Christmas in July

by Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski (Illustrator)

Santa Claus loses his pants and gets arrested, so Christmas is postponed until July

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas, Childrens, Holiday, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Arthur Yorinks is a playwright, director, and author of more than thirty-five picture books for children, including the Caldecott Medal–winning Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski. His most recent picture book is Presto and Zesto in Limboland, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Arthur Yorinks lives in Cambridge, New York.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yikes - it's a yuletide disaster when the cleaner accidentally sends Santa's Christmas pants to the wrong fellow. They end up in the hands on the lower half of a spoiled billionaire named, and I kid you not, Rich Rump. (He lives in a penthouse, and he's got orangish-blonde hair, big eyebrows, and a nasty temperament.) Santa's attempts to get his pants back, or any pants for that matter, fail miserably, and things go downhill from there. He lands in the pokey with a suspicious looking roommate cellmate who thinks Santa's got a right purty mouth.

This is a weird book for the kiddies. It's filled with well drawn, yet disturbing illustrations like these:


Needles fall as the young 'uns wait for a no-show Santa.

It's probably best to keep this one out of the hands of nervous children who are prone to worry.


Apparently, clothes pants do make the man.

[Connie T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't your typical children's Christmas book. First, it's about a Christmas that almost wasn't.

Due to a mixup at the dry cleaners, Rich Rump, a millionaire with an uncanny resemblance to Trump, has Santa's pants. Rump is a rude, arrogant, name-caller and refuses to give the pants up. Santa then takes to the streets in an attempt to find some pants and is arrested for loitering, though indecent exposure would make more sense. By the time Santa gets out of jail, it's July and the delay of Christmas has ruined the economy. (As another reviewer has pointed out, here Christmas is all about consumerism & commercialism.) Rump, no longer rich, is on the street corner trying to sell Santa's pants when Santa comes along and faints, due to the extreme heat. Rump, ever the deal maker, is bargaining with an unconscious Santa over the price for the pants. Slowly, Rump realizes that the pants are perfectly suited to the unconscious man and "Rump's icy heart was finally melting." He gives the pants to Santa, who wakes up, and all is saved.

I searched this book out because it appeared in an article about early references to Trump in books. I'd say the man hasn't changed much. The artwork is dated but that's not a surprise since the book was published 28 years ago.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never expected to see a Christmas book taking place in July since Santa didn't have his pants and was in jail. Interesting .....maybe.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rick "Rump" with his selfish ways and red hairs seems familiar...hmmmmmmm!

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too weird for me. And I don't need to be reminded of the orange-haired ass every time I turn around.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

WD in WI

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

El tema está padre, le llamó la atención a mi hijo, pero la historia está equis. No atrapa.

[Viola · Rating 3 out of 5]

not your typical feel-good Christmas story. Can you imagine no one recognising Santa? When the dry cleaners lose Santa's pants he goes looking for them, only to be treated rudely by people. he gets arrested and thrown in jail. this causes him to not deliver any Christmas gifts and the world economy down spirals. Six months later, Santa gets his pants back, people realize who he is and he delivers the gifts
Further proofs that Christmas is all about retailers and not about the spirit. there was no goodwill to man in this story. I think the elves should have broken him out of jail, delivered the gifts to everyone else in the world and left this place a big lump of coal.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a humorous and entertaining story about Santa losing his pants and Christmas being canceled until he gets them back. The narrative is short and the illustrations are very colorful and cartoonish.

The story is absurd, but in a fun way. And although we didn't get around to reading this book in July, we enjoyed reading it together for a light summer tale.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow,... I usually don't rate books very low but this book geez... Santa goes in search of his pants and goes through the story with no pants and gets locked into jail for 6 mths. No one knows who he is and then after he serves his sentence he gets out and does get his pants back from a rich man who is no longer rich... Really?

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noticed this on the library shelf and remembered reading it as a kid, so decided to read it again. The writing style is really funny and made me laugh even as an adult. The illustrations are great too.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure how/why this would be appealing to kids. The concept is for older kids or adults. Spoiler, Santa goes to jail for 6 months. Not a book I would recommend.

[Jaime Grande · Rating 1 out of 5]

They actually refer to jail as "the pokey" in this book.
It's a children's book.