Rated “Indifferent" in our old book database by Rod and Adelia. ( )

Santa and Mrs. Claus invite their extended families to Christmas dinner in this book for readers 4 and up. The story will remind many readers of their own crazy, chaotic holiday celebrations, along with unexpected guests, uninvited guests, fighting over different ways to prepare favorite dishes, picky eaters, holiday plays put on by children, and all the many things that go wrong (and right) at such gatherings. At the end, Santa and his wife place a “Do Not Disturb Until Jan. 6” sign on their door!

DePaola’s recognizable illustrations and word bubbles fill the pages in a reflection of the full house and manic goings-on there.

Kids as well as the adults who read along with them will get a kick out of this book. ( )

This was the second book that I read. I could see similarities in the illustrations in terms of style. However, something that was very different in this book was the dialogue that the pictures carried. In the previous book I read, you could still get the story even without the pictures. With this book, that is not the case. The text only gives you the bare minimum of the plot; the pictures fill in the gaps and help the reader truly understand what is going on. A lot of the illustrations had speech bubbles from the different characters, explaining more of the story. I found this to be an interesting stylistic choice, and I think it could be very helpful for children who do not like reading as much. It felt almost like a cartoon, but still had some text. I think it would be a great tool to introduce students to reading books and then continue implementing books with more and more text until students are more comfortable reading.
Santa decides to invite his entire family to the North Pole for the holiday season. Ms. Claus is skeptical, not sure if they should invite EVERYONE. But Santa insists, and the entire family shows up. Chaos ensues, but the family finally gets to spend Christmas together again, and the Clauses have a great Christmas. ( )

Guess Who’s Coming to Santa’s for Dinner is the story of Santa’s crazy family coming to his house for Christmas. Even though the house is crazy, everyone has a wonderful time. This is a good book to teach about making the best out of a bad situation. ( )

This is a funny, twisted tale about Santa's family who comes for Christmas dinner at the north pole. Probably best for younger classes who still get a kick out of the Christmas season. Overall a funny, humerous book that keeps ya laughing at all the crazy, mishaps and events that take place. ( )