A very pirate Christmas

The Grinch has nothing on the robot pirates who kidnap Santa and steal Christmas for themselves in this wild holiday mashup. After using Santa's sleigh to steal from every house they visit, the pirates host their own celebration back aboard their ship: "Look at us, we've plundered/ every Christmas thing we could./ There's nothing for the children-/ serves them right for being good." Knapman's rollicking rhymes are well matched by Ayto's childlike illustrations, which imagine the pirates as pill-shaped robots with toothy grins, eye patches, and wiry appendages. When the pirates' raucous partying wakes cabin boy Pip, he saves the day by freeing Santa and forcing the pirates to return their booty before any of the world's children are the wiser. An anarchic Christmas story that is all but certain to delight. Ages 3-5. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 1-Santa has barely started his annual Christmas sleigh ride when he is hijacked by a pirate captain and his mangy robotic crew. The captain ties Santa up and dons his red suit and all the pirates take to the skies in Santa's sleigh. After a precarious, turbulent flight, they find a house, steal all the Christmas paraphernalia (from tree to presents), and bring it back to their ship, where they feast on fruitcakes and gloat evilly. Luckily, they are foiled by tiny cabin boy Pip (in striped nightcap and eye patch), who makes them give Christmas back. In thanks, Santa makes Pip the captain and demotes the captain to toilet-scrubbing cabin boy. The rhyming text is humorous and keeps the energy level high, but the real charm lies in the goofy illustrations of the robot pirates with their toothy grins and mismatched limbs, the rotund Santa, and the skinny-legged reindeer. VERDICT A hilariously offbeat Christmas tale à la The Nightmare Before Christmas.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.