In the last decades of Kay Thompson's life, she refused to allow ELOISE AT CHRISTMASTIME to remain in print. After her death, the publishers are reissuing it (with four new pages), but Thompson's instinct was correct: It doesn't hold a candle to the original.

The book is written in rhyme, unfortunately. It squashes one of the greatest joys of Eloise, which is her breathless talk-talk-talk. Throughout the book, there are little nonrhyming asides in red and a little ditty running along the bottom of a number of pages, all of which create read-aloud dilemmas -- when do you read them? -- and interrupt the flow of the poem.

The plot fails in two places: Fans know Eloise's mother is famous and busy, but her absence at Christmas, of all times, is more disturbing. And it seems out of character for Eloise to admit that perhaps she hasn't been good enough during the year to deserve presents.

The cartoonlike black, white, and red drawings by Hilary Knight hold the book together. Kids find endless details to delight them, although even eight-year-olds become impatient to turn the page to see what's next during the long-winded verse.

Fans of Eloise may clamor to read every book ever created about her, but they would be better off reading the original, Eloise, and Eloise in Paris, which maintains the quality of the original.