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Overview
Though everybody else has settled down for a long winter's nap, poor Principal Swell has his hands full. With state-mandated paperwork, computers to fix, bus routes to unknot, not to mention discipline and field trips and all the concerned parents, it seems he'll never get back home to his own family! Suddenly the school bell rings, and there stands a lively professor with a promise to fix, complete, or manage it all, since he's already sent the teachers home from the mall. With a few final words of encouragement, he takes off in his school bus: "Merry Christmas to principals-holiday cheer! For they make Santa proud every day of the year!"Steven L. Layne serves as professor of literacy education at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois. He is a sought-after international consultant and motivational keynote speaker. Dr. Layne's books include the International Reading Association/Children's Book Council Children's Choice selections The Teachers' Night Before Christmas and My Brother Dan's Delicious, published by Pelican. His other Pelican titles include:
Stay with Sister Share with Brother Love the Baby Thomas's Sheep and the Great Geography Test Thomas's Sheep and the Spectacular Science Project Paradise Lost This Side of Paradise Mergers Over Land and Sea Preacher's Night Before Christmas Teachers' Night Before Halloween Verses for Dad's Heart Verses for Mom's Heart
Author/illustrator James Rice (1934-2004) produced sixty books, including illustrations for many of Pelican's treasured The Night Before Christmas Series. Mr. Rice's first book, the well-loved classic Cajun Night Before Christmas , has nearly 800,000 copies in print. With more than two million copies in print, Rice ranked among the nation's best-selling creators of children's books.
BOOKS BY JAMES RICE Gaston Goes to Texas o Gaston Goes to Nashville o Texas Night Before Christmas o Texas Alphabet o Texas Night Before Christmas Coloring Book o Texas Jack at the Alamo o Cowboy Alphabet o Cowboy Night Before Christmas o Cajun Alphabet o Cowboy Rodeo o La Nochebuena South of the Border o Gaston Goes to the Kentucky Derby o Cowboy Night Before Christmas Coloring Book o Christmas at the J-O o Trail Drive o Vaqueros o Gaston the Green-Nosed Alligator o Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras o Victor Lopez at the Alamo o Gaston Drills an Offshore Oil Well o Too Tall Thomas Rides the Grub Line o Santa's Revenge o Lyn and the Fuzzy o Gaston Lays an Offshore Pipeline
ILLUSTRATED BY JAMES RICE The Little Colonel o Cajun Night Before Christmas Coloring Book o Jefferson Davis Coloring Book o Hillbilly Night Afore Christmas o A Medal for Murphy o No Regard Beauregard and the Golden Rule o Flags of Texas o The Night Before Christmas o A Christmas Carol o A Southern Time Christmas o Cajun Columbus o Cajun Night Before Christmas o Southern Love for Christmas o Santa's Christmas Surprise o Why Cowboys Sleep with Their Boots On o An Irish Night Before Christmas o Why Cowboys Need a Brand o A Leprechaun's St. Patrick's Day o Redneck Night Before Christmas o Gullah Night Before Christmas o Why Cowboys Need a Pardner o An Irish Hallowe'en o Sailor's Night Before Christmas o Trucker's Night Before Christmas o Why Cowgirls Are Such Sweet Talkers o Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas o Cajun Night After Christmas o The Teachers' Night Before Christmas o Firefighter's Night Before Christmas o Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas Coloring Book o Country Music Night Before Christmas o Nurse's Night Before Christmas o Ozark Night Before Christmas o The Principal's Night Before Christmas o An Irish Night Before Christmas Coloring Book
GIFT ITEMS BY JAMES RICE Cajun Night Before Christmas Ornament o Gaston Santa Claus Plush Toy o Gaston Mardi Gras Plush Toy o Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras Ornament
Audiobooks are available for select titles.
Synopsis
Though everybody else has settled down for a long winter's nap, poor Principal Swell has his hands full. With state-mandated paperwork, computers to fix, bus routes to unknot, not to mention discipline and field trips and all the concerned parents, it seems he'll never get back home to his own family! Suddenly the school bell rings, and there stands a lively professor with a promise to fix, complete, or manage it all, since he's already sent the teachers home from the mall. With a few final words of encouragement, he takes off in his school bus: "Merry Christmas to principals--holiday cheer! For they make Santa proud every day of the year!"
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2-Principal Swell has all sorts of problems to solve involving paperwork, naughty students, and complicated field trips, and it seems that he'll never get back home to his own family for Christmas-until Santa appears and takes care of everything. Written in the same rhyme scheme as Clement C. Moore's poem, this is a lifeless recitation of mundane problems, accompanied by folksy, almost awkward illustrations that lack child appeal. Rice has illustrated many takeoffs of Moore's work, and this is one of the least successful.-E. M. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.