Changing Faces: Wake Up, Santa!

Turning the pages of this chipper Christmas board book triggers a paper-engineered mechanism that lets children “awaken” Santa and other North Pole standbys. “Wake up elves! It’s time to pack!/ ‘We’ll wrap the gifts for Santa’s sack!’ ” reads a typical line of verse; on the facing page, a sleeping elf’s face transforms into a broad, wide-awake grin as vertical cardboard panels slide into place. Spanish illustrator Pintachan brings an over-the-top energy to his retro-styled digital artwork: the grins of Santa, the elves, Rudolph, and a teddy bear couldn’t be bigger, and many readers will be smiling widely, too. Up to age 3. (Oct.)