Nonsense, but nostalgic and cute. I loved that they were different named breeds. ( )

This story is an interesting, modern, and silly twist on Twas the Night Before Christmas. Instead of finding Santa coming down the chimney, the family is surprised to find a multitude of Santa Cows coming from the sky. In the beginning the reader sees the family engrossed by electronics and eating unhealthy foods. By the end, the family is outside enjoying the baseball themed gifts that the Santa Cows gave them.

I absolutely loved this book as a child and I discovered upon reading it again that it has a deeper meaning than just being an enjoyable, silly book. It is really about changing unhealthy patterns and spending time with your family. Since discovering this, I love it even more! The pictures are beautiful yet comical at the same time. The story is easy to read but also has some more difficult words thrown in which can encourage a broadened vocabulary. The text follows the poetic pattern on Twas the Night Before Christmas and flows beautifully in between silly situations.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. One thing the class could do would be a study of healthy versus unhealthy choices. They could form in groups and be given a list activities or items for the children to declare healthy or unhealthy and why. They can even add to the list with their own ideas of what is healthy and unhealthy.
2. Older children might be able to write their own version of Santa Cows. The class can vote on a theme and the teacher can break the class into small groups to each write their own page to add to a classroom book. The book can be bound and displayed in the classroom for all to read. ( )

This is a definitely different Christmas book. The illustrations are cool, but story is little weird. ( )