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The Great Reindeer Rescue
It’s Christmas Eve and one of Santa's reindeers, Dave, is FED UP. He's stuck behind boastful Rudolph again and a fart-in-the-face is the LAST STRAW.
In the commotion, Santa crash lands on the roof of nine-year-old Holly’s home causing an almighty Christmas lights explosion that blasts the reindeers to far-flung corners of the Earth. It’s up to Dave and Holly to fly round the world to rescue all the reindeers.
Can Holly and Dave get all the reindeers back to Santa to SAVE CHRISTMAS?
This funniest festive adventure is a must-read spin on The Night Before Christmas
From the bestselling creators of The Fart That Changed the World and Escape the Rooms
Praise for Stephen and Anita’s books:
"Brilliant, clever, kind of genius" Graham Norton
"Manages to feel both classic and modern at the same time" Good Housekeeping
"A beautiful and exciting adventure that ignites the imagination" Edith Bowman
In the commotion, Santa crash lands on the roof of nine-year-old Holly’s home causing an almighty Christmas lights explosion that blasts the reindeers to far-flung corners of the Earth. It’s up to Dave and Holly to fly round the world to rescue all the reindeers.
Can Holly and Dave get all the reindeers back to Santa to SAVE CHRISTMAS?
This funniest festive adventure is a must-read spin on The Night Before Christmas
From the bestselling creators of The Fart That Changed the World and Escape the Rooms
Praise for Stephen and Anita’s books:
"Brilliant, clever, kind of genius" Graham Norton
"Manages to feel both classic and modern at the same time" Good Housekeeping
"A beautiful and exciting adventure that ignites the imagination" Edith Bowman
- GenresChristmasMiddle Grade
324 pages, Hardcover
Published October 12, 2023
5 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 18, 2023
Good book, pictures could be better?
December 4, 2023
Disappointment is a hard thing to quantify in the life of a reader. There can be books that you anticipate for months, if not years, and sometimes those books can fail to live up to lofty expectations. Other times, there can be books that just seem like they will be designed for you, but which end up being disappointing slogs. I am sad to say that “The Great Reindeer Rescue” is both a disappointment and a slog.
I am a huge fan of actor Stephen Mangan and have been hesitant to check out his recent children’s book releases, in part due to the stigma attached to celebrity books for kids which overstuff the marketplace. Mangan’s books have achieved a reasonable amount of success and the imagery attached to them created by his sister, Anita, has always been intriguing.
Taking a punt on the duo’s latest release, “The Great Reindeer Rescue,” due to its festive theme I was disappointed to discover that there’s nothing really engaging to latch on to here. Paper thin characters accompanied by oddball humour that never quite fits with the story being told. There are a handful of running gags which get a reasonable chuckle, but for a man who is notoriously very funny, there’s little evidence of it here.
In many ways, “The Great Reindeer Rescue” is trying to be a Roald Dahl-esque slice of oddball children’s nonsense. In some ways it achieves this, but beyond the oddball nature of the writing and humour there isn’t anything to hook us in. Anita Mangan’s illustrations are great, but even they can’t elevate what is on offer here.
I wanted to love this book; I really did. Nobody is more disappointed by my unenthusiastic response than I am. At the very least, the presentation of the book is exceptional, but as a piece of children’s fiction this really does nothing to dispel the stigma against celebrity authors.
I am a huge fan of actor Stephen Mangan and have been hesitant to check out his recent children’s book releases, in part due to the stigma attached to celebrity books for kids which overstuff the marketplace. Mangan’s books have achieved a reasonable amount of success and the imagery attached to them created by his sister, Anita, has always been intriguing.
Taking a punt on the duo’s latest release, “The Great Reindeer Rescue,” due to its festive theme I was disappointed to discover that there’s nothing really engaging to latch on to here. Paper thin characters accompanied by oddball humour that never quite fits with the story being told. There are a handful of running gags which get a reasonable chuckle, but for a man who is notoriously very funny, there’s little evidence of it here.
In many ways, “The Great Reindeer Rescue” is trying to be a Roald Dahl-esque slice of oddball children’s nonsense. In some ways it achieves this, but beyond the oddball nature of the writing and humour there isn’t anything to hook us in. Anita Mangan’s illustrations are great, but even they can’t elevate what is on offer here.
I wanted to love this book; I really did. Nobody is more disappointed by my unenthusiastic response than I am. At the very least, the presentation of the book is exceptional, but as a piece of children’s fiction this really does nothing to dispel the stigma against celebrity authors.
December 15, 2023
This was utterly bonkers but really good fun. Aimed at a slightly younger audience than I usually go for but it was entertaining. And the illustrations were fab.
December 15, 2023
Really cute story about friendship and Christmas
December 20, 2023
i had such high hopes for this book.
it’s quoted on the book as being this funny festive adventure and while it’s certainly an adventure kind of book it’s also extremely over the top and repetitive in its comedy -if you want to call it that.
i dislike being mostly negative but sadly this book just doesn’t have a large amount of positive things that i can rave about.
for me this book was trying to be something it didn’t end up becoming - magical fun christmas adventure maybe in the same tone as the movie „Arthur Christmas“.
it never got there.
this book tried to hard to be funny with jokes that didn’t land and writing that showed it tried to be the current trend but didn’t know exactly how to speak that way and willed with pretty mindless and running round without a real plan.
no character development, no christmas magic and beauty, joy or fun… this book sadly lacked all the things that could have made it a better story.
and in top of that the last 8-10 pages were incredibly rushed because it all of a sudden became clear that all the answered needed to be given that the last 300+ of running around and mindless, over the top jokes didn’t give!
And okay, maybe it’s just not my type of humor.
i never enjoyed fart jokes, i don’t enjoy dont find it funny when one of reindeer speaks „like i wouldn’t know, but like it’s sooo super cool, like speaking like this right? because that’s how everyone like talks now like right?“ (which thankfully was one of the ones that spoke the least!)
and look i get that this is a middle grade book and it’s clearly targeted towards a younger age range of that audience but while this is fast paced it’s mostly just stupid.
having to reduce basically every since reindeer through this entire book for over 200 pages only for the last 4 to have the big reveal, come to a conclusion and finish up? it’s just not paced right.
this story and idea could have been fun but i think it would have been better as a picture book, 50-60 or so pages long, large beautiful illustrations and keeping all the repetitiveness out and utterly ridiculous moments (like a best being described as having „a huge tongue coated in s gooey white slop, two big yellowing teeth jutting up from the front corners of its bottom jaw, head low and lolling from side to side…“ for no reason or with any explanation at all) that i am unsure if they where supposed to be funny or not - i didn’t find them that way.
also sadly while i found the cover art cute enough with color added, the black and white version inside the book wasn’t for me.
art is personal and i am sure there are people that will find the illustrations quirky and fun, i found them too simple and sadly lacking the beauty and fit for what they were supposed to show - and again i am unsure if that was done purposefully to show the quirky funny side or not. clearly it didn’t work with me.
overall sadly i wouldn’t recommend this to a large audience.
if you want a fast paced quirky adventure story? go for its
but if you want actual christmas wonder and fun? i think it’s better to look somewhere else.
this book is very much focused on running around and trying to land a joke instead of focusing on making thinks cozy and fun in a way i find more fitting for christmas stories.
it’s quoted on the book as being this funny festive adventure and while it’s certainly an adventure kind of book it’s also extremely over the top and repetitive in its comedy -if you want to call it that.
i dislike being mostly negative but sadly this book just doesn’t have a large amount of positive things that i can rave about.
for me this book was trying to be something it didn’t end up becoming - magical fun christmas adventure maybe in the same tone as the movie „Arthur Christmas“.
it never got there.
this book tried to hard to be funny with jokes that didn’t land and writing that showed it tried to be the current trend but didn’t know exactly how to speak that way and willed with pretty mindless and running round without a real plan.
no character development, no christmas magic and beauty, joy or fun… this book sadly lacked all the things that could have made it a better story.
and in top of that the last 8-10 pages were incredibly rushed because it all of a sudden became clear that all the answered needed to be given that the last 300+ of running around and mindless, over the top jokes didn’t give!
And okay, maybe it’s just not my type of humor.
i never enjoyed fart jokes, i don’t enjoy dont find it funny when one of reindeer speaks „like i wouldn’t know, but like it’s sooo super cool, like speaking like this right? because that’s how everyone like talks now like right?“ (which thankfully was one of the ones that spoke the least!)
and look i get that this is a middle grade book and it’s clearly targeted towards a younger age range of that audience but while this is fast paced it’s mostly just stupid.
having to reduce basically every since reindeer through this entire book for over 200 pages only for the last 4 to have the big reveal, come to a conclusion and finish up? it’s just not paced right.
this story and idea could have been fun but i think it would have been better as a picture book, 50-60 or so pages long, large beautiful illustrations and keeping all the repetitiveness out and utterly ridiculous moments (like a best being described as having „a huge tongue coated in s gooey white slop, two big yellowing teeth jutting up from the front corners of its bottom jaw, head low and lolling from side to side…“ for no reason or with any explanation at all) that i am unsure if they where supposed to be funny or not - i didn’t find them that way.
also sadly while i found the cover art cute enough with color added, the black and white version inside the book wasn’t for me.
art is personal and i am sure there are people that will find the illustrations quirky and fun, i found them too simple and sadly lacking the beauty and fit for what they were supposed to show - and again i am unsure if that was done purposefully to show the quirky funny side or not. clearly it didn’t work with me.
overall sadly i wouldn’t recommend this to a large audience.
if you want a fast paced quirky adventure story? go for its
but if you want actual christmas wonder and fun? i think it’s better to look somewhere else.
this book is very much focused on running around and trying to land a joke instead of focusing on making thinks cozy and fun in a way i find more fitting for christmas stories.
November 29, 2025
Dave is a reindeer who likes to talk. Taking over from Blitzen and being part of Santa’s reindeer pack he’s excited but also a bit clumsy. After he accidentally lets Rudolph free they land on a particularly Christmassy house to try and get him back, but Holly and her Dad (who live in the house) cause an explosion which sends all the reindeer including her Dad & Santa to places far and wide. Now Dave and Holly have to use not just the sleigh but their initiative and a great deal of luck to get all the reindeer and Santa back to help save Christmas. - I enjoyed this book. I thought the idea of travelling to different countries in a sleigh to retrieve scattered reindeer was fun (although belief did have to be suspended quite a lot). But I did think the ending was a little rushed and I wasn’t overly impressed with the illustrations.
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December 13, 2023Loved the book
December 14, 2023
This was unexpectedly heartwarming and fun. Inventive and easy-going writing style. Enjoyed this greatly.
December 18, 2023
Very funny book enjoyable for children
January 21, 2024
A interesting story with unique characters and each reindeer has their own personality. It is an emjoyable story overall.
December 17, 2024
Cute quick read, absolutely hated the illustrations though 😅 Just not my style at all
January 10, 2025
Nice easy read as obviously it is written for children 🤣 But being a big kid myself I loved it, Dave the reindeer was very funny 🥰
February 8, 2025
I loved it, but the pictures were pants. It was still an amazing book
October 6, 2025
Considering this is clearly a kids book it’s surprisingly deep!!
December 31, 2025
The boys loved this book and we laughed the whole way through!
February 12, 2024
Dave is the reindeer who is fed up. He has been stuck behind Rudolph yet again and he causes a commotion after getting a fart in the face... This causes Santa to crash land, a christmas light explosion and an urgent rescue mission... Another laugh out loud story, this one for our middle grade readers who I am sure would love to read some of it aloud to amuse the whole family - oh and to show them the illustrations too.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews