cover image Santa Claws: A Scary Christmas to All

Santa Claws: A Scary Christmas to All

Laura Leuck, , illus. by Gris Grimly. . Chronicle, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-8118-4992-0

With a bit of a nod to Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas , Leuck's (My Monster Mama Loves Me So ) lively holiday spookfest focuses on two monster boys' anticipation of "gross and grisly Christmas toys," delivered by a fat dragon-riding sprite with a bite: Santa Claws. As his name suggests, Grimly (Boris and Bella ) is ready to trip the light fangtastic with breezy yet somber-hued watercolor-and-ink scenes of all manner of monsters and their icky and humorous accoutrements, from "crusty cookies topped with flies" to visions of "boogerplums" dancing through their heads. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)