Missile Toe: A Very Confused Christmas

by Devin Scillian, Marty Kelley (Illustrations)

Christmas can be a very confusing holiday. Just what are sugarplums anyway?! This collection of silly poems show classic Christmas carols and traditions reimagined through the eyes of a very confused kid. With illustrations from the hysterical Marty Kelley, this is a perfect pick for a holiday full of belly laughs.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Christmas, Holiday, Humor, Fiction

32 pages, ebook

Published September 15, 2017

Reviews

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute book!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scillian offers readers a set of humorous poems changing the lyrics of a variety of Christmas songs. The illustrations capture the fun and add to the humor.

[Janet C-B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very funny children's picture book, based on kids misunderstanding of Christmas songs, stories and traditions. The illustrations are terrific. I recommend this book for children as well as adults who have memories of misunderstanding adult words and their true meaning. One of my examples from the nightly news: "My dad makes money on wall street" In the 1950's, my dad worked at a small business located on Wall St, in my hometown. On pay day, he came home and handed cash to my mom.

This is a 2017 new release that I recommend for all ages.
5 stars

[Mackenzie Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry
One Unique Feature: This book differs from most Christmas books in that it pokes fun at all the "misheard lyrics" type of moments that we can all relate to (especially children when listening to songs with more antiquated words and phrases).
Grade Level: I think this book could be used for first to fourth grade although some of the puns and maybe even some of the references would be missed on first graders.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a cute play on words of popular Christmas songs (secular and not). Most of the play was in mis-heard titles which then played into the subject of the poem. A few made me laugh. A few made me just smile. A couple weren't my favorite, but all of them them still fun. I think kids would enjoy this, even if they are not as familiar with aspects of the Christmas holiday or the songs. Because some of the themes are football or a knight and such.

[Clwseattle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a kick! I've already recommended it to my family and friends for there grands, nieces and nephews with a goofy sense of humor. It’s a collection of silly little poems about Missile Toe, Johnny Oats Ate Nicholas, Beth the Ham, The Ghost of Christmas Presents,, Wild Shepherds Washed Their Flocks by Night, Round John Verjun and more. It's on my list for our grands!

[Jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute idea - taking misheard Christmas lyrics and running wild with them.
I just didn't love the poems themselves, even though I thought some were funny.
Cute illustrations, and many extra bonus points for the cameo by the Fisher Price castle!!

[Helen-Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

My annual Christmas picture book from my daughter. Very funny! The author takes all those funny mis-hearings of Christmas carols that we have heard from children [ourselves years ago??] and makes funny verses and illustrations from them.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wordplay abounds in this collection of Christmas poetry with titles like:
“Wild Shepherds Washed Their Flocks by Night”
“The Ghost of Christmas Presents”
“Beth the Ham”
“The Wee Three Kings of Orientar”
“Round John Verjun”

Very funny

[Vamp 🧛🏻‍♀️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, I really disliked this book. It was a bunch of mixed up Christmas themed stories with very little in common with the actual holiday. Their are so many other books that are so much better, so instead of this I recommend you get a different book.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute illustrations and the stories are funny.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Theresa Grissom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good laughs with this book! I plan to use this book as a read aloud to 2nd grade and up before Christmas break. I think the younger kids wouldn't appreciate it as much.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. My favorite was "I'm round John Verjun" haha

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrated by Marty Kelley and a hilarious portrayal of Christmas songs!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twists Christmas song lyrics to humous effect, some poems are more Christmasy than others, but a lot of fun.

[Paula Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully funny book. I laughed so hard. It was fun and I could see his confusion.

[Lisa Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book wasn’t funny, it would have been a two star. This book was soooo long for a picture book.

[Brunette Librarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Illustrations are adorable but didn't care for the text. Very confusing and language is random.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A punny and hilarious collection of Christmas inspired poems.

[Elizabeth Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author’s book. They always make me chuckle! This book is no exception as it reimagines Christmas lyrics from a kid’s point of view.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

A total box of holiday fun in this book - puns and illustrations mix up so many holiday phrases and names, nouns and verbs all messed up! Who knew there were so many possible mix ups laying around in the language that we love?

We have word lovers in our group, so this was very fun to go through. . . some of our youngers were a little puzzled, but the olders enjoyed trying to explain the joke. . . .