Atsuko Morozumi

Expatriate Japanese author/illustrator Atsuko Morozumi, now living in England, spins a magical tale in this sweet holiday picture-book. When a group of elves must flee their forest home when it is threatened by the advent of human loggers, they follow their leader Elwin on an epic journey north, searching for a new place to call home. Eventually, weary and cold, they stumble across a farm in the far north, and are taken in by its owner - none other than Santa Claus! Here they eventually settle, building new homes with the help of their benefactor. Then, when Santa falls ill, and gets behind on his toy-making, the elves step in...

Although I wouldn't describe it as a new holiday favorite, I did enjoy The Elves' First Christmas, which I read somewhat after the fact (it now being January) because the inter-library loan took so long to arrive. Next year I need to be better organized, in putting in my holiday requests! However that may be, this paired a sweet, heartwarming tale with cute illustrations, and is a book that I imagine will be very appealing to young children who enjoy tales of Santa and his helpers. Apparently Morozumi also worked on Moe Price's The Reindeer Christmas, which I may try to track down next year. Recommended to all young Santa lovers, especially those who wonder how the elves came to work with him.… (more)

This is a beautiful book painted in soft colors. The reader helping a child learn to count might want to turn to a spread near the back showing the numbers lined up with pictures in a simple manner, or perhaps start with a more conventional book. On most of these pages, the animals are somewhat hidden. Once the child has the idea of numbers, he or she can then work their way through the pages looking for the animals and counting them until all are found, putting new knowledge to a fun search. American parents might want to practice saying “ budgerigars,” if they can find out how to pronounce it, before reading this, or just figure that the child can't read and use the more familiar “parakeets,” or “budgies,” as they are also known.… (more)