Waiting for Christmas Is Not Easy

PreS-Gr 1–Christmas is still months away, yet Moni, a doe-eyed young monkey, can hardly wait for the holiday to arrive. She cleverly schemes ways to speed up the arrival of the festivities, such as prematurely inviting her grandparents for Christmas celebrations, until her mom intervenes. Moni considers traveling to the North Pole to help Santa’s elves expedite toy production, until she realizes the effort that would involve. The story adopts a preachy tone when Moni’s mom says that Santa will come if she “avoids fighting with her brother, exercises a lot, eats delicious meals, and learns new things.” The flat narrative suffers from disjointed transitions, but offers a meaningful message about the wisdom of patience and avenues for managing anticipation. The theme of reducing screen time is also lightly incorporated as Moni occupies herself with activities beyond her phone. Tied up in a neat bow, the simplistic conclusion feels artificially sweet and leaves something more to be desired. Digital illustrations are bright and energetic with an animated feel but do little to expand on the text. To occupy young readers as they wait for Christmas, back matter provides instructions for creating a penguin ornament; however, no penguins appear in the story, making this addition feel disconnected.