On Christmas Eve, Buzz reads a ninja story to his pet fly before mentioning that they'll exchange presents the next day. Unable to sleep, Fly Guy notices the stockings and decorated tree in the living room and helps himself to the cookies. Suddenly "a big stranger" appears, wearing a red, fur-trimmed suit. The fly heroically springs into action with a ninja-style attack on Santa, but all ends well. The big guy even comes up with the perfect present for Fly Guy to give Buzz. The Fly Guy series, which includes two Geisel Honor winners, is hard to beat for zany, good-natured fun, and this volume is no exception. Besides combining ninjas and Christmas, it also gives kids the pleasure of knowing more than the main character and, when Fly Guy realizes his mistake, watching how Santa helps him save face. Pared down to essentials, the text works seamlessly with the expressive, cartoon-style illustrations. From the sparkly, star-spangled cover to the happy ending, here's an unconventional, comical Christmas story for young readers.

Arnold-s big-eyed hero-s 16th outing is a Christmas tale, and over this book-s three chapters Fly Guy learns what Christmas is all about (-Prezentzz!-), sends Santa careening into the Christmas tree with some well-placed karate moves (-Fly Guy saw a big stranger in the house! He had to save the day-), and manages to set things right before his young human owner, Buzz, wakes up. As usual, Arnold-s punchy sentences are well-targeted to beginning readers, and his scribble-textured cartoons play up the story-s physical comedy as much as possible-Buzz-s parents look with confusion at the bedraggled tree on Christmas morning, though Buzz is too busy opening presents to notice. Fly Guy-s zzz-laden exclamations, his chaotic encounter with Santa, and plenty of -ninja action- to go around should keep this bug-s fans happy. Ages 4-7. Agent: Faith Hamlin, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Sept.)

PreS-Gr 1 A big-eyed boy named Buzz and his lively (and talkative) pet fly, Fly Guy, are back in this zany Christmas Eve adventure. While feasting on milk and cookies, Fly Guy, having just heard a ninja bedtime story, channels his inner ninja and valiantly protects the house from a late-night intruder in a red suit. When Fly Guy discovers he has attacked Santa, he helps set things straight and even gets some gift assistance from the jolly old elf himself. VERDICT Fans of this incredibly popular easy reader series will thoroughly enjoy the seasonal antics of this installment, especially with its sparkly cover and ninja action. Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library