Christmas All Over

In this multicultural hodgepodge, a multiethnic cast of young elves (depicted like an alien-chimp hybrid species) accompanies Santa on a balloon ride to their native cities in the U.S. to learn about various Christmas customs. (Why the crew is limited to one country, and how the elves came to the North Pole from U.S. cities are never clear.) The insipid, rhyming text, liberally sprinkled with exclamation points, grates: ""Tyrone looked down and his eyes opened wide./ `Hey, man, that's Cleveland!' his voice danced with pride./ `We'd celebrate Christmas with all of our friends/ And it seemed the fun would go on with no end!' "" Banal, unaccomplished art brims with ethnic stereotypes. Ages 5-10. (Nov.)