Christmas Out of Control and the Amazing Christmas Extravaganza
Written: Nov 10 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Multiple messages, Illustrations and Rich imagery
Cons: The angry mob of neighbors could disturb young readers
The Bottom Line: Shannon’s cautionary tale of excesses and poor communication, The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza, will be enjoyed by most children while a few will be disturbed by the neighbors’ destructive solutions.
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| pestyside's Full Review: David Shannon - The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza |
Obviously inspired by the movie Christmas Vacation and Clark Griswold's antics, author/illustrator David Shannon provides his version of excesses and holiday messages in this hysterical book about competition and misunderstanding as well as obsessions. The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza provides an amazing collection of rich holiday images with a cautionary tale.
For many years the Merriweather Family celebrated Christmas quietly without lots of bells and whistles or glitter and shimmer - they carried their ornaments and lights down from the attic to decorate their tree and no more than that. But for some reason Mr. Merriweather felt inspired to do just a little more this year so he tacked a single string of white lights around the picture window. He was pleased.
The next day a neighbor, Mr. Clack, made fun of his mediocre display, he had seventeen strings on his house and they blink on and off. You could almost here the sneer and the so-there from Mr. Clack. Something snapped in Merriweather and he retorted, "Well...I'm not done yet. You wait till I'm finished, and then I guess you'll see something!" He visited five department stores and probably cleaned them out of decorations. After installing all of these on his house he swelled with pride when the neighbors complimented his display.
Like Griswold, something in Merriweather snapped and he was out of control; his new obsession had him searching stores everywhere for more. The compliments only encouraged him and he enjoyed making the neighbors happy. His family began worrying. This colorful display had families traveling from far and wide to drive past his house and listen to the music blaring out of the loudspeakers. His son thought perhaps dad was getting a little wacko and mom quietly agreed.
Neighbors weren't exactly pleased with this and decided to do something about Merriweather's ostentatious display although their strategy was as equally out-of-control. This tells what happens when people are pushed a little too far and communication is left out of the formula. Some children might be disturbed by the violence of the mob mentality and the out-of-control neighbors. The conclusion of this story has a truly enjoyable Christmas message, and a lot of apologies, but I can appreciate the concerns for the neighbors' actions. It is for this reason that I recommend sharing The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza with young children at Christmas time rather than having them read it alone. This is also more text-heavy than most picture books. While early readers can handle the vocabulary, this would be more enjoyable if shared while sitting with your children or grandchildren in a big comfy chair or sofa.
I was introduced to illustrator David Shannon's art earlier this year and found myself wanting more (although my excesses didn't go quite as far as Mr. Merriweather's obsessions). The details in his images include wonderful facial expressions that help tell the story. In The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza he packs just about every yard display you've ever seen into the Merriweather's property. The Christmas Santa centerfold will definitely have your young readers going "wow and awesome." He learns his lesson, yet, this does end with a worrisome question that will have kids giggling, "How many days till Easter?"
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The 532 words in this review qualifies as an entry into the sleeper-free "Lean-n-mean VIII" W/O being conducted this year by jurgrace and jenniferkateab this is also an entry in Chelledun's "Get Those Holiday Reviews Out" w/o. Looks like we're gearing up for a lot of fun this November-join the fun.
Recommended:
Yes
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