It was while Jonathan was at college, studying architecture, that he first started developing his own illustrated texts, illustrating poems and lyrics that he’d written. Pleased with the results, he found himself spending more and more time on writing and illustration. Although he qualified as an architect, he found the job unsatisfying and began pursuing a career in children's books in his spare time, eventually going full-time in 1995, a few months before his thirtieth birthday.

The Santa Trap • Jonathan Emmett

The art by Bernatene works so well here. It has plenty of zing and pop with its bold colors and modern feel. One just has to look at the cover to know this is not your normal holiday book. The illustrations were done digitally, adding to the modern feel, but they are also made warmer by brushstrokes showing on the images. I really enjoyed the part where the father accidentally brings home the wrong, have-to-have-it toy (been there, done that!). Really funny. Emmett has created a holiday picture book with a lot of edge, plenty of weaponry and some pretty spectacular explosions. This is a holiday book that will appeal to children who feel a bit too old for elves and reindeer. Happily though, at the heart of the story there really is a Christmas spirit about what the real meaning of Christmas should be. Emmett though does not let that ruin the fun, delighting in turning Christmas on its ear in this picture book. Michael has been Chief Executive of Mayflower Theatre since October 2012. He started as an actor before moving into theatre management when he became House Manager at the London Palladium. Michael has worked in UK regional theatre since 1999 and came from the Grand Opera House in Belfast to join Mayflower Theatre. In this film a newly transported family from Connecticut faces many challenges on Christmas Eve. When Santa Claus lands on their roof and later arrested the father sets out to free Santa and Christmas itself.

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This funny, beautifully illustrated story will have you talking about the importance of ‘being good for goodness’ sake’.” Be sure to get the book before Christmas. It may help your child to have a more positive and realistic attitude about their wishlist for Christmas. I need to send a copy to my five daughters so they can share it with my fifteen grandchildren. Hey, maybe Santa's list will be a little shorter this year. NOT!!

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Now if you are a grown adult and don't care much about Christmas then chances are you will hate this. If enjoyed Christmas as a child you will like this. If you have small children then watch this with them. The film would be great tool to use to openly talk about "Bullying" and yes "Having Faith". Another reason for choosing Macmillan was that I had a particular illustrator in mind for the book and Macmillan editor, Suzanne Carnell, had proposed the same illustrator. The illustrator was interested and agreed to do a sample illustration for the book. However months went by and, despite prompting from Suzanne, the sample did not appear. After over a year of waiting we finally realised that it was never going to appear and I heard subsequently that the illustrator had emigrated to Canada without telling us! What will the other children do if Bradley traps Santa and steals all the toys and gifts? What kind of Christmas will that be without Santa?

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When I mentioned the idea to my agent, Caroline Walsh, she thought it was terrific and made the unprecedented (for me at any rate) pronouncement that if I wrote it, she could sell it, so I set about writing it – and then came to an almost immediate stop. The problem was that if Bradley (as the boy in my story was now called) was to trap Santa, Santa would have to visit Bradley’s house. But if Bradley was as villainous as I wanted him to be, why was Santa visiting him? Surely such a bad child did not deserve any gifts? This seemed an insurmountable obstacle at the time, so I decided to put the story to one side until I had a way around it. Santa Claus is the only good guy here. Bradley's been bad since birth, and his ineffectual parents have enabled his selfishness, greed and bad behavior. Following another disappointing Christmas morning Bradley decides that enough is enough, and that he is going to set a trap for Santa, a trap that will take all year to create. And so, through Poly Bernatene's wonderfully dark illustrations we see him construct the ultimate scenario, including tigers, guillotines, explosives and trap doors. Come the following Christmas Eve Bradley then sits alone, waiting for his prey to arrive (his parents, by the way, have taken themselves off to a hotel, as their home is now far too dangerous to be living in). He sits and waits, and waits and sits, until.........

The Santa Trap by Jonathan Emmett | Goodreads The Santa Trap by Jonathan Emmett | Goodreads

His many TV appearances also included Sanford and Son, The Streets of San Francisco, Adam-12, Happy Days, The Love Boat, Touched By An Angel, Arrested Development and, most recently, Hot in Cleveland.

The author has given an extreme example of the behavior of many children's expectations of Santa and Christmas. Then she shows our children how such horrible behavior is looked upon by others and how this behavior is rewarded by Santa not giving into the child's demands. Negative behavior meets negative consequences. Absolutely loved this book as did every one of my kids, even the adult ones. Here is my review from my blog: So he schemes and steams, rants and raves. Then he starts setting traps all through his house to trap Santa next Christmas and take every toy and gift from Santa and his sleigh.

The Santa Trap Book Review | Common Sense Media The Santa Trap Book Review | Common Sense Media

A lot of the inspiration for the story came from the Santa traps I built as a child. I was the sort of boy who, when I wasn’t building things out of Lego, was taking things apart to see how they worked and often using the pieces to make something else. Like many children I had lain awake on the night of Christmas Eve, determined to catch a glimpse of Santa delivering presents to the foot of my bed, only to fall asleep before he arrived. Unlike many children, I decided that the solution was to build something to wake me when Santa eventually arrived Strictly speaking, the things I built were alarm systems rather than traps. I didn’t want to take Santa captive – I just wanted to catch him delivering my presents. Bradley Bartleby is a very spoiled and self-centered little boy. He makes demands and expects those demands to be obeyed. He has even dared to make demands of Santa Claus. He demands Santa to bring him every item he has on his long list.The digital mixed-medai illustrations complement Emmett's witty humor. Bernadette's impeccable skill using dark colors and shadows enhance the sinister actions of a ghastly little boy. Not a nice and fuzzy Christmas book, but destined to become a holiday favorite for those who can't resist a little naughty.I HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, The Santa Trap as a well-crafted picture book to be enjoyed by parents as much as children. To the beastly Bradley Bartleby, no behavior is too bad. After all, he was born bad. The older he gets, the badder he becomes. His selfish demands are always met by his rich parents for the sole reason they are terrified of their spoiled son. Jonathan Emmett was born in Leicestershire in 1965, the son of a factory fitter and a primary school teacher. The first traps I built were very crude. I’d balance things on top of my bedroom door so they’d come down with a crash when the door was opened. But Santa had no problem disabling these, so as the years went by, my traps became more sophisticated and I started using wires, batteries and buzzers. A hilarious adventure. The stylised illustrations complement the story brilliantly, creating a wonderful darkly funny atmosphere.”