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WORK TITLE: Christmas Forever
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Female.
EDUCATION:Brown University, B.A.
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Film producer and production executive. Cocreator and producer of bi-weekly television soap opera, Sob Story; producer of films by Alloy, including Purple Hearts; You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah; Work It; The Sun Is Also a Star; and Everything, Everything; also producer of Idiocracy and Like Mike.
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Children’s Bookwatch, December 1, 2024, review of Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2024, review of Christmas Forever.
School Library Journal, September 27, 2024, Jane Huh, review of Christmas Forever, p. 1.
Elysa Dutton
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Elysa Koplovitz Dutton is a film producer and production executive.[1] She is the author[2] of the Penguin/Random House children's book Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole, illustrated by Manu Montoya, which publishes in October 2024.[3]
Early life and education
Koplovitz Dutton graduated from Brown University with a bachelor of arts in Art/Semiotics. While at Brown University, she co-created and produced a bi-weekly television soap opera about student life called Sob Story that was nationally syndicated to colleges around the country.[1]
Career
Koplovitz Dutton's productions credits with Alloy include Purple Hearts,[4][5]You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,[6] Work It,[7] The Sun Is Also a Star,[8] and Everything, Everything.[9] The latter won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Drama.[10]
Prior to Alloy, Koplovitz Dutton produced Idiocracy[11] and Like Mike.[12]
Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole
Elysa Dutton, author
Manu Montoya, illustrator
Random House Children's Books https://www.rhcbooks.com
9780593430989, $18.99, HC, 40pp
https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Forever-Escape-North-Pole/dp/0593430980
Synopsis: The spirit of Christmas lasts all year long--unless you are an ornament, stuck in a dusty box in the closet 11 months out of the year! This December 26th, it's gonna be different. The ornaments know of a place where they can be free to sparkle, where life is a 24-hour, 365-day Christmas buffet...the North Pole! But when the family cat gets involved, their plan hits a snag. And soon the ornaments come to realize that togetherness is the best gift, and it can't be Christmas forever without family.
Critique: An original and fun read for the Christmas holiday season, "Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole" by the team of author/storyteller Elysa Dutton and artist/illustrator Manu Montoya is a delightful and unreservedly recommended pick for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library Christmas themed picture book collections for children ages 4-8. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole" from Random House Children's Books is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99) as well.
Editorial Note #1: Elysa Dutton is a veteran film producer and production executive. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysa_Dutton)
Editorial Note #2: Manu Montoya (https://manumontoya.com) studied Graphic Design and Advertising in her hometown and Art Direction in Barcelona, where she currently lives. She grew up both in the city and the country and spent most of her childhood drawing, playing with plants, animals and exploring the woods. She enjoys working with gouache, colored pencils, ink, and digital media.
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole." Children's Bookwatch, Dec. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A822840334/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=cd291182. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.
Dutton, Elysa CHRISTMAS FOREVER Random House (Children's None) $18.99 10, 15 ISBN: 9780593430989
Five beloved Christmas ornaments attempt a daring escape.
Every year a family (referred to as "the humans") decorate their tree with a macaroni angel, a star, a brown-skinned ice skater, a snowman, and a tan-skinned gnomelike creature. The ornaments love the festivities but are sad that they spend most of their time in a storage box. Christmas is so exciting that they want it to last all year long. But the North Pole is the only place where that can happen. So the ornaments hatch a plan to sneak into Santa's sleigh when he visits and finally fulfill their dreams of an endless Christmas. Tiptoeing across garlands and sliding down candy canes, they descend the tree. But they have a nemesis to foil--the cat. Unfortunately, one ornament is left behind. Do the others go on or turn back and give up a life of Christmas cookies, hot tubs filled with hot cocoa, and presents galore? Animated vignettes showcase each step of the intrepid journey. Telling the story from the ornaments' perspective offers an intriguing twist. Young readers may unpack their favorite decorations and view them in a whole new light this year. The human characters--who sleep through everything--are depicted with varying shades of brown skin.
A creative Christmas caper.(Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Dutton, Elysa: CHRISTMAS FOREVER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A802865131/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2bb87730. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.
DUTTON, Elysa. Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole. illus. by Manu Montoya. 40p. Random. Oct. 2024. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780593430989.
PreS-Gr 3—Tired of getting put back in a smelly old box after the holidays, a restless crew of Christmas tree ornaments attempts to escape out of their humans' home to go to the North Pole, where Christmas is forever. However, the family cat thwarts the plan by catching one of them. The group's rescue effort fails spectacularly, resulting in a big crash that wakes up the family; they all place the ornaments back on the tree and kick off Christmas early. In the end, the ornaments determine that celebrating Christmas is far better at home with one another and the family. While the pacing toward the end seems rushed, the vibrant and festive illustrations help carry this book. The detailed drawings of the ornaments, their dreams, and particularly their escape plan, help tell the story in a way young children will follow.
VERDICT: This well-illustrated adventure story will appeal to younger fans of Christmas.—Jane Huh
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Huh, Jane. "Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole." WebOnlyReviewsSLJ, vol. 70, no. 9, 27 Sept. 2024, p. 1. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A812243657/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6c870935. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.