That's Not My Santa

That's Not My...

by Fiona Watt, Rachel Wells (Illustrator)

A long-awaited festive addition to the best-selling and award-winning touchy-feely series. The enduring appeal of the illustrations and the opportunity to touch a variety of textures make these books baby and pre-school classics. Very young children will enjoy the bright and colorful illustrations while the different texture patches help develop sensory awareness.

Genres: Christmas, Childrens, Picture Books, Holiday

11 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Fiona Watt is an Editorial Director and writer at Usborne Publishing. She started working at Usborne in 1989 and has written and edited hundreds of books including baby and novelty, sticker, art and craft, cookery, science and activity books.
Fiona graduated from Exeter University with a B.Ed. (Hons.), specialising in Psychology and Art and Design. After university she worked as a researcher and writer for a company which published educational material for places where children went on school visits (zoos, museums, stately homes etc). She then taught seven, eight, and nine year olds for five years; three years at a state school in Sevenoaks in Kent, and two years at The British School in the Netherlands in The Hague.

Having joined Usborne in 1989, Fiona became an editorial director in 2003, largely responsible for writing baby and novelty books, as well as art and activity titles. She has written over 100 titles for Usborne Publishing, perhaps most notably the, ‘That’s not my ….‘ touchy-feely series.

Reviews

[Mr. Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

“That’s not my Santa, his sack is too rough.” Automatic 5 stars.

[Elaine Mullane || Elaine and the Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book for the holidays and a great addition to the touchy-feely range! And a nice (and not too scary!) way of introducing the littles to Santa.

[danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found my Santa! :)

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this one by chance at the local library ... my daughter loves it... especially Santa’s sack

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: That's not my Santa...his sleigh is too sparkly. That's not my Santa...his sack is too rough.

I have a weakness for GREAT touch-and-feel elements. The story can be a little weak, but give me good textures to feel, and I'll be drawn to it. The story is simple and a bit repetitive. But the textures for the most part are satisfying. I particularly love the rough sack. (Though I will argue that SPARKLY is never, never, never a texture.) Technically, Santa's gloves (look like mittens and definitely are NOT fuzzy despite the text) aren't quite right. But overall this one was pleasing.

[Castor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The books in the "That's not my..." series can be an interesting read for young babies with colourful illustrations, repetitive text and tactile elements. The descriptions and textures are very similar across all the books. The subject, Santa, does not quite fit the series, and the logic feels forced; it suggests there is more than one real Santa. The word "Santa" on the bookcover is not capitalised.

[Luisa Grider · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super simple book that’s clearly designed for babies because of the touch-and-feel textures. That said, it’s actually been really useful in a different way for us, my son is learning to read, and the repetitive phrasing makes this a great early reader book.

Easy words, predictable structure, and quick pages make it approachable and confidence-boosting. A nice example of a baby book still having a second life later on.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandie read this book over FaceTime throughout the month of December, culminating with a Christmas Eve reading.

Obviously, Jack couldn’t feel the touchy elements, so I can’t speak to those. But the book was cute and colorful and had a variety of different textures and words to experience. Sometimes, he listened pretty well for her, other times, not so much. It’s hard over the screen.

[Christina Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great festive addition to the much-loved series, read with my 4-year-old niece who enjoyed joining in with the chorus and coming up with alternative words to describe the textures. Perfect for younger readers.

[Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great baby book for the holidays, and at almost 10 months, baby is now discerning between textures. He laughed at the last page and the fluffy white beard. He recognized his grandpa in Santa Claus!

[Shahrun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was quite enjoying touchy-feeling my way through this one, until I realised the plot was going no where! Perhaps not aimed at my age group, but still... I expect a little one would love this book.

[Sharmane · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 11 month old son loves these books - incorporating the whole ‘feel’ into them was genius. And we love that there are Christmas ones. He loves Santa’s beard 😂

[Nicole Sok · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally think these books are worthless... however, my kids like them, so there's that. In my mind, it's best for kids under 2, but my 3 and 6 year old still enjoy them.

[Freddie D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, festive, fun.

[Catarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are precious and great to have around the house!

[Jenn Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read to Lily
Cute, but I wasn't that impressed and I didn't like all the rhymes

[Moyra Duckmanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the ‘That’s not my…’ books. A Christmas version. Interactive board book, with a little mouse on each page to find too.

[Remi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remi enjoyed this one as a Christmas gift and liked knowing how to read some of the words.

[Wayne Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book my daughter Breanna in Australia read to me on webcam

[Jamie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading these books with my favourite little man. However, it's kinda sad that they are the only 5 star worthy books (out of 250+) I've read this year.

[John Greenwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tactile fun, my children (1 and 4) still love to read this again and again.