The Gingerbread Pirates — Kristin Kladstrup

What if a brave Captain Cookie stood up to Santa? A fresh, funny story that sparkles with all the excitement of a pirate adventure -- and all the magic of Christmas morning.

It's Christmas Eve, and Jim and his mother are making pirate gingerbread men to leave for Santa. Jim's favorite is Captain Cookie, who carries a gingerbread cutlass and has a toothpick peg leg. The captain is much too good to be eaten, so Jim keeps him close by his bed. But late that night, when Jim is fast asleep, Captain Cookie steptaps away on a daring adventure to find his pirate crew -- and rescue them from that mysterious character he's heard about: a cannibal named Santa Claus. At once contemporary and timeless, suspenseful and joyous, this masterfully illustrated tale is destined to be a new holiday classic.