Teddy Bears Trim the Tree: A Christmas Pull-The-Tab Book

"Teddy Bears Trim The Tree", created and written by Sam Williams and illustrated by Jacqueline McQuade. Scholastic, 2000.Sam Williams has written about the Teddy Bear's hunt for the perfect Christmas Tree. They are helped on their way by cooperative Snowmen as a pair of raccoons, in woolen winter caps, run by. The reader is encouraged to help the sleigh (with the perfect tree), slide down the hill. Then, the book's centerpiece pops up to a beautifully trimmed tree and the next page shows Santa alighting on the Bears' roof. The book is nicely illustrated with blues and violets on the outdoor scenes while warm yellows, reds and oranges dominate the indoor pictures. The illustrator and the author have produced a book to remember. Five stars would have been assigned if the moving "pull-the-tab" items were more sturdy. I have three grandsons, and, in my humble opinion, the young boys are rougher on books than are young girls. So, on the page where the Snowmen help the Teddy Bears, the young boys tend to pull the sleigh up and down too quickly, with the result that the paper rips. Further, there is a note, in small print, that warns you, " Before turning the page, push the sleigh back up to its starting position". Adults might push the sleigh up, but children tend to want to turn the page to continue with the story. You have to be careful on some pages of this book so that you do not crumple the moving items. The book is, however, an ideal way to keep young children busy while Christmas preparations occupy the adults of the family.