What do you think?
I'm Not...
"I'm Not Santa!"
Baby Owl is just out in the snowy woods, playing with his sled… so why does Baby Hare insist on mistaking him for Santa? Is Santa the only one allowed to wear a red hat? And doesn’t Baby Hare know the difference between a sled and a sleigh?
It’ll take no less than a surprise visit from the jolly old man himself to settle this case of mistaken identity!
It’ll take no less than a surprise visit from the jolly old man himself to settle this case of mistaken identity!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2008
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
August 27, 2018
Baby Owl is strolling around outside on Christmas Eve, when Baby Hare appears. Sure that Baby Owl is Santa, Baby Hare professes as much. However, Baby Owl does all that he can to rectify this misconception. It goes horribly wrong and soon they are both in tears. When a large and jolly fellow comes upon them, he gives both Baby Hare and Baby Owl directions ahead of Christmas, in hopes that it will help them celebrate the season. We may be far from Christmas, but when the library delivers a book you have placed on hold for a long time, you read it. Neo loves Christmas, though I am happy to report he is not yet crossing off the days!
December 21, 2020
An owl must convince his pal that even though he's wearing a red hat, and pulling a sled - he's really NOT SANTA. The book is cute enough, but that's really all there was to it. The owl reminds me of Ed Emberley's fingerprint characters.
December 14, 2018
Fun read aloud to ages 20 months to 5 yrs old.
July 15, 2009
This is the sequel to the hilarious "I'm Not Cute!" However, "I'm Not Santa!" is one of the lamest childrens books ever and probably one of the worst this year. The idea isn't original (Baby Owl gets mistaken for Santa) and the text and drawings are dull. Skip this one, folks.
December 1, 2015
Baby Hare tries to convince Baby Owl that he is Santa. When Baby Owl finally agrees that he is Baby Hare accuses him of lying. In this hilarious book, both animals begin to bawl. Only a surprise visit from Santa himself can resolve the ruckus.
April 22, 2021
I love this book and how it has baby owl trying to work through his feelings about the feelings of hare. What can some of the messages from this book be? That there are better ways to help solve issues besides lying? I love that message in this book is that lying only makes issues worse.
** Talking points: how could baby owl have helped baby hare work through is feelings in a better way? Let's role play some past experience and see what we did and what may have worked better. Santa kind of saves the day here? Who has saved the day when some of your experiences have gone south. How did they save the day? Have you ever saved the day? Tell us about it.
** Talking points: how could baby owl have helped baby hare work through is feelings in a better way? Let's role play some past experience and see what we did and what may have worked better. Santa kind of saves the day here? Who has saved the day when some of your experiences have gone south. How did they save the day? Have you ever saved the day? Tell us about it.
January 16, 2019
A fun December read-aloud for preschool and Kindergarten. Baby Owl is mistaken for Santa because he is wearing a read hat and pulling a sled. He tries to convince Baby Hare that he is NOT Santa. The conversation between Baby Owl and Baby Hare is authentic to the way young children reason and argue. Use for N week, O week, S week, learning about descriptive language/adjectives, and just plain entertainment value. Although it includes Santa, this book does not reference gifts or consumerism.
November 29, 2021
Meh. Owl mistaken as Santa by a bunny, owl denies repeatedly, bun bun doesn’t take no for an answer, wabbit cries, owl decides to make bun happy by saying he’s Santa, rabbit suddenly thinks owl is not Santa, hare cries, owl cries, etc. The real Santa ‘saves the day’.
Not the best teachings for young ones but my blissfully unaware boys enjoyed. Won’t be rereading though.
Not the best teachings for young ones but my blissfully unaware boys enjoyed. Won’t be rereading though.
February 25, 2021
The first part of this is really cute when the hair thinks the baby chick is Santa, but the ending is lackluster. Yes Santa does come but then mom owl doesn’t believe. It was an okay book, but one I feel I don’t need to read again.
December 26, 2016
A cute book which shows a typical conversation between youngsters. Baby Owl tries to prove that he is not Santa, and things go horribly awry.
October 24, 2018
Fun Christmas story. May use with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" in special storytime.
November 15, 2018
This one has just the right amount of text for a Christmas storytime! And it avoids all the consumerism stuff that's prevalent in a lot of Christmas books
December 13, 2018
Cute, not great, but the kids enjoyed.
October 22, 2019
Baby Hare is upset because Chick is trying to convince him he's NOT Santa, then Hare gets upset when he realizes that Chick is indeed NOT Santa.
Strange.
Strange.
December 18, 2019
This is just a nice, off-beat Christmas book to read for the season. It even captures some of the anxiety, fatigue, excitement, and emotion of the holiday.
December 25, 2019
This book is so cute. My daughter giggled throughout the entire book.
October 15, 2020
Would be brilliant for reception children!
December 2, 2021
When Baby Hare mistakes Baby Owl for being Santa on Christmas eve, only one action can clear up this case of mistaken identity.
December 27, 2021
Lindy says 5 stars, Jasper says 9. A cute addition to Jonathan Allen's baby owl series.
March 5, 2022
Cute book, cute series.
Read
December 9, 2022A dressed up stranger demanding hugs from little ones makes me uncomfortable.
December 13, 2022
Loved the artwork, cute Christmas story the class really liked it.
December 6, 2023
Super cute story.
December 11, 2024
Started out cute, but the story fell off
November 24, 2025
Fun to read with my soon-to-be 3-year-old
February 24, 2018
Hands down the worst book I have ever read. Super annoying story.
December 24, 2009
Allen, J. (2008). "I'm not Santa!" New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
9781423113003
Appetizer: On Christmas Eve, Baby Owl goes out sledding and Baby Hare mistakes the owl for Santa. No matter what Baby Owl says, the Hare is still convinced the owl is Santa.
This is a good holiday read. Author and illustrator Jonathan Allen does an excellent job of capturing a childlike voice for Baby Owl and Baby Hare. This voice goes beyond just vocabulary choices, but also applies to the undying faith in Santa, the confusion over multiple Santas existing and the fact that young ones often feel like adults don't hear or believe what they say. There were a few places where the language could been more sparse. But since "I'm not Santa!" will most likely be read aloud by adults or older siblings, this isn't too much of a concern.
The illustrations are equally fun and childlike (although the picture book could have withstood having some more variations among the backgrounds and details of the illustrations).
I do have a question for you though, internets. Or, more so, it's a question for Jonathan Allen and his editor. Why did they decide to have "I'm not Santa" in quotes for the title of the picture book? Not all of the story is in Baby Owl's voice, so I wouldn't see the need to have his voice in the title. Is this some type of encouragement to have wee little children march around yelling "I'm not Santa!" over and over again? Would the title Baby Owl is not Santa! crush too many people's dreams of having a bird-shaped Santa? I don't understand.
Internets, you must track down Jonathan Allen or someone at Hyperion to explain it to me. Please.
Dinner Conversation:
"It was Christmas Eve, and Baby Owl had been out in the snowy woods, playing with his sled."
"I'm not Santa!" said Baby Owl. "Don't be so silly!"
"But you are Santa!" insisted Baby Hare. "You're wearing a red hat with fur on it. Santa wears a hat like that."
To Go with the Meal:
A fun holiday read aloud, this picture book is particularly good to use on Christmas Eve since that's the night the book is set--and even ends with Owl listening to a book read aloud and then going to bed.
To encourage participation, a teacher could have students shout-out the repeated "I'm not Santa!" when it comes up on many pages.
This book could also help for when a young child becomes confused as to who they're seeing multiple Santas around town. A teacher can discuss how sometimes people just look like Santa or or helping out.
There is also a teaching moment a teacher can take advantage of in "I'm not Santa!" At one point the Baby Hare argues that the owl must be Santa because he is "big and fat like Santa." While this is funny and cute in context, a teacher may want to remind students to choose words carefully and that words like "fat" can hurt.
Tasty Rating: !!!
9781423113003
Appetizer: On Christmas Eve, Baby Owl goes out sledding and Baby Hare mistakes the owl for Santa. No matter what Baby Owl says, the Hare is still convinced the owl is Santa.
This is a good holiday read. Author and illustrator Jonathan Allen does an excellent job of capturing a childlike voice for Baby Owl and Baby Hare. This voice goes beyond just vocabulary choices, but also applies to the undying faith in Santa, the confusion over multiple Santas existing and the fact that young ones often feel like adults don't hear or believe what they say. There were a few places where the language could been more sparse. But since "I'm not Santa!" will most likely be read aloud by adults or older siblings, this isn't too much of a concern.
The illustrations are equally fun and childlike (although the picture book could have withstood having some more variations among the backgrounds and details of the illustrations).
I do have a question for you though, internets. Or, more so, it's a question for Jonathan Allen and his editor. Why did they decide to have "I'm not Santa" in quotes for the title of the picture book? Not all of the story is in Baby Owl's voice, so I wouldn't see the need to have his voice in the title. Is this some type of encouragement to have wee little children march around yelling "I'm not Santa!" over and over again? Would the title Baby Owl is not Santa! crush too many people's dreams of having a bird-shaped Santa? I don't understand.
Internets, you must track down Jonathan Allen or someone at Hyperion to explain it to me. Please.
Dinner Conversation:
"It was Christmas Eve, and Baby Owl had been out in the snowy woods, playing with his sled."
"I'm not Santa!" said Baby Owl. "Don't be so silly!"
"But you are Santa!" insisted Baby Hare. "You're wearing a red hat with fur on it. Santa wears a hat like that."
To Go with the Meal:
A fun holiday read aloud, this picture book is particularly good to use on Christmas Eve since that's the night the book is set--and even ends with Owl listening to a book read aloud and then going to bed.
To encourage participation, a teacher could have students shout-out the repeated "I'm not Santa!" when it comes up on many pages.
This book could also help for when a young child becomes confused as to who they're seeing multiple Santas around town. A teacher can discuss how sometimes people just look like Santa or or helping out.
There is also a teaching moment a teacher can take advantage of in "I'm not Santa!" At one point the Baby Hare argues that the owl must be Santa because he is "big and fat like Santa." While this is funny and cute in context, a teacher may want to remind students to choose words carefully and that words like "fat" can hurt.
Tasty Rating: !!!
June 1, 2011
Baby Owl is pulling his sled through the snow and wearing his red stocking hat. When Baby Hare sees him he mistakenly thinks that he's Santa Claus. They argue back and forth until Baby Hare pitches a fit. When Baby Owl tries to appease him, "Ok, I AM Santa Claus," Baby Hare only becomes more distressed, because it's suddenly become obvious to him that Baby Owl is definitely NOT Santa. Soon Baby Owl is also in tears. That's when the man himself shows up and makes it all better. Just in time for Christmas!
Man, what a whiny lagomorph! I love that Baby Owl can't do anything right (as far as Baby Hare is concerned), and that he then goes home and tells his mom everything that happened and she's all "Yes, dear, that's nice." Amusing.
Man, what a whiny lagomorph! I love that Baby Owl can't do anything right (as far as Baby Hare is concerned), and that he then goes home and tells his mom everything that happened and she's all "Yes, dear, that's nice." Amusing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2012
This is, hands down, my favorite Santa-themed picture book of all time! Baby Owl (wearing a red hat & dragging his sled) is mistaken for Santa by Baby Hare. Arguments and histrionic weeping ensue before the happy ending. This book has delightful, expressive illustrations and is terribly fun to read aloud dramatically to a group of children -- if you do it right, the crying & carrying on will send little ones into fits of giggles. There's even a one-page Baby Owl monologue that is very challenging to do without taking a breath, but it's worth it. Tragically, the book seems to be out of print. I bought (several) used copies online, I love it so much. But hopefully you can find a copy at your local public library.
December 9, 2008
Allen, Jonathan, I’m NOT Santa!, 25 pgs. Hyperion Book CH ~Language G, Sexual Content~G Violence~G
Another WONDERFUL book from Allen starring the little owl who is NOT cute! This time Baby owl, donning a Santa hat, is approached by a baby hare who insists that he is Santa! The comparisons are hilarious and the text begs to be read aloud! A must add to library holiday collections.
EL. Essential Allison Madsen~Youth Services Librarian-SJO Public Librarian
Another WONDERFUL book from Allen starring the little owl who is NOT cute! This time Baby owl, donning a Santa hat, is approached by a baby hare who insists that he is Santa! The comparisons are hilarious and the text begs to be read aloud! A must add to library holiday collections.
EL. Essential Allison Madsen~Youth Services Librarian-SJO Public Librarian
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews