Coming up with an easy-to-read, original Christmas story with a funny plot is a tall order, but the addition of the popular...
Fly Guy buzzes in for his 16th outing, with a funny story combining ninja magnetism with the arrival of Santa, all wrapped up in a sparkly, silver cover.
Fly Guy’s owner, a white boy named Buzz, is reading a book called Night of the Ninja, sparking the talking fly’s curiosity about all things ninja. When Fly Guy spots Santa (white, white-bearded, and red-suited) in the living room, the intrepid insect flies into action with a karate kick and his battle cry: “Ninjazzzz!” After knocking Santa into the tree, Fly Guy befriends the man in red and asks for his help with a gift for Buzz. On Christmas morning, Buzz opens his last present to find Fly Guy inside, along with a ninja knight costume, and Fly Guy receives a red ninja outfit from Buzz. The humorous story is short and accessible to new readers, with just a few lines of text per page, interspersed with Fly Guy’s pithy comments, usually ending in lots of Z’s. Cartoon-style illustrations are drolly comical, with all the characters sporting bulgy eyes similar to those of their favorite pet fly. And Fly Guy himself is quite an appealing character (especially for a traditionally pesky insect), always coming across as cute instead of gross, even when he’s eating Santa’s cookies.
Coming up with an easy-to-read, original Christmas story with a funny plot is a tall order, but the addition of the popular ninja theme sends this one soaring. (Early reader. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-66277-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
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More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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