Only Dot notices one small present thatвЂ™s fallen in the snow, and she successfully leaps into the departing sleigh with the gift. On Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer team take off with their overloaded sleigh. Her family members encourage her and help her practice her skills, and her mother tells her, вЂњThereвЂ™s always next year.вЂќ DotвЂ™s elf friend, Oliver, encourages her and spends time playing with her, doing things that Dot can do well, such as building a snowman and chasing their friend Yeti (who looks like a fuzzy, white gumdrop). Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?ДЄ funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.Дot, the smallest reindeer at the North Pole, is too little to fly with the reindeer team on Christmas Eve, but she helps Santa in a different, unexpected way.Дot is distressed because she canвЂ™t jump and fly like the other, bigger reindeer. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from OwlвЂ™s scene in a rather postmodern manner. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the houseвЂ™s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. As OwlвЂ™s actions ratchet up-he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak-so does his anxiety. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves.

Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed-and hears the noise again. OwlвЂ™s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. вЂњSqueek!вЂќ says something underneath the bed. Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.

Good night owl