Santa Claus: The World's Number One Toy Expert

by Marla Frazee

It's true.

No one in the whole world knows more about kids, toys, and gifts than Santa Claus.

No one.

(And of course, he loves his job.) But how does he do it?

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Marla Frazee was awarded a Caldecott Honor for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Picture Book for The Farmer and the Clown. She is the author-illustrator of Roller Coaster, Walk On!, Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert, The Boss Baby, and Boot & Shoe, as well as the illustrator of many other books including The Seven Silly Eaters, Stars, the NYT bestselling Clementine series, and God Got a Dog. Marla has three grown sons, a Little Free Library in her front yard, and a studio in her back yard under an avocado tree.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5: prompted squeals of delight on every page. This looks more like a graphic novel than a picture book, and the illustrations are very charming (I particularly like Santa's pajama collection). My two-year-old loved this book: we named all the toys and reviewed Santa's forklift setup. Santa is a toy expert who owns construction equipment! There's no way to improve on that.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

An expert in children, toys and gifts, Santa spends his time testing toys and pairing them with the perfect recipient in this charming Christmas picture-book from author/illustrator Marla Frazee. Whether listening to the children on his lap, quality testing games and toys, or wrapping a mountain of presents, Santa works hard, and almost always get just the right thing...

Having loved Frazee's artwork in such titles as Everywhere Babies and the Caldecott Honor Book All the World , and greatly enjoying Santa stories, I picked up Santa Claus: The World's Number One Toy Expert with great anticipation. I was not disappointed, finding the book completely charming! The descriptive text is fairly minimal, and quite straightforward, describing Santa's various activities and tasks. The artwork, on the other hand, is expansive, and absolutely charming. Humorous, sweet, endearing - these illustrations are tons of fun, and sure to charm young Santa fans everywhere! Recommended to fellow Marla Frazee fans, and to anyone seeking Santa picture-books for Christmas.

[Donalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matching kids to the perfect toys after spending hours testing and enjoying toys himself? Santa would be a great librarian.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

didn't make it to the library in time this year but I'm so excited for next Christmas; I love Marla Frazee and holiday books--so what a perfect combo ;-)

[Yolanda Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid cuteness.

[Carolyn Jeziorski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read aloud for the holiday season that also is a pattern book (if you're looking for seasonal mentor texts). Santa is a child expert, a toy expert, a gift expert....the illustrations are whimsical.

[Christine Dabbs]

I am trying to save favorite library books so I can find them later here. Anything illustrated by Frazee is the best.

[gabbieeeee · Rating 4 out of 5]

have to read this book every year, 4.5 stars!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of Santa books leave me cold, but Marla Frazee works magic with any subject she tackles, and this is no exception. Here, Santa wears a fantastic variety of...are these boxers? Shorts? Whatever they are, I love them - we see the seasons progress through the patterns on them, plus they make him instantly fun and child-like, despite the beard and belly. Most of the pages are made up of a series of smaller illustrations, showing Santa in the process of researching kids, choosing gifts, testing toys, wrapping, and finally opening his own present (which is almost always exactly what he wanted).

I used this in our special Christmas storytime - an all ages group, from toddlers up through school kids - and it went over well. I just wished the pictures were bigger, since I think a lot of the details were lost on the kids towards the back. Great pacing for a read-aloud, but the detail might make it better suited for small groups.

November 2016 - Ben is into Santa and loved all the toys, picking out his favorites along the way (a ride-in car, FYI Santa). Perfect for a 3-almost-4 year old. He's asking for it over and over.

January 2018 - a hit again this year, and Ben noticed lots of new details this time.

December 2018 - still a favorite.

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm counting anything against this year-end reading goal dude, times are HARD

I'm shuffling through the Christmas books here at the library, because we're finally relabeling them. You see, for years and years, since we separated out holiday books from regular books upstairs in the children's section, they haven't been labeled in any particular way. They have the exact same spine labels as any other children's book in this section, the only difference is the sticker on the side saying the holiday the book is for!! Why is it like this!! I have no idea :( BUT I noticed this a month or so ago, so now I'm fixing everything up and labeling them properly with a HOL at the beginning of the call number which stands for HOLIDAY hAHAHA get it ! so people ACTUALLY know where they are and CAN FIND THEM lololol I'm so cool and smart and I'm having a break down about holiday books and this is what my life has come to

anyway, I digress, this one looked really interesting to me so I read it immediately on the library desk :)

[Brenna Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of how Santa chooses and delivers just the right gift to each particular child he visits each Christmas Eve. This book had a uniquely tall and narrow shape that allowed for alot of depth to each illustration, the shelves and shelves of information about each child in Santa's warehouse for instance appeared to be very tall. I also liked that much of the story was told through the illustrations of each child's reaction to Santa and the toys that he had brought them. I enjoyed the simplistic story that was complemented by the simplistic line drawings and the abundance of white space on each page. This story is sure to become an instant Christmas classic at my house.

[Parry Rigney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book! It is a celebration of the wonderfulness of Santa Claus. Hilarious, poignant, and full of joy, this book is perfect for sharing with kids of all ages. I'm not so sure about reading it to a group, because a lot of its awesomeness is in the detail of the pictures, which may be lost in a group setting. But it's so good, I may just have to try it in storytime anyway.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read this book, you are in for a treat. The pictures are wonderful! Read this when you have enough time to really look at the details. Santa's expressions as he visits with the kids are priceless. And the sticky notes! And the sticky note files!! And the pull-toy behind the forklift!!! This is now definitely one of my Christmas picture book favorites.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved watching the patterns in Santa's shorts change to match his activity or the time of the year. He even has a pair for Saint Patrick's Day! :)

[April Thompson Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Santa is #1

[Cosette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the repetition- I almost lulled myself to sleep...

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this book.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the days leading up to Christmas, everyone is very busy making sure the holiday will be special, including Santa Claus. This terrific picture book shows readers the amazing amount of research, organization, and work that goes into making sure each child has a wonderful toy that they will love. I’m a little puzzled why the book doesn’t mention elves, but shows Santa doing all of the work himself. The illustrations are wonderfully painted drawings - my favorite is Santa standing in front of enormous warehouse style shelves stocked with toys. This would definitely be a fun story time book to share with young readers during the holiday season.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy a bouncing, bounding colorful picture book as you learn some of Santa's secrets about toys, selecting them, delivering them, checking the naughty/nice list, and (for the grown-up's) helpful escape clauses (see what I did there) about odd questions or what if...

The illustrations are fun, especially allowing kids to check out Santa in his daily life (in colorful shorts) as he plays with, makes and tests out toys for kids.

Fun Read for the family!

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the simplicity of the narration and the silly drawings of Santa Claus. Santa gets to know each kid and makes a thought out decision on what toy to surprise them with. It's different from the typical Santa's list of naughty and nice, no one got coal. And it's also different from the Christmas list of children choosing their own gift. I don't know about you but I loved when I got surprised for Christmas, the gifts were always so much better than the ones I would choose out.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one in the whole world knows more about kids, toys, and gifts than Santa Claus.

At least that's the premise of this book. So how does he evaluate all these toys and gifts? And kids!

Prepare for a colorful, lighthearted romp about Santa, treating him like another grownup human being who just happens to have more to do with toys than the rest of us.

A fluffy book for holidays, with gorgeous illustrations!

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm probably not the best person to review this book, since I've never been a fan of Santa. Still, there are some Santa-themed books that I enjoy very much, and this one, comparatively, wasn't very good. The illustrations were odd, the story meh, and if there was a point to be found here, I clearly missed it. Nothing offensive or anything. Just...boring.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Personally I did not find the illustrations on Santa Claus very charming, with his skinny legs & arms, bald head with one hair sticking-up in the middle of his head. I also found the story just silly, but not silly in a necessary way. There are so many other amazing Christmas & Santa Claus books out there that I would choose be before this one.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute book. Strange how there was no mention of elves or anyone helping Santa with his long hours and all the work he does. Not even Mrs. Claus! If you ignore the absence of her, the elves, and how Santa does everything in this story then it's an alright story. I liked it. The illustrations are alright. No complaints there.

[Dorothy Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very whimsical Santa works very hard at getting to know kids and spends long, long hours all year
round making the perfect toys. 99.9% of the time he gives the exact right toy to the exact right kid.
But even the perplexed looking boy with the box of balls is happy on the back cover, juggling.
Many details to discover in the lovely illustrations.

[Karli Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

The secret's out!... Santa and his big bag of toys, that is. This book is a fun, fictional read for students who celebrate the Christmas season. The illustrations are cheerful and will engage the reader's attention.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was kind of boring. Santa is the number one toy expert. He is the number one wish expert, etc. the illustrations are nice, but they don’t make up for the lack luster story.
#WinterGames2020 #TeamReadNosedReindeer +26

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Santa is an expert in kids, toys, and gift giving. He works hard to get to know kids, tests the toys, and stresses over making the perfect matches.

This is a nice story with some repetition and charming illustrations.

[Mama Bearian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just recently discovered this one, although it’s been around for a while now. I love it! The illustrations are perfectly whimsical and colorful, and the story is a great telling of how Santa does his job.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Marla Frazee’s art. Her line work simply and beautifully captures the tenderness and silliness of life. This is a beautiful Christmas book explaining how hard Santa works to bring just the right toy to each child, at least 99.9% of the time. 😊