| Title | : | The Wild Christmas Reindeer |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0698116526 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780698116528 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 32 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1990 |
The Wild Christmas Reindeer Reviews
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Teeka lives at the North Pole with Santa and she is in charge of readying the Reindeer this season. She tries to be bossy and the Reindeer are unsettled and nothing is working. It's not until she lightens up that the team starts to work together. Attitude matters, especially when dealing with animals.
This has the famous Jan Brett panels on the sides. Each page shows a different day of the month leading to Christmas and the toys they are making for the season. There is a lot over there. Her reindeer are beautiful too.
It's a nice story with a focus on something a little different. The kids love this book. They both give it 4 stars. We can all recognize a Jan Brett book when we read one.
It's a story about learning how to take responsibility without being too harsh. It's a good lesson. -
I've wanted to read this for a long time so I was very excited to find a copy of this in a charity shop for 50p!
An elf called Teeka is given the responsibility of training some reindeers up for a special mission. At first I was worried that I wouldn't like this, Teeka is frustrated with the reindeers and pulls and shouts at them. But Teeka realises this isn't a nice way to treat them and that they respond to kindness and patience. The rest of the story is lovely and very festive.
The illustrations are so beautiful, at the side of each page there is a glimpse inside the present department where the elves work. Each day is featured with a different activity from December 1st to Christmas day, you see the elves making gingerbread, toys, teddies, socks, wrapping presents and getting everything ready for the sleigh.
A lovely Christmas picture book with a good message of kindness and consent and cooperation. -
This book had amazing illustrations! At time the book got confusing on who was who, but the illustrations and the storyline made up for it. My students really enjoyed this book :)
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Like many folks, I always assumed that the magical reindeer who power Santa's sleigh were professionals who had the discipline to get themselves into harness for the once-a-year task. Apparently not! These rambunctious animals require a taskmaster who can keep them in line and get them prepped for their main calling. In turn, they expect handouts and a tenured position. Government employees!
The arduous job of Reindeer Wrangler is given to Teeka, a little Scandinavian elf-child who is dwarfed by the wild deer. You think Snowball or Twilight or Windswept want to come in from their tundra playground? Well, they don't. But Teeka is new to all of this and thinks that yelling and tugging and pulling will get the rascals ready. Suddenly it all looks very hard, but Santa Claus must have seen something to give her the assignment.
Jan Brett is one of my favourite illustrators of children's books, so I was happy to add this Christmas romp to my collection. There is a lesson to be learned for any reader, big or small, and while her main pages are filled with the Reindeer story each page also has two side panels showing other elves going about toymaking or baking or various other activities. It's an absorbing book for children as they can marvel at all the details.
I, however, will refuse any potential future offer of Reindeer Wrangler. They're cute but require too much effort from my hot cocoa-drinking lazy self.
Book Season = Winter (tangled antlers) -
Young Teeka learns that when tending Santa's rambunctious reindeer, a gentle touch works much better than a stern approach.
The story is, of course, secondary to Brett's flawless artwork. I like how the side panels countdown (or up) the days to the night before Christmas.
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To check out all my reviews:
http://dancinginth3dark.blogspot.com
True Rating: 4.5 Stars
The illustrations in the book is marvelous and it looks like it could have been paintings because the effort they put into the details and marking off the days till Christmas on the sides is absolutely brilliant and spectacular all around. If I had to write a review for this book solely on the illustrations it would automatically be 5 Stars material but unfortunately the story tells a complete different story.
The main character of the story, Teeka, which I have no clue whether she is related to Santa Claus or if she is an Elf (Which I believe is the latter) is assigned the task of getting Santa's reindeers prepare for the most important night of the year. Teeka is excited because this feels like a honor to perform this task but also anxious because she does not want to disappoint Santa or fail the task.
Immediately Teeka begins the task of getting the reindeers and clearly right from the beginning it becomes a mission impossible. Teeka is preoccupied with accomplishing this task that she doesn't pay attention and offer any love or companionship to the Reindeers and because they have never experience this chaos before it becomes difficult for them to perform their task.
The biggest part that really ruin this book for me and it could have been the perfect book for Christmas is that the author gave completely different names to the reindeers. I'm sorry but everyone and their mother know the names of the iconic reindeers and automatically when someone sees the title and cover of this book they are going to expect the reindeers that they know and love.
I can completely understand if you include some new reindeers to the bunch but for the most part by naming these reindeers by different and weird names (such as Bramble, Heather, Windswept, Lichen, Snowball, Crag, Twilight and Tundra) it pulling me out of the story immediately and gets 4 stars but I am nice enough to give it 4.5 Stars.
That is my only complain about this book and I do not know why this author changed the names because in the last few pages you see on the sidelines some wood carvings of reindeers and you see Dancer and Blitzen. Then it begs the question did all the iconic reindeers died? I thought they were immortal like Santa? So Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is dead too and now the children have to deal with this topic and that alone is another headache.
I am sorry for this rant but tiny pet peeve of mine just exploded with this Christmas book especially in the time where in 3 days I am going to see Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and I am losing my patience over here. Luckily I did this review first because the next review which is
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree was a beautiful book! -
My kids loved it when I read them this book each Christmas time. A wonderful story with fantastic pictures to explore. An enjoyable sit-down experience for mom and kids during the holiday season.
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My Christmas book for the day. Be sure to look closely at all of the pictures. A lovely story on kindness
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Jan Brett is one of those children's book illustrators whose work is instantly recognizable. I can't think of any artist I've seen attempt to imitate his (her?) uniquely Scandinavian style. He/She uses dark outlines to set off the major figures and objects, but then uses finely brushed detail in blossoming colors to draw the viewer into the paintings. The margins and borders are always richly ornamented, and often contain tidbits and scenes that amount to a mini story in themselves. In this Christmas tale, there is a Santa's workshop scene in each page's margin, with somewhere in each picture a successive date in December--beginning with "Dec 1" in the beginning and ending with "Dec 24," which will delight children still learning to count.
The story is about one of Santa's helpers, a little girl named Teeka, who is charged with the task of rounding up Santa's grazing wild reindeer and retraining them to pull the sleigh--after 12 months out of a harness, they are very unruly! She finds in the beginning that although she is small, she can command instant attention and obedience by bellowing at the reindeer--they are so surprised at the strong voice of the child, that they do a half-good job of following directions. Unfortunately, Teeka learns from this that yelling is the way to get results--at least in the beginning. But as the days of verbal bossing and bullying wear on, the reindeer become less and less responsive to the harsh method, and eventually Teeka finds herself in quite a mess. Fortunately she comes to herself, and realizes that she can try a better way. She apologizes and uses a gentler method. Not only do the animals pay attention, but the results are even better than before, and everyone is pleased and works together, just in time for Christmas!
It would be nice if repentance were always that quick to bring positive results. It's okay if the process isn't entirely believable; I have found few children's books that address the issue of a gentle approach vs. a harsh one, and this is one I am considering getting for my therapy office, where children often benefit from narrative methods for learning social skills. -
When Teeka is given the task of preparing the reindeer for Santa's sleigh, the little elf takes her task seriously, convinced that she must be firm with her fleet-hoofed charges. But her bossy ways, and ignorance of how the herd is organized - she doesn't realize that Tundra is the leader, and should be paired with Twilight, for instance - leads to quite a tangle. It takes a quiet voice and gentleness to tame these wild Christmas reindeer...
Originally published in 1990, and then reissued in this 20th Anniversary Edition in 2010, The Wild Christmas Reindeer is one of many holiday picture-books from author/illustrator Jan Brett. The story itself is engaging, and the artwork (as is usually the case with this illustrator) is absolutely gorgeous. The reindeer are beautifully captured, and I loved the way in which Brett depicted more of the story - specifically, the preparations the other elves are making for the upcoming holiday - in the side panels. This sort of detailed work is something for which she is known. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about Santa's home at the North Pole, and the preparations that go on there for Christmas Eve, as well as to all fans of Jan Brett's artwork. -
I've heard a lot of thoughts on this book, and a lot of mixed opinions. Personally, I love this book. It's been a favorite for years. We'll bring it out and read it every year without a doubt!
I've seen a lot of people try and describe the meaning of this book. Many people seem to think that it's about how to treat animals, but I think they're missing the point. Teeka is so determined that she's going to show Santa how wonderful she is at bringing the reindeer in that she just tries too hard. Instead of relying on the old and seasoned veterans, she's going with her own gut instinct. She's not paying attention to the obvious signs because she's so determined to be wonderful and impress. As a result, she makes her job that much harder for herself.
In the end she realizes that she's trying way too hard. If she just sits back, relaxes, and has fun with it, everything will fall into place. All that hard work and the resistance she generated would have melted away if she wasn't so determined to be the best she could be. Sometimes you just need to focus on doing the best job you can do by taking a good look at what needs to be done instead of working extra hard to reinvent the wheel and do it your own way. -
If you (or your child) is very attached to the reindeer names of Dasher, Dancer, etc., etc., this one may be a little jarring, but I really loved it. The reindeer names in this story -- Bramble, Heather, Windswept, Lichen, Snowball, Crag, Twilight, and Tundra -- seem extremely fitting to me, regardless of the fact that they are not the ones I am used to. Teeka getting frustrated as she tries to wrangle those wild reindeer was a little too reminiscent of me trying to wrangle me toddler at times and I'm not really sure what that says about me. But anyway, this is a really lovely Christmas book with a beautiful message of gentleness and cooperation. The illustrations are gorgeous and I particularly loved the border art which counted down the days to Christmas.
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Being nice always gets you further in life.
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My favorite Jan Brett Christmas. I love the pictures so much.
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Horn Book (February, 1991)
A fresh Christmas story that begins promisingly but stumbles in the middle when problems are resolved with unbelievable abruptness. The illustrations depict Santa's winter farm with rich color, pattern, and the painstaking detail that children love to pore over.
Kirkus Reviews (1990)
Decorative side panels showing Santa's elves preparing for Christmas--day by December day--steal the show from this slight story about Teeka, who's trying to get the reindeer ready. They're obstreperous as long as she's stem and dictatorial, but become cooperative with her first gentle word. Brett's precise, glowing illustrations, drawing on Swedish folk art, make this a beguiling Advent calendar of a book.
Publishers Weekly (August 10, 1990)
Little Teeka's attempts to train Santa's reindeer for their Christmas ride meet with disaster until she realizes that she needs to work with the animals in a new way. ``Tomorrow,'' she says, ``no yelling, no screaming, and no bossing, I promise,'' and with her patient teaching, on Christmas Eve the ``wild reindeer rise up together and carry the sleigh off into the night.'' Brett's characteristic, richly detailed borders depict the activity at Santa's workshop as each day brings Teeka closer to Christmas. As with The Mitten , Brett makes use of Ukranian motifs--colorful embroidered costumes, festive garlands, carvings and cunning toys decorate every page. The reindeer themselves--sporting names like Lichen, Tundra and Bramble--provide most of the comic action in this sweet Christmas fantasy that shows Brett at her best. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
School Library Journal (October 1990)
In a pristine wonderland set in the Arctic shadow of Santa's Winterfarm, Teeka trains the reindeer for their annual flight. After a week of fussing, she finally decides it is her fault that the reindeer have misbehaved: ``I've spent all my time yelling at you, instead of helping. I'm sorry.'' So then the reindeer, with such nontraditional names as Heather, Lichen, Crag, and Tundra, get with the program and come prancing in just under the wire. Brett uses side panels to show elves preparing the Christmas goodies before December 24, when Santa loads up. Borders of holiday symbols and a calendar countdown decorate each page. Told in a somewhat colloquial language, this tale with its humorous close-ups of stubborn reindeer and a sharp child protagonist should prove popular at story hours--but children may trample each other in order to see the many details Brett has crammed into her paintings. -
The Wild Christmas Reindeer is a picturebook written for Primary readers.
The book tells the story of a young child chosen by Santa to round up the reindeer needed to help fly his sleigh Christmas Eve. The reindeer have been running wild since the previous Christmas which makes for a difficult time getting them to behave.
The Wild Christmas Reindeer is not a traditional Christmas book. While the setting is the North Pole and there are reindeer to pull Santa's sleigh, there is no reference to Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, etc. The story is interesting and the artwork is amazing. I was surprised to discover Jan Brett was born and raised in the United States. The artwork of the toys made by Santa's elves made me think the artist was from a Slavic country. The pictures are done in two-page spreads with detailed pictures of Santa's elves on the edges of each page; the elf and workshop pictures serve as a countdown to Christmas Eve to allow the reader to determine when the reindeer need to be ready for work.
An interesting book with a slightly different twist on the traditional Rudolph story, this book might help open dialog on how different families celebrate traditional holidays. -
Brecht is one of my favorite illustrators. Her clear, crisp, lovely images are incredibly rendered.
Teeka needs to get the wild reindeer in shape and ready for Santa's sleigh. When she calls them back from the wild, she has a difficult time making them behave. Shouting, and yelling only causes the deer to rebel, storm and lock their horns.
When she discovers a softer tone is appreciated by the reindeer, she is able to brush and carroul them in place. -
As Christmas draws closer, I remember this well loved (and much read) book from my teenaged daughter's childhood.
Lovely, beautiful illustrations and a charming story. I would recommend this for any parent of a 3-10 year old (and maybe older!) for family Christmas reading. My well-worn copy will be coming out of storage very soon!
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I am so glad I found this book in time for Christmas Eve! I remember loving this story as a child, but haven't read it in a good two decades. The story is lovely, short and sweet, but the real magic is in the glorious illustrations. The amount of detail and artistic flair is enough to make you want to reread the story every year, finding something you didn't notice before.
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Santa has asked Teeka to prepare the wild reindeer for their Christmas Eve flight. Teeka cajoles and shouts and uses a firm hand to try to train the reindeer. It isn't working and it seems they will never be ready for Christmas Eve. When their antlers all get twisted together, Teeka realizes that maybe being gentler will work better.
Typical gorgeous illustrations from Jan Brett! -
I love Jan Brett books for the beautifully detailed illustrations as much as the story. My son loved checking out what the elves were working on each day in the sidebars as it counted down to Christmas. The story is nice, too, about a young girl trying to get the wild reindeer trained to pull Santa's sleigh.
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Teeka must get these wild reindeer ready to pull the sleigh, but screaming at them is not working. Best part: Beautiful pictures, learning how to teach. Ages 5-10.
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The illustrations are absolutely delightful.
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We like that each page shows a different date in December and something else the elves are working on at Santa’s Winterfarm.
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This book was chosen for Day 11 of my "25 Days of Christmas Books" blog series:
https://www.theproblemsite.com/book-s... -
When I read the synopsis and I heard the MC is bossy then I was instantly not on her side and so then I was annoyed with her the way she handled things in the book.
This definitely wasn't the traditional North Pole tale. Instead of the North Pole, Santa's home is called Winterfarm.
I was surprised that in this version the reindeer are left to roam wild after Christmas Day, & then gathered before Christmas to receive training.
The reindeer's names are different, too. No cupid and Rudolph here. Instead we have Bramble, Heather, Windswept, Lichen, Snowball, Crag, Twilight, and Tundra.
I was so surprised when one of the reindeer's names turned out to be Heather, because that's my name! So of course that was my favorite reindeer name in here. haha
I also liked Snowball, Twilight, and Tundra.
Teeka brushes the reindeer until their ears turn pink, which was odd, because why would their ears turn pink?
She puts the reindeer in their harnesses, but she paired them up wrong. Chaos ensues and they get their antlers all tangled up. She goes from yelling to realizing they were once bold and free,& starts to cry. She realizes she's been yelling at them instead of helping, and is sorry. The change from yelling to apologizing was way too sudden. How exactly did she realize her mistake from them just being tangled up? It needed a bigger realization there.
The reindeer respond to the new change in tone by grinning, giggling, sighing, laughing, and smiling, which was just ridiculous. Idl when animals do human things like that in books.
They laugh so hard their antlers jiggle tree which was a ridiculous and easy solution, when nothing worked before that.
Teeka somehow knows to put the reindeer with the right mate when she had no clue of that before.
Santa shows up and doesn't even say anything, just smiles and nods his thanks.
It's a bit ridiculous that training would last right up until Santa's about to fly away.
The last line didn't sound like the last line of a book, which is 'the wild reindeer rose up together and carried the sleigh off into the night.'
It ends with an image of Teeka asleep in bed and Merry Christmas at the bottom.
I didn't like the ending. It felt sudden, and it seemed like there should have been a couple more pages instead of the sleigh took off and then BAM Merry Christmas, the end.
The best thing about this were the illustrations. I particularly liked the Dec 16th page with the elves making wreaths. The red and green colors are so pretty together.
The style looked Russian looking, or Norwegian. Very intricate to look at. You could spend several minutes looking at each page and still feel like you won't see it all.
I realized a ways into it that the book was counting up to Christmas, like a calendar.
I didn't really like what this tale had to tell. A girl in charge of getting the reindeer ready to fly, having trouble managing her job, the sudden realization, and then Santa appears at the very end and just takes the sleigh and flies off. Not your typical Christmas tale, and one I wasn't really into.
Worth it to see the illustrations, though. -
A girl named Teeka, who lives in the Arctic near Santa's Winterfarm, has been tasked with rounding up and training the reindeer who've run wild all year to pull Santa's sleigh, but nothing goes right at all! Will Teeka manage in time for Christmas Eve?
Jan Brett's picture books are always so wonderful! We adore the animals and unique borders and the story-within-a-story that seems to happen in all of her books! Her detailed illustrations are always fantastic and this book goes above and beyond with the iconic Santa's sleigh and reindeer flying through the sky! -
Always fascinating illustrations but the story was just okay.
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