. However, one elf, the oldest elft, Elwyn, stil makes hand-crafted, quality wooden toys: Painted biplanes, China dolls with ribbons, trains, rocking horses--the kind of toy one sees now either in museums or as boutique toys for the very wealthy, more likely for display than for play. Elwyn, just like the reindeers, has some trouble keeping track of time, and he misses Santa's sleigh. So does one of the more famous reindeer: "YOu missed then," said an old voice.... "Who's that,?" said Elwyn. It's me, Blitzen, said Blitzen. "...Did you miss them, too?" "Heck no," said Blitzen. "I got too old for those last-minute rides through the night." No more 'On DOner! On Blitzen!' for me." Blitzen's been replaced by a new reindeer named "Josephine," so new that later Santa forgets her name!) THe story turns when tired Blitzen think so f the "kids who would love to get [Elwyn's] toys." After a dramatic search for Elwyn's snow-covered bag of toys, Blitzen instructs Elwyn how to hitch him to a toboggan (!), attach some bells ("might as well do things right"), and shout the requisite "On Blitzen!" Flying through the night, they meet Santa and help distribute the toys. The suggestion that this may be Blitzen and Elwyn's swan song gives the story a bittersweet undertone. However, the conclusion is filled with such joy and spirit that one feels this Christmas adventure of renewal and hope won;t be the last for either the oldest elf or the retired reindeer. Stevenson's pen and watercolor illustrations are pulses of color, giving a vibrating energy to both new and old tradtions. Excellent as a Christmas story, of course, but appropriate in any season.