How does Santa celebrate Christmas after finishing his round-the-globe deliveries? In this rhyming picture book, readers accompany jolly old St. Nick on a search through his 'old cottage house' at the North Pole for a gift. He spies empty stockings and his 'old buckled boots' 'near the crand egrave;che,' and the elves dozing 'in polka-dot jammies/ And jingle-belled toes,' but no brightly wrapped surprise with his name on it. Jatkowska fills her mixed-media illustrations with cozy details and a cast of kind-eyed, gently smiling critters, including a playful cat and mouse that readers can seek and find in every spread. A thoughtful note from Mrs. Claus helps to perfectly cap off the evening--and the present-hunt.
