The 13th Day of Christmas

by Adam Rex

A partridge in a pear tree? Ten lords a-leaping? Now who would want such gifts? And more importantly—why would they be given?

Adam Rex investigates in this hilariously heart-warming tale based on one of the best-loved Christmas carols.

Our hero is having a lonesome Christmas away from his true love. So when she sends him a gift, of course he loves it—even if a partridge in a pear tree wasn’t exactly on his wishlist.

Twelve days later, his home is crowded with more birds, milkmaids, pipers, and other guests than he can possibly make sense of. Why would his true love think he’d like this?!

His search for answers transforms the disaster into a source of joy for the whole town—complete with a parade, a circus, and a fundraiser for the school library. By the time his true love gets home, the man finally understands what she’s given him: the true meaning of Christmas.

But she has no idea what he’s talking about— the whole thing was a wacky online shopping mixup. All she’d meant to buy was a pair of gold engagement rings. She meant to propose!

Adam Rex, creator of School’s First Day of School and many other beloved books for children, strikes again with this hilarious twist on a classic carol. Sardonic and earnest in equal measures, The Thirteenth Day of Christmas is a hit for any day of the year.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas, Humor, Holiday, Childrens, Fiction, Music

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 2025

About the author

Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He was neither the smart one (older brother) or the cute one (younger sister), but he was the one who could draw. He took a lot of art classes as a kid, trying to learn to draw better, and started painting when he was 11. And later in life he was drawn down to Tucson in order to hone his skills, get a BFA from the University of Arizona, and meet his physicist wife Marie (who is both the smart and cute one).

Adam is nearsighted, bad at all sports, learning to play the theremin, and usually in need of a shave. He can carry a tune, if you don't mind the tune getting dropped and stepped on occasionally. He never remembers anyone's name until he's heard it at least three times. He likes animals, spacemen, Mexican food, Ethiopian food, monsters, puppets, comic books, 19th century art, skeletons, bugs, and robots.

Garlic and crosses are useless against Adam. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute charmer! This year's new Christmas picture book, and I love it so much!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A laugh-out-loud funny picture book inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas song. Due to a crazy mix-up, our confused narrator gets swamped with gifts for twelve days. He had no idea what was going on but as he says "You've probably heard the song they wrote about me." He's overwhelmed and is at a loss about what to do. However he sees that his gifts bring joy to others: entertaining seniors, starting a community parade, and having a circus and bake sale to raise funds for a library. And it works out even better for him when his true love is back in town. This is an absolutely delightful story that can be appreciated by readers of all ages. A must-read Christmas picture book!


". . . we made enough to buy
twelve new bestsellers,
eleven books on science,
ten graphic novels,
nine real-life stories,
eight medal winners,
seven guides to crafting,
six dictionaries,
five Golden Books,
four manuals,
three handbooks,
two story rugs,
and a cartridge of ink for the library."

[Bethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. You’ve heard the Christmas Carol, as the main character says at the beginning before the title page and the book stars in earnest. But what if it happened to you? What a unique resolution for all the gifts piling up! Love the support for school libraries! So much fun! Sure to become a holiday classic. Love the slightly old timey illustrations. Be sure to check out the case cover art.

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, and wacky. I wonder how kids would find it.

[Elizabeth Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful and fun Christmas book from the wonderful Adam Rex.

[skcocnaH · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 I liked the spin on the 12 days of Christmas. However, it was a little far fetched to think that the website would’ve made that big of a mistake and not charged Trudy.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this one was HILARIOUS. I cornered several coworkers and forced them to enjoy it with me, haha. In the aftermath of receiving all of the gifts in the "12 days of christmas" song, the overwhelmed recipient accidentally starts a parade, a circus, a bake sale fundraiser, and more and learns about thinking outside himself for Christmas. This is one of my new favorite Christmas books.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply delightful and brilliant! Best Christmas picture book I’ve read this season!

[DaNae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the fine print in those Christmas subscription boxes. One pear tree is nice but 12, plus the exponential additions can be deal-breakers. Rex is always funny, for this book I think it would skew towards older elementary students to get all the jokes.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

A young man is lonely over the holidays because his true love is visiting her parents. To celebrate, however, she has sent him all of the gifts from the Twelve Days of Christmas song, which the narrator claims is about this very situation. Now, stuck with a dozen pear trees, a gaggle of geese, an abundance of cows, a bucket of milkmaids, and a variety of acrobats, among other things, he is a bit miffed. After a phone call with his true love, which doesn't go well, he wants some consoling, so heads off to his mother's assisted living facility, with everyone behind him. He can't talk to his mother because of the noise, but the residents seem happy with the spectacle. This continues with an accidental parade and other shenanigans around town. When the narrator talks to a young boy who is thrilled to have seen the parade and suggests selling the milk from the cows, he finds that the boy's school library needs books. This starts an avalanche of events that includes baking pear pies, and changes the way the man looks at his excess of gifts. When his true love returns home, he apologizes for being short with her on the phone, and finds that she had only meant to send two gold rings and a pear tree as a way to ask him to marry her. The two agree to wed, and this event is celebrated by the whole crew of the parade. Afterwards, things settle down, but I imagine that the couple is forever wary of ordering things from difficult websites!

There are so many traditions surrounding Christmas, and since many of them are hundreds of years old, they no longer make much sense. What's figgy pudding? Do we care about Good King Wenceslas? Assuming that young readers know anything at all about older carols, it's a safe bet that they know the "five gold rings" refrain. Seeing the accumulation of all twelve days' worth of gifts in one place is quite show stopping. Of course the narrator is a bit miffed! Those lords are leaping all over the place!

Rex's illustrations (which remind of of David Small's 1990s work in this book) are filled with tons of details. The team of acrobats wear leotards with Holly leaves, the ballerinas have Swan Lake style costumes, and even the crowds in the background are very distinctive. There are a lot of crowd scenes, which couldn't have been easy to stage; the parade, the park, and even the front of the assisted living facility all look like places one could visit.

It's great that the narrator is able to see outside himself and find ways of spreading joy to others, even though dealing with that many cows can't be easy. In addition to the general spreading of joy, it's good to see that a library benefits. The addition of five Golden Books to the collection will surely be appreciated.

I'm all for books that add some humor to the holiday, and I'm sure that this twist on The Twelve Days of Christmas will become a family favorite in many homes. This will be perfect under the tree with titles like Fenske's Candy Corn Christmas (a recent favorite of mine), Fergus and Atkinson's The Day Santa Stopped Believing in Harold, Barnes' and Lovett's Santa's Gotta Go!, or Sharff and Kaban's When Santa Came to Stay.

[YSBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wild and wacky twist on the classic holiday song will bring laughter and joy to young reader’s holidays.  What if your true love actually sent you all of the gifts in the song?  That is the dilemma our hero faces after one partridge in a pear tree multiplies into a chaotic crowd of birds, animals and people crowding his home.  Readers will find themselves laughing and singing along as the man takes the crowd to visit his mom and inadvertently starts a parade.  A young parade viewer gives him the idea to hold a bake sale, he has lots of milk and eggs after all, for a school library resulting in purchasing “twelve new bestsellers, eleven books on science, ten graphic novels…”  and so on.  The illustrations include comic-style graphic panels as well as full-page spreads that bring the chaos to vivid life. The illustrations include a cast of diverse characters. In the end, it turns out the man’s girlfriend ordered the multitude of gifts by mistake.  She ends up proposing after this crazy mix-up “And that’s it! We’re as happy as two turtledoves, just her, me… and a partridge in a pear tree.” Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone looking for a quick pick-me-up and mood-improving picture book will find it here. Based on the classic Christmas song, which just about everyone has either heard or sung, probably far too many times, this one is quite a hoot. The narrator, who is spending Christmas alone, is surprised when a partridge in a pear tree arrives from his true love. Although it's a poor substitute for her, he is grateful that she thought of him. But then other gifts arrive, including gold rings, milkmaids, swans, enough to crowd him out of his house, start a parade, and attract quite a lot of attention, bringing joy to the hearts of a lot of onlookers. The author cleverly doesn't list all the gifts, assuming that readers will already know what they were, and the twist at the end makes it all worthwhile. I love how the book opens and closes. Handsome illustrations, created with Procreate and painted in Photoshop, showcase just how crowded things get when there are this many gifts. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's wondered about what it might be like to receive so many presents over the course of 12 days. But never again!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed until I cried. Thanks, Adam Rex.

If you've ever sung The Twelve Days of Christmas, and started to marvel at the wild assortment of ever-increasing gifts, this book is for you. I know there is an actual history to the song, and there are real birds involved, but this is an absolutely delightfully chaotic explanation that departs utterly from reality in the best way.

A lonely gentleman misses the love of his life at Christmas, when she sends him a very thoughtful gift. But due to the (I believe intentional) confusing nature of the website she ordered from, the gifts just keep coming. And coming. The gentleman takes the gifts to show his mom at her apartment building, then there's an accidental parade and a wonderful community day at the park. The gentleman meets a new friend and finds a new purpose. And by the time his true love comes home after Christmas, he's had a Scrooge or Grinch-like expansion of goodwill.

A holiday fever dream that reveals that the true nature of any celebration should be rooted in love.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: I was having a lonely Christmas because my true love was visiting her parents. So it was real quiet when I heard chirping. I didn't really want a bird, but it was nice enough. It came in this little pear tree, and I like pears. The card said my true love sent it, so of course I loved it. Of course I did.

Premise/plot: This humorous book is told from the perspective of the recipient of the twelve days of Christmas. A man has received a LOT from his one true love. But how much was intended to be sent? And what does she have in mind?

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. It was silly. He is trying to cope with EVERYTHING and trying to puzzle out WHY his true love sent him ALL these odd, strange presents. Can he find a way to spread the joy of Christmas?

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Christmas books and a must read for all that cannot help but become hung up on this joyful song. Rex takes it in a surprising direction and you will enjoy this ride. He allows his attention getting illustrations to speed this story along with repeated parts of the song surrounding him along the way in wonderous ways. I expecially like that the man receiving all of these gifts listens to a child, raises money for a cause, and displays the sometimes frustrating reality of online purchases. I like how Rex made me laugh out loud with the very last page of the book and I hope my students react the same way I did.

I will show this to my music teacher as I bet she can handle the pages of the parade better than I did.

[Abbigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, everyone is obsessed with this book, but I find a little meandering and like it doesn't really know where it's going. I really liked the set-up at the beginning of the book, but I was left wanting.

He gets all this stuff, but then they are in a parade that keeps growing (the new "phrases of people" were fun though) even though its not really a parade, its just hanging out at the park, then we are having a bake sale and a circus, then we are buying books for a school, then we realize Trudy is home and that this was all about the magic of Christmas. It all felt a little forced to me.

[TheRetiredSchoolLibrarian |Mrs. Ferraris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A man receives an overwhelming amount of gifts from his true love, Trudy, which leaves him feeling confused. He tries to call her, but their misunderstanding remains unresolved. He goes to talk to his mom about the situation. However, as he walks through town, everyone and everything seems to follow him, creating a parade, a circus, and eventually a library fundraiser.

Comments: A humorous and engaging parody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." This would be a delightful read-aloud for students during the chaotic days leading up to Christmas break.

Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is BRILLIANT. Which I should have known going in, seeing as it’s written & illustrated by THE Adam Rex. But it took me by surprise just how *much* I loved it. Throughout the book, I laughed, I cried (no lie!), and was thoroughly charmed. Truly, everything about it was fantastic- the creative & funny re-interpretation of the Christmas carol, the heartfelt building of community, the sweet romance, the hilarious & beautifully drawn illustrations (The action poses! The expressions! The insane details!). I highly recommend this for every library, school, & home.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man at the heart of Adam Rex's The 13th Day of Christmas finds himself receiving all the gifts mentioned in the song, to his great surprise. The resulting misunderstanding with his true love makes him sad so he goes to visit his mother taking all his visitors and presents with him. Surprisingly the resulting impromptu show provides cheer to his mother and her neighbors. Traveling home leads to a parade and activities at the park. A bake sale and a circus also appear from the chaos. The bake sale raises money for the local school library. In the end the series of gifts turns out to be a mix-up and yet not really a mistake in the end considering the happiness that was spread in the process. Rex has once again provided readers with a funny tale that still manages to have a sweet message amongst all the craziness. It would be hard not to listen to or sing the song before or reading this book during a story time, individually or in a group. Rex's amusingly busy illustrations highlight the absolute absurdity of the original song. Lots of fun for young and old. Recommended.

[Dawn Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

OHMYGOSH!!!!!! Everyone, I mean everyone needs to read this book (ESPECIALLY if you have kids!) And, it must be read aloud, which will lead to singing, and laughter, and so many warm and fuzzy feelings that you'll laugh till a tear rolls down your face!
Seriously, what a hilarious, heartwarming, and perfectly drawn story this is.
"You seem sad. Do you need milk?"
This line cracked me up!!!

Adam Rex has built his career on humorous, quirky picture books; this one, is one the best!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from Neal Porter Books through Edelweiss+.
What a humorous story about the origins of this carol. Readers meet one man who receives all of these gifts from his true love, but, he is really rude on the phone and almost loses her. As the story evolves we see this man change his attitude and realize how much joy we can bring to the world if we work together. Lovely ending with just the right amount of humor.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This is the best day of my life." -Kid watching the first parade of his life, sitting on the curb where nothing like this ever happens.

Themes: holiday/Christmas
Ages:
Pub year: 2025

Quotes:
The guys in leotards churned butter.

Then all the drummers and pipers and leapers and dancers and milkmaids went back to their own lives, and I talked most of them into taking a bird as they left. We still meet up sometimes for softball.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's face it, the lyrics to the "12 Days of Christmas" are more than a little odd to modern ears. This hilarious book imagines how it would look if each of the 12 days' "gifts" were to arrive on a person's doorstep. The illustrations are filled with energy and fantastical imagery and really make the book.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is officially my new favorite holiday book. It's so clever, SO, so clever. And the ending is sweet. I hope I can get some kiddos to sit through this one for a storytime during the holidays. And if not, I'll just force all the other librarians to read it. :)

[Sarah BT · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun new holiday book that asks what did the person with all those gifts do with them? It's very silly but also heartwarming making it a perfect book for warm fuzzies and sharing joy during the season.

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny. A guy gets all the stuff from the twelve days of Christmas delivered to his house. At first he's annoyed about it all, but then he embraces it. There's a parade, funny dialog and funny visuals.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I have a new favorite holiday picture book! What do you do with all those drummers drumming, milkmaids milking, etc? Have a parade! Have a circus! Have a bake sale to buy new books for the school library! I love it!

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A picture book that the whole family can enjoy. I laughed out while I read it and then passed it along to my sister-in-law who did as well. And kudos for a book that takes place after Christmas Day, during the traditional 12 days of Christmas.

[Holly Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Rex is hilarious! Imagine if all the real life parts of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" showed up at your house! Of course, kids will need the background knowledge of the song to fully appreciate the humor.