Synopsis
Eloise, the six-year-old girl who lives in the penthouse at the top of the Plaza Hotel in New York City is turning the place upside down during Christmastime. Basis for the movie starring Julie Andrews as Nanny and Sofia Vassilieva as Eloise.
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Review
Eloise has always had a rather festive air about her, but when Christmastime rolls around, well, it's "Fa la la la fa la la la lolly ting tingledy here and there," of course. The bunchy-bloused, spindly-legged scamp is speaking in rhyme this time, and in typical Eloise fashion, the verse simply can't be perfectly metered, for what would be the point? She rushes around New York's Plaza Hotel on Christmas Eve, jingling, spreading Christmas cheer, tying tassels on the thermostats, and writing "Merry Christmas" on all the walls. And of course there are gifts to be delivered and wrapped:
For Weenie a roastbeef bone deluxe
For Skipperdee raisin milk
I'm giving the valet a beehive of course
made of safety pins and silk
Her asides, printed in red, are as priceless as ever: "Sometimes there is so much to do that/ I get sort of a headache around the sides and partially under it." Or in a rare vulnerable moment, "For when you are a child of six/ it's difficult to know/ if you deserve a present or not/ at Christmastime/ or so." But enough of that. "We sang Noel for 506/ Silent Night for 507/ We didn't sing for 509/ at the request of 511."
Hilary Knight's pen and ink pink-and-black illustrations are perfect--particularly of the "sugar plums" dancing in Eloise's head on Christmas Eve, complete with crazed elves, Nanny-as-angel, reindeer with glasses, and of course Santa's sleigh with one giant package in it... for Eloise. Kay Thompson's Eloise at Christmastime, first published in 1958 with a different cover, joins Eloise in Paris and The Absolutely Essential Eloise (with additional historical scrapbook) as a much welcomed reissue of the original. And there's always just Eloise. (Ages 5 to 105) --Karin Snelson
From the Inside Flap
Yes
Here she is at Christmastime
Complete with tinsel and holly
Singing fa la la la lolly
And over the roar of the jingle bells
You can hear hear hear her say
It's absolutely Christmas
But I don't mind a bitFor that's the thing of it
So when it's everly Christmastime
And you're under your Christmas trees
Simply tinkle a bell and have a trinkle
And remember
Me
ELOISE
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