Hearing 'Olive' instead of 'All of' in the line 'All of the other reindeer,' Olive the dog heads to the North Pole and ends up leading Santa's fog-bound sleigh home by using her canine sense of smell. Though Seibold's retro computer art is eye-catching, the flat text doesn't take advantage of the potential humor in the story's premise. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ages 5^-7. When carolers sing the line "All of the other reindeer," it sounds like "Olive, the other reindeer" to the ears of Olive, a little brown-and-white dog. "I thought I was a dog. I must be a Reindeer!" Clearly, she is supposed to be at the North Pole, helping Santa, so she hops a bus, then another, and arrives as Santa is checking his list for the second time. Tied to the sleigh by a piece of ribbon, Olive flies off with the reindeer and saves the day when a tree pokes a hole in the sleigh. The first part of the story is very funny, and when it slows down in the middle, it is recharged by Seibold's wacky, computer-generated art. Those familiar with Walsh and Seibold's other books, such as Mr. Lunch Takes a Vacation (1993), will know that the art is the 1950s meeting the 1990s and then being shaken up, with all sorts of images and shapes that blitz the eye. The book's off-center sensibility means a slightly older audience than the usual preschool set. --Ilene Cooper

Instead of the lyric, ""All of the other reindeer,"" Olive the pup hears something else on the radio: ""Olive, the other reindeer."" She concludes that she is to be Santa's canine helper, so heads up to the North Pole, to join the Christmas Eve flight. Dangling from a ribbon tied to Comet's reins, Olive looks more like a stray ornament than a reindeer, but her doggy talents of chewing, sniffing, and fetching rescue Father Christmas from multiple mishaps. The story is as slight as they come, but the art sings a song all its own. Seibold's gregarious cartoons create an avocado-and-tomato colored cartoon Christmas in which little details shine: In a scene of flutes falling out of the sky and into a snow bank, a cutaway shows a surprised bunny awaking to find its burrow pierced by a silver shaft. Children will like the sophisticated art, even without a tight storyline. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.