Children and adults alike will chuckle over the amusing and startling events of the night when Santa left his cozy home to start off his Christmas rounds.

What would have happened to the sleighload of gifts Santa had worked so hard to finish if Mr. Fox had not seen the empty sandwich box, the waiting reindeer — and a sleeping Santa — is a calamity too dreadful to think about. But Mr. Fox, and Santa's "dear friends of the forest" came to the rescue, and taking over where Santa left off, each one did his bit to insure the delivery of a gift.

The enchanting illustrations by Roger Duvoisin are as much a part of the story as the text itself, and they combine to make a distinguished Christmas picture-storybook.

This is the first in a series of CHRISTMAS NONSENSE STORIES to be published by Aladdin Books.

From the dust jacket