How Santa Lost His Job

◎主題：聖誕老公公
◎LEVEL：
◎故事內容：

　　聖誕老公公最喜歡他的工作了！每當一年一度的聖誕夜來到，他總是快樂地洗個泡泡澡、修剪鬍鬚、擦亮靴子、換上紅外套，駕著麋鹿雪橇，挨家挨戶地分送禮物給全世界的小孩。然而，今年在北極工作的小精靈們抗議了，他們再也受不了聖誕老人總是在最後一刻才拼命趕送禮物。這時，有一名戴眼鏡的小精靈Muckle，宣布他成功製作了一件曠世發明：自動發送機。有了它，從此再也不需要聖誕老人了！聖誕老公公是不是會從此失業呢？繼How Santa Got His Job之後，Krensky和Schindler這對創作搭檔又提供了一則溫馨的聖誕故事。Krensky的情節極具創意，幽默卻又不乏引人深思的訊息。而Schindler的插圖則為故事呈現出豐富精美的背景，充滿趣味的細節更為故事增添了不同的樂趣。

Santa has the best job he can think of -- brining presents each Christmas to children all around the world. Every year he prepares for his trip: He trims his beard, takes a bath, gets dressed, and packs up his sleigh fort he long night ahead. But there are always a few unexpected delays that make things a little hectic. Muckle, one of the elves who helps Santa, thinks he can come up with a more efficient way of delivering the toys -- a method that won''t involve Santa at all.

Stephen Krensky is the author of more than a hundred books for children, including How Santa Got His Job (an ALA Notable Book) and Big Bad Wolves at School. He and his wife, Joan, live in Lexington, Massachusetts. You can visit him at StephenKrensky.com.

S. D. Schindler is the popular and versatile illustrator of many books for children, including Big Pumpkin and the ALA Notable Book Don’t Fidget a Feather, both by Erica Silverman, How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky, and Johnny Appleseed by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benét. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.