The Gingerbread Pirates
PreSchool-Grade 3–After Jim and his mother bake pirate gingerbread men for Santa's snack, toothpick-legged Captain Cookie undertakes a daring rescue of his crew from the hungry–but understanding–Santa Claus, who works a magical transformation. When Jim awakes Christmas morning, he finds under the Christmas tree not only a magnificent toy pirate ship, but also a peg-legged captain and crew onboard. An exciting story and full-page, dramatically composed paintings depicting harrowing adventures with a mouse, a cat, and the crew imprisoned in a cookie jar make this a good holiday read-aloud.–Maureen Wade, Los Angeles Public LibraryEND