The Christmas Coal Man

K-Gr 2—An old coal miner; his donkey, Jenny; and his canary, Pete, work hard, carefully chipping away at the coal for Santa to place in the stockings of naughty children. The little family dreams of moving to a warm tropical island, but times are tough, and money is tight. Things take a turn for the worse when Santa retires the coal concept and tells the man that his services are no longer needed. Just when readers think they've stumbled across the most depressing Christmas story ever, the coal man discovers that Santa has actually swapped a bag of diamonds for his coal. This explanation for the coal legend is an unusual approach for a Christmas story and is unsuccessful. The premise and many of the details, such as canary Pete and the coal's man forced retirement, will be lost on younger listeners. The soft-focused, computer-enhanced illustrations are enervating.