Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Claus

by Lisa Wheeler, Ivan Bates (Illustrator)

It's a typical Christmas Eve at the North Pole. That is, until Santa suddenly disappears! Luckily, his polar pals are on the case. But will the furry friends rescue dear old Santa before it's too late for him to make his special deliveries? Filled with Lisa Wheeler's festive rhymes and Ivan Bates's cozy illustrations, here is a rollicking Christmas adventure that little ones will want to hear over and over again.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Fiction, Poetry, Animals

26 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like Ivan Bates could make millions producing bedding and artwork for baby nurseries. His stuff is just so darn CUTE.

Santa's reindeer are looking for Santa. Where, oh where, is he? Polar bunnies, bears, a fox, and more enter the search, flip-flopping and hip-hopping their way across the snow to find him.

The story isn't amazing, but it's cute, and again--the illustrations are flat-out adorable.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myriad critters search for Santa and end up rescuing him from the snow. The artwork is soft and dreamy, in pastels and pencil lines.

[Marissa J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book full of rhyming verses, Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Clas? is a book about polar animals in their hunt to find Santa.

With few colors used on each illustration, this book is a good book for beginning readers. The same few colors on each page allows the reader to pay close attention to the words on every page. The rhyming aspects may be diffucult for young readers to follow, due to the fact that they may stumble on words. Overall, this book is a great Christmas themed story.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable and fun, this story will probably appeal to little ones who will enjoy the cute cast of woodland critters, the pleasing rhyme scheme and the onomatopoeia as the creatures pitter-pat and flip-flop their way through the snow trying to find Santa. The illustrations are very sweet, in soft pastels with lots of gentle pinks and cream colors, and I will certainly be on the look out for more books illustrated by Ivan Bates.

[Katie Plumley · Rating 5 out of 5]

~phonemic awareness, letter "p"

~onomatopoeia: the animals sounds through the forest

~creative writing: The story is told with all of the main characters implied through the use of other nouns and adjectives. For example, rather than saying the bunnies hear Santa's deer, the story states, "Fuzzy-furry polar ears hear the hooves of Santa's deer."

~community building: The community of animals come together to find Santa.

~poetry unit

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this to be so stupid. I didn’t like the writing at all. Everything was polar this and polar that. Polar paws. Polar claws. Every animal had a polar something. Just no. It was very repetitive and I hate repetition, where the whole book is the same line or basically the same concept repeated over and over. And the pages were all the same color which just furthered the repetition.

And then to see Santa’s snowshoes sticking up out of the ground...I was just like what in the world is going on? They had to pull him out and he thanked them and that was that. The writing was so simple and I hate those words, don’t know what they’re called, but they’re soooo annoying. Like “Clippety clop” and all that and made up words. I can’t stand it.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too Cute! A perfect story for Christmas. The animals in the forest are searching for Santa. They cant find him. When they do, it will take them all to be a rescue squad. The rhyming in this book is perfect. It’s has a great cadence, a sign song style, and lots of sound words. Plus wonderful and colorful, non-traditional Christmas colors. Loved everything about it.

[Madison LaCivita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really cute Christmas book for children! The story was about how Santa Claus is missing and all of Santa's polar pals are on the lookout for him, and along the way there is a lot of noise and panic among the animals. All of the animals have to come together and find Santa Claus before it's too late. Do you think they made it in time? Read to find out!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect read aloud. No moral or message, but a fun discovery for the animals!

[Kristen Dutkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun rhyming throughout this story of a missing Santa!

[Rachael Knudsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darling illustrations! I loved the use of animal sounds to tell this story and how they save the day. 🥰

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little board book about the animals of the far north & the hunt for Santa Claus. Prettily illustrated.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This worked well for a 4K read aloud.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably coulda done with another edit. Things were a little awkward in their rhyming

[Jennifer Wrage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, fun, quick for young readers. Illustrations lead to storytelling and discussion. Use your fun voices!

[Sarah Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is fine. Illustrations are very pleasing and cute. Daughter liked it. The silly nonsense rhyming is a bit in the vein of Dr. Suess, but that is fine.

[Miss Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reindeer are ready for Christmas but Santa is missing. Where, oh where is Santa Claus? Join the arctic animals on their search for Santa.

[Anthony W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here Santa Claus has been lost and its time to deliver the gifts. All the animals get together and help the reindeer final Santa, and at the end they do.

This book has alot of things working for it. The illistrations fit the story of the words extremely well and they are well drawn, extremely good quality of work. The rythem of the story keep kids alert with what is going on and makes them follow along better. One other thing this book touches on is that it shoes if ever one uses team work and works together they can find what they are looking for. Thiws book may be used to show team work and what happens with team work.

[Sherry Thornberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the idea that all the wintery forest animals saved Santa when he fell in a snow bank. I like stories with different spins on them that celebrate some of the iconic figures in American culture. It shows how we can see things from the perspective of others. The illustrations had a celebratory feel to them as well.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rhyming, onomatopoeic narrative and adorable illustrations in this book combine for a fun story. We loved the white, polar animals and the soft crayon/watercolor pictures. The image of Santa upside down in the snow is a bit disturbing, but of course, the book has a happy ending.

[Bethany Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely can't say enough about this children's Christmas story. The illustrations are amazing - perfect really- and the words are simple yet perfect for this story...I can't recommend this story enough.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Christmas story to read aloud!

[Amy Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

very cute rhyming text. it shows that anyone can help a friend.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner by Lisa Wheeler. The rhyme is wonderful and the story is so clever. Another book I need to add to my personal Christmas collection!

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED THIS ONE! Really creative!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated children's rhyming book with fun words and pictures. Cute!

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is about looking for Santa Claus. J. C.

[lunarlibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read. Lilting rhyme.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute rhyming Santa book. It is fun to read out loud.

[Farren Bogar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute story to read to little kids. My son loves to "read" along with me.