Auntie Claus is just another eccentric New Yorker--or is she? Young Sophie has often wondered about her unusual great-aunt, Auntie Claus. She lives in penthouse 25C at the Bing Cherry Hotel and is so curioso! After all, Auntie Claus serves Christmas cookies all year long and her tree is always the best-decorated in the city. And then there's her annual "business trip," right around the holidays. This year Sophie is determined to get to the bottom of Auntie Claus's mysterious ways. Put on your mittens and bundle up for an adventure beyond your wildest dreams. Ho, ho, ho! "Sophie wondered about her great-aunt a lot. She's so mysterioso! Sophie thought. And this was true. There were many strange goings-on up in penthouse 25C. Most people considered Auntie Claus just another eccentric New Yorker. But Sophie knew there was more to her than met the eye." As if Auntie Claus's everyday red velvet gown with furry white trim isn't unusual enough, there is the diamond key that hangs around her neck. During her year-round tea and Christmas cookie rituals, she always leaves young Sophie with the words, "And darling, always remember my first and final rule--whether it's birthdays, Christmas, or Halloween, it is far better to give than to receive!" Oddest of all, every year she departs on a "business trip" right after Halloween and doesn't return until Valentine's Day. One year, the spoiled and rather unpleasant Sophie (who, like her little brother, is all about "receiving," and as much as possible) decides to stop wondering about her great-aunt and start investigating. She stows away in a large box, is loaded into a Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator -style enclosure with all of her great-aunt's luggage, and is shot off into the sky. Landing with a thunk , she is greeted by Mr. Pudding, who assumes she is the new elf and sets her to work in the mailroom. As Mr. Pudding extols the virtues of hard work, Sophie thinks, "Rules, schmules ." But her work hasn't quite yet begun. When Santa asks for one brave elf to volunteer to go to the coal mines and pick up the "B-B-and-G List," Sophie gets nervous. The B-B-and-G List is the list of bad boys and girls who will go without Christmas presents... or worse. She volunteers, thinking she just may be on that list. But when it's her little brother she sees on the list, Sophie finally learns the important lesson that Auntie Claus has been trying to teach her. When that happens, Sophie whirls up out of the coal mines into the Grand Ballroom of the North Pole, where Auntie Claus is revealed to be Santa's sister with much fanfare. Award-winning illustrator Elise Primavera's gorgeous artwork is positively luminous, recalling the splendid Christmas television specials How the Grinch Stole Christmas and the Claymation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in extraordinary compositions, compellingly portrayed characters, and unusual perspectives. Not at all surprisingly, Nickelodeon Films has already secured the rights to this action-packed, highly visual story to make a full-length live-action film in the year 2000. (Ages 4 and older) --Karin Snelson Kindergarten-Grade 2-Why does the elegant and mysterious Auntie Claus go away on a "business trip" every year, from November to February? Young Sophie Kringle, whose family loves Christmas so much they keep their tree up all year long, wants to find out. Stowing away in her aunt's luggage, she becomes a worker elf in a place readers will recognize as Santa's workshop. Illustrated with flair in gouache and pastels in deep, vibrant colors, the engaging pictures brim with funny and surreal details, such as Christmas-tree shaped hairdos. The none-too-subtle message-that it's better to give than to receive-nearly overwhelms the story, but the narrative is ultimately successful. Readers will end up cheering for Sophie as she discovers the true meaning of the season.-S.P. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. In this frothy Christmas escapade, bratty little Sophie Kringle decides to find out where her mysterious Auntie Claus goes each year after Halloween. So Sophie sneaks into Auntie's trunk and is whisked to a snowy land, where she is mistaken for an elf and sent to work in the mail room. It is only after Sophie erases her brother's name on the bad children's list and replaces it with her own that she learns her aunt is the real force behind Christmas and what the holiday is really about. The book's message--it's better to give than receive--might be missed in all the glam and glitter that surrounds it. If the story is a bit lean, the artwork is thick with snow, greenery, and decorations. Primavera's pictures deftly combine sophistication in the form of Auntie and her New York lifestyle with a wildly childlike world view full of snowmen, elves, and Santas dancing through the story. The velvety colorings, deep purples and icy blues mixed with traditional reds and greens, seem soft enough to touch. Like William Joy