Pete the Cat Saves Christmas

When Santa falls ill just before Christmas, who’s the first number on his speed dial? Pete the Cat, of course. Standing on his surfboard, staring out with the deadpan expression readers will recognize from his previous books, Pete agrees to make Santa’s Christmas Eve deliveries; before long the reindeer are strapped to Pete’s red minibus (“Then the minibus flew, just like in a movie./ Pete the Cat cried, ‘This is totally groovy!’ ”). Despite Pete’s ongoing anxieties about being too small for the job, there aren’t any hiccups along the way, making for a gently off-kilter but fairly straightforward story. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)