Red Ranger Came Calling

Red Ranger Came Calling is one of THE BEST Christmas books out there, and you may not have ever heard of it.

Have you seen this photo before?

Well, I'M not going to tell you the REAL way that bike got up in that tree, but Berkeley Breathed, author of Red Ranger Came Calling, spins a delightful and charming tale to explain just that.

"Using glowing, hypnotic images and a funny, provocative text, the narrator relives his father's most amazing childhood Christmas. A moody young boy living with his aunt on an island, "Red" Breathed sees himself as the "Red Ranger from Mars", his hero from the movie serials, and cannot picture life without the gift of a Red Ranger bicycle. Red is far too "swanky a human being" to believe in Santa Claus, but nevertheless he pays a visit to the aged island hermit, Lord Sander Clos, rumored to be the legendary man himself, now living in lonely, joyless retirement. This meeting triggers an emotional response within the self-absorbed Red and leads to the most remarkable bicycle ever delivered on Christmas morning. This book represents Berkeley Breathed at the top of his form."

We read this book every year in the Walkush household, and it never fails to entertain the boys (and the adults, truth be told). They laugh out loud at some of the shenanigans that the Red Ranger of Mars (the main character - a little red-headed boy who is as mean as a snake) gets into with his dog Amelia.

And it doesn't hurt that in the end, the book is all heart and speaks to even the most dyed-in-the wool non-believers. So for anyone who might be looking for "proof" that Santa exists, this beautifully illustrated 32-page book has got it in spades.

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