Cookie Angel

Move over, Gingerbread Boy—there's a new talking baked good fresh out of the oven. Smiling, whispering snowflakes laced with Santa's magic breeze into a family's home, bringing the iced and sugar-sprinkled “cookie angel” to life. Singing carols all the while, the cookie angel must restore order to the unwieldy cast of rambunctious (and manic-looking) ornaments and toys who are likewise enchanted. While the frenzy of such a Christmas-Eve fantasy may intrigue some youngsters, the resolution may strike others as more cloying than sweet, and the dulled candy-hued palette and unnatural proportions in the pictures are less than Vagin's (Here Comes the Cat ) best work. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)