For those readers who like to read seasonal fare around Christmas time, Max Fernsby and the Infinite Toys is a new offering from a duo who previously worked on the script of Ice Age: The Meltdown. This illustrated book is a quick read that would appeal to the younger spectrum of the middle grade demographic, or perhaps would even be a good read-aloud. The story has a few Roald Dahl characters (think unsanitary and cheap dentists for foster parents), some scenes where the kids versus the bad guys in Home Alone-style, a pinch of body humor, and an orphan, Max, as the hero. While the book doesn’t have the chops to become a Christmas classic, it does have a delightful core concept: a bag that provides a never-ending supply of toys. If that isn’t Christmas magic, then I don’t know what is.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy Provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore: Characters pursued by animal and butted, sending them flying; general description of an animal causing property damage and head butting other characters; character knocks over someone (accidentally) and causes property damage; character throws an item and it hits someone; report of the death of a family member in a car accident; animal kicks character; friends shoots friend with Nerf gun (playfully); character says that if something is like a movie, that then pretty soon there will be sharp knives, etc. that could come chop someone’s head off (said jokingly); man angrily grabs a child by the collar; characters fall on toys; in a stand-off scene characters are hit with toys and incapacitated; destruction of property; character is pursued and apprehended; animal kicks a character; character is restrained.

Sex/Nudity: None

Mature Subject Matter:

Orphans, death of a parent, foster care, neglect, poverty, breaking and entering.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Tranquilizer gun used to sedate an animal; two characters say they were thrown out of a bar.