Samurai Santa: A Very Ninja Christmas

Yukio is a dutiful ninja, but all he wants for Christmas is an "epic" snowball fight with his brethren. (They refuse, not wanting to end up on Santa's "naughty" list.) Determined "to run Santa out of Ninja Village," Yukio sounds the alarm when Santa arrives; the young ninjas successfully chase off the "intruder," who is soon replaced by a mysterious samurai with a snowman army--giving Yukio his snowball fight after all. A muted red-and-blue palette, exuberantly playful typography, and some Crouching Tiger-worthy action sequences ("Ninjas and snowmen clashed!!!" writes Pingk as the opposing forces fly toward each other across a snowy field) combine to create a frenzied, fun, and nontraditional Christmas tale. It's an impressively disciplined debut for Pingk and, just as important, a blast to read. Ages 4-8. Agent: Carrie Hannigan, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency. (Sept.)

PreS-Gr 2--When little ninja Yukio is denied an epic snowball fight on Christmas Eve because all the other little ninjas are on their best behavior in anticipation of Santa's arrival, he decides Santa must be chased away from Ninja Village. Yukio carefully plans his ambush and tricks the other ninjas into helping him run off the mysterious stranger in red, who then reappears as a samurai leading an army of snowball-wielding snowmen. An epic battle ensues. However, at the end, Yukio realizes he may have ruined Christmas for his ninja friends with his trick...but no, the snow battle turns out to have been Samurai Santa's holiday gift to Yukio all along. Digitally rendered illustrations give a flavor of more formal Japanese art mixed in with Sunday comics, which mashes up nicely with the Saturday matinee-tinged text that just begs to be performed in a reader's most dramatic voice. VERDICT A super fun holiday read-aloud that should delight little ninjas everywhere.--Mara Alpert Los Angeles Public Library