North Pole Stories, a new children’s publishing imprint based in Wellington, has announced its first publication, Santa in the Summer, a full-sized, full-color picture book for children in preschoolers to age 7 that takes an entirely new slant on the beloved Christmas character.
“The book shows some of the things Santa, his elves, and human and animal friends might be doing the rest of year, once their holiday work is done,” author Jay Schleifer explained. “The book is fun-filled, but also meant to encourage kids to widen their view of the world and to exercise their imagination.”
Full-color illustrations by noted children’s book illustrator Debbie Hefke show Santa at the beach, building a “snowman” in sand, in the country, going sightseeing at famous places he never has time to visit during his hectic toy delivery mission, and enjoying other leisure activities. But, importantly, he is also shown volunteering to help sick animals, because, as the book says, “love is a gift we can give all year ‘round.”
“Santa in the Summer is a unique holiday gift unlike any other Christmas book,” said Schleifer, explaining that it is one that parents, grandparents and the kids they love will delight in and learn from all year long.
Schleifer, a former teacher, served for 15 years as a writer, editor and senior new product developer for the Weekly Reader Company, producer of the world’s most-read classroom newspapers. He has authored 40 prior books for elementary-age readers and teenagers. He lives in Wellington with his wife Susan, also a children’s book author.
The book is available in print or Kindle editions through Amazon. The print edition is $7.99, and the Kindle edition is $1.99.
For more information, visit www.santainthesummer.com or search directly on Amazon for Santa in the Summer.
ABOVE: Jay Schleifer’s new book has a different slant on Santa.
