After Bailey Elementary's old janitor quits, the school gets a jolly man who can clean up the worst mess in record time, as shown throughout the book. After a while, though, Mr. Jolly and his little notebook are getting suspicious. Is Mr. Jolly really Santa?
Morality
Eddie makes a mess in the teacher's lounge, and spreads whipped cream throughout a hallway.
Spiritual Content
This is a Christmas story in a sense. However, all the content refers solely to Santa, and never Jesus. Eddie says that if Santa were real, his dad would believe in Christmas again.
Violence
None.
Drug and Alcohol Content
Mr. Jolly lights a pipe several times.
Sexual Content
None.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
"Shut up" is used.
Conclusion
An enjoyable-enough story for its age group, but sad in that it feels like the authors are purposefully excluding Jesus Christ. Eddie is not a good role model and the morality is not exceptional, but neither is it abominable; it is a very simple, straight-forward story.
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