Samurai Santa: A Very Ninja Christmas
by Rubin Pingk; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary   Simon   40 pp.
9/15   978-1-4814-3057-9   $17.99
e-book ed. 978-1-4814-3058-6   $10.99

It's hard to be a ninja when no one will join your snowball fight for fear of landing on Santa's naughty list. There's only one thing for Yukio to do: trick his fellow ninjas into chasing the "bright red intruder" away. They think they're successful when the interloper disappears — but here comes a snowball-fighting samurai, complete with snowman army, and the desired snowball fight ensues after all. No points for guessing the samurai's identity, but major points to Pingk for his digital art, with its simple, bold limited palette and seamlessly integrated red or white lettering that can render any scene "EPIC!!!"

From the November/December 2015 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.