Sam Kills Christmas by Thomas 'Tomska' Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley. Illustrated by Dorina Herdewijn: a review

I kept meaning to buy this when it first came out, but it took me until comic con in Summer to actually get a copy. The bonus of this was that I could meet Tom and get my book signed. I also got Art is Dead which I’ll be reviewing later this year.

            Sam Kills Christmas by Thomas Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley follows Sam on their quest to kill Santa Claus. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, and equally as fun.

            As this is an illustrated book, I will be talking about the art, as always. It’s so sweet, even when the contents aren’t, and I love the way that works. The watercolour style works perfectly for the kids’ book style.

            It’s so nice seeing adopted kids in media, and not having that be the core of the plot to their story. Sam is a white kid with two black parents. Though it is revealed later on why it was necessary for Sam to be adopted, the adoption itself is not a major plot element. It’s also great to see someone referred to with they/them pronouns. I think this is especially important in kids’ media because children have a tendency to project onto characters that they read. No matter what pronouns the child uses, they can enjoy seeing bits of themselves in Sam. Though, perhaps Sam isn’t the best role-model for kids.

            I love the decoy Santa because it definitely implies that the real Santa knows about Sam’s antics, and attempts to stop them, even before they get to the North Pole.

            I love when the insults look like they’ve been covered with tape and written over to make it more family friendly. This is especially funny when something violent is happening in the illustrations. It’s all cartoon violence, and all safe for children. My favourite taped insult is when Sam calls Santa a “cracker”.

            The Christmas puns are everything. Even if they make me groan, it doesn’t mean I don’t love them. The best puns always incite a groan.

            I’ve been busy reading course books recently, (as you might start to notice soon) and this was such a welcome break. It was quick, easy, and so much fun to read. I can say that this is research for my Writing Project, too. It is a book for kids, but it can very easily be enjoyed by people of any age because it’s absolutely ridiculous fun. It’s a book that I wholeheartedly recommend.