Excerpt from YOUNG SANTA
by Dan Greenburg, illustrated by Warren Miller
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One morning shortly after his thirteenth birthday, young Santa woke up and felt something funny on his cheeks. He went into the bathroom and took a look in the medicine cabinet mirror.
"Oh my gosh," said young Santa, "I've begun to grow hair on my cheeks!"
Milton walked into the bathroom and gazed at his son proudly.
"Congratulations, son," he said, "your beard has begun to grow. Let me give you your first lessons in shaving."
And so Milton showed young Santa how to apply the shaving cream with a fluffy brush, and then to shave it off with the sure, clean strokes of a well-sharpened razor.
"There, now," said Milton, "look at your cheeks son. What do you see there instead of short, stubby hairs?"
"A rash," said young Santa.
"What?" said Milton.
Milton leaned in close and studied young Santa's cheek. Sure enough, young Santa had developed a shaving rash.
"Must be you're allergic to this brand of shaving lotion," said Milton. "So tomorrow we'll try another."
But switching brands of shaving lotion didn't help. Neither did switching brands of razors.
"Why can't I just let my beard grow?" asked young Santa.
"Why?" said Milton. "I'll tell you why. Because if you just let your beard grow when you're a teenager, then by the time you're an old man, you'll have a long white beard, that's why."
"And what would be so bad about that?" asked young Santa.
Milton thought about it and couldn't come up with an answer, so young Santa simply stopped shaving.
From Young Santa. Copyright © 2005 by Dan Greenburg & Warren Miller.
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