Books like Santa Calls
By William Joyce
For the kid who wants every Christmas story to have a real quest in it, not just a wish list — this one sends its hero straight into danger to save someone he loves. Old-fashioned adventure with a wintery, high-stakes edge — equal parts Christmas wonder and genuine peril.
A poor boy who longs to paint is given a magic paintbrush that brings to life whatever he creates, until a greedy emperor sets out to capture him and claim its power for himself.
A knight known as the Red Cross Knight sets out with a princess to face a dragon that has terrorized the countryside for years, in a battle that will decide the land's fate.
A restless chicken named Louise leaves the henhouse craving adventure, facing pirates on the high seas, a lion under the big top, and a mysterious stranger in a bustling bazaar.
A pig named Pearl finds a talking bone on her way home from school, and their new friendship is soon tested by robbers and a hungry fox with unexpected powers.
After the gods fail again and again to create lasting humans across five different suns, Quetzalcóatl the Feathered Serpent alone refuses to give up, journeying to the underworld to retrieve the sacred bones of creation.
A proper young boy named Vasya Kandinsky hears colors sing and sees sounds dance when he opens his paint box — but will he dare to paint music instead of pretty houses and flowers?
A brilliant astronomer turns his telescope to the night sky and discovers that the earth circles the sun — a truth so radical it puts him at odds with the powerful people of his time.
A boy sets out to find his father, the Lord of the Sun, and must pass through four ceremonial chambers — the kiva of lions, snakes, bees, and lightning — to prove he belongs.
A little girl named Sasha is captured by a terrible witch named Bony-Legs, who plans to eat her for supper — but a creaking gate, a skinny dog, and a melancholy cat may hold the key to her escape.
A young painter defies a male-dominated art world by pouring paint straight onto canvas and pushing it with mops and squeegees, inventing a whole new way to make pictures.
Seven brothers, each with an extraordinary ability, face a cruel emperor's death sentence — and must rely on their unusual gifts to escape execution.
