Product Description

We all know Santa spends Christmas Eve making lists, checking them twice, reigning in reindeer, leaving gifts for the "nice." But what about Mrs. Claus? First-time author Kate Wharton weaves a modern tale about the ways Santa's better half might occupy herself while her husband navigates chimneys and stuffs the stockings.

Perhaps Mrs. Claus runs and advises the whole operation of Claus Enterprises. She meets with the elves and she gives her projections for upcoming toys and new safety inspections.... She develops new products with elf engineers: broccoli candy canes, self-cleaning deer, supersized stockings and buccaneer bears, paddleball rockets and rabbity chairs.

Wharton's merry text will inspire many a theory about Mrs. Claus, while the visual jokes in Christian Slade's detailed paintings will have little bellies shaking like bowls full of jelly.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226377 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-01
• Released on: 2008-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2–Rhyming couplets convey an imaginative array of options for Mrs. Claus's Christmas Eve. She could be doing anything, from hostessing a black-tie Jingle Bell Ball to overseeing a rather dreary, industrial-looking toy- packing plant. In another scenario, she acts as a black-clad, unseen, special Santa agent, shadowing Mr. Claus for the purpose of watching his back. Somewhat muddy-toned full- and double-page art depicts the lumpy Mrs. C. in any number of getups; in many of the pictures, her gray bun is the only hint that she is a woman. A slight offering.–Lisa Falk, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher
* A rollicking new holiday classic featuring an independent heroine.

About the Author
What does KATE WHARTON do? She's a screenwriter, kung fu black belt, statistician, self-defense instructor, wife, and mother of two. She wrote What Does Mrs. Claus Do? one Christmas Eve while watching Mrs. Claus rappel down the Space Needle near her home in Seattle, Washington.

CHRISTIAN SLADE enjoys illustration as much as Santa's elves enjoy building toys. For research, Christian journeyed by snowsled, with his wife Ann and their toddler twins Kate and Nate, to the North Pole to interview Mrs. Claus personally. The sleigh was pulled by their two Welsh corgis, Penny and Leo, from their home in Winter Garden, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children
Children's books containing themes related to work and jobs abound, but few are as imaginative as What Does Mrs. Claus Do? Mrs. Claus rarely gets the recognition she deserves, and few people really know what she does beside support her famous husband, Santa. This lively book gives new visibility to Mrs. Claus's life through its interesting speculation about the various types of jobs she may hold. Perhaps she is the chief operating officer for Claus Enterprises, running board meetings, providing the elves with her market projections, and developing new products with elf engineers. Maybe she operates a second shift on Christmas Eve with a turbocharged sled, or maybe she works as a polar geographer. We will never know for sure, but this unique book will certainly get girls and boys thinking about all sorts of career opportunities that are open to anyone, including Mrs. Claus.

Mrs. Claus Has Her Own Life, And Its More Than Waiting For Santa to Come Home
Every Christmas Eve, Santa flies off in his sled to deliver toys and goodies to all the little boys and girls. But what does Mrs. Claus do while he is off on his present-giving adventure? Surely she waits and bakes him cookies for when he returns, right? This book offers a slightly skewed idea that maybe Mrs. Claus does all of the inside jobs, like working sales and overseeing product creation, or even following him in secret to fix all of his mistakes. With fantastic drawings that perfectly depict the jobs and careers she can do while he is gone, Kate Wharton and Christian Slade interweave their skills to create a children's book that truly reflects the wonders this season brings. Starting from throwing a ball to ending with her planting trees on the moon, one thing is for certain: the 32 pages in this book will make the readers imagination explode while making the season of Christmas all the more magical.

Fun 21st century take on the Claus family
It may be traditional to imagine that all Mrs. Claus does is bake cookies and chat with the elves, but it's much more fun to read Kate Wharton's take on it. She brings Mrs. C into the 21st century, giving her lots of adventurous career opportunities (polar geographer, pediatrician, heli-ski pilot!...) that should get little kids thinking and giggling. The illustrations are gorgeous and whimsical as well, with lots of variety and color. We keep finding new details to look at on each page. Since it covers the kind of stuff that might happen all year, you don't even have to restrict it to being a Christmas book--but it would make a great holiday gift, all the same!