Gaston, the Green-Nosed Alligator

by James Rice

Santa Claus moves his headquarters to the Louisiana bayou and replaces his reindeer with flying alligators.

Genres: Childrens, Christmas, Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Keeper of Sorrows and Shadows (Formerly known as: The Pirate Ghost) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cajun Christmas classic. We loved listening to this every Christmas.

[Annburnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story of Santa in Louisiana. It is bound to keep ones attention when reading it.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion book, in many ways, to a Cajun Night Before Christmas. An okay story about Santa moving to Louisiana to escape the cold weather, and finding a replacement for his old, tired reindeer.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a fun little book. Probably kids outside of Louisiana won’t get the humor as much.

[Lauren☂︎☼♤☘︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how to explain it but this is camp.

[Amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute cute cute!!!!!!!! A not-sequel exactly, but a followup? Parallel? to The Cajun Night Before Christmas.

[Keith Mannina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely and fun book by James Rice, who wrote and illustrated the Cajun night before Christmas. This is an especially fun book if you have children and are a New Orleans Expatriate like so many of my family are. This is a nice little capsule of Carnival culture in New Orleans and cajun country which is kind of on the nose if you take out the alligator standing on two legs being part of the party aspect. It features a few different carnival traditions such as the courir du Mardi Gras in Mamou and the float builders in New Orleans proper. My one issue with this book is that it talks about Dixieland jazz during parades. This is a very outdated explanation of current carnival culture which is all about brass bands right now and has been for the last 40 or so years. I long for the day when people stop focusing on racks as the primary Krewe of Carnival. That parading krewe is mostly old racist white men.

[Nancy Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gaston the alligator sneaks into New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. He explains each aspect of the celebration that he witnesses, including a parade, a famous float, and a gala.

A fun way to learn about a cool city and tradition.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have the painting of the front cover hanging in the office. This is the 1st edition so it is only half color.

[Karla · Rating 2 out of 5]

too long

not a fan of the illustrations

didn't lend itself well to an interactive read-aloud