Comet the Unstoppable Reindeer

by Jim Benton

Overview

From a New York Times bestselling author with over fifteen million books in print, the hilarious story of an injury-prone reindeer who saves Christmas.

It’s the night before Christmas, and Comet is ready…until he’s injured in an unexpected elf incident and replaced by a rookie named Freddy.

Comet can’t believe his bad luck. Then he realizes something even worse—in all the confusion, Santa has left the toys behind and isn’t answering his phone. Injury and all, Comet sets out to deliver the presents, crisscrossing the globe from Japan and Egypt to France and Cleveland. After a run-in with a goose, a near miss with a minivan, and too many chimney crash landings to count, can Comet hobble his way into pulling off a Christmas miracle?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542043472
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jim Benton is the award-winning creator of the New York Times bestselling series Dear Dumb Diary and Franny K. Stein as well as the popular It’s Happy Bunny brand. His books have sold more than fifteen million copies in twenty-five countries and have garnered numerous honors. Like Comet, Jim knows what it’s like to hobble around in a cast; however, he is still learning to fly. Find out more about him at www.jimbenton.com.

Editorial Reviews

09/21/2020

A calamity-prone, wildly expressive Comet saves Christmas in this holiday romp, driven by Benton’s vibrant ink and watercolor cartoons. When the reindeer is hurt breaking up a squabble between two overtired elves, the doctor gives him some unwelcome news: “No dashing, no dancing,/ your arm, it needs fixin’/ It will be a long time/ before you’re prancing with Vixen.” Left behind when Santa and his reindeer depart on Christmas Eve, Comet discovers Santa’s forgotten bag of toys and a selfless letter from a boy requesting a special gift for his younger sister. In a knockabout sequence of comic mishaps, the well-intentioned reindeer valiantly flies off, hauling the massive sack across the globe. Though Benton’s “Visit from St. Nicholas”-flavored verse feels directed more toward adults than kids (“when he heard the soft sound/ of a hernia start”), slapstick art will amuse readers of all ages. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A calamity-prone, wildly expressive Comet saves Christmas in this holiday romp, driven by Benton’s vibrant ink and watercolor cartoons…will amuse readers of all ages.” —Publishers Weekly

“Along with being lit up by themes of caring for others and shouldering responsibility, this hilarious seasonal outing offers great read-aloud potential for its regular but natural-sounding metrics and rhyme.” —Booklist (starred review)

“You might want to gift this one a little earlier than Christmas so you can read it to your little ones every night leading up to December 25. It’s the adorable (and all-too relatable) tale of Comet, an unstoppable reindeer.” —Parade

From the Publisher

2020-08-18
An intrepid member of Santa’s team saves Christmas.

When weary elves get into a fight just before Christmas Eve, Comet the reindeer steps in to break up the fisticuffs and is injured. The rhyming text describes how the doctor tells him he needs to rest and can’t help pull Santa’s sleigh that night, and then it reads, “Comet watched Santa get ready. / (His spot had been filled by / a rookie named Freddy.)” The singsong cadence and goofy phrasing of these lines is representative of the text as a whole, which goes on to reveal that Santa forgets to bring his bag filled with toys on the journey. No one notices this oversight since Freddy keeps them all entertained with silly songs. Injured Comet decides he must deliver the toys himself, and a comical sequence shows him struggling to lift an enormous bag onto his shoulders before giving up. Then he reads a tear-jerker of a letter to Santa from a selfless child, which inspires him to persist. He flies around the world in search of this child’s home, delivering toys until he finally finds the house he’s searching for in Oahu. At this point Santa calls “full of thanks-yous and praise, / so quick-thinking Comet / mentioned getting a raise,” an attempt at wit that both undercuts the message of selflessness and aims over the heads of most child readers. Santa presents White, and his elf employees are diverse.

Not one to stop for despite the appeal of the cartoony art style. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews