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Secret Santa, Agent of X.M.A.S.
Santa and his little helper, newly qualified X.M.A.S. agent Jingle Bells, are on the trail of Dr Cumulus Nimbus, who's hell-bent on creating a new ice age - and Santa hates snow! Can they stop the evil plot before the world is snowed under?
- GenresAction
170 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2010
About the author
Guy Bass
81 books62 followersGuy is an award-winning author whose children's books series include Stitch Head, Skeleton Keys, Dinkin Dings, Spynosaur, The Legend of Frog and Atomic! In 2010 Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things won the Blue Peter Award for Most Fun Book with Pictures.
Guy's has also written plays for both adults and children. He has previously been a theatre producer, illustrator, temp, gerbil whisperer and has acted his way out of several paper bags.
Guy spent his childhood reading comics and hoping one day to become a superhero. He spends his adulthood in more or less the same way.
Guy lives in London with his wife and no dog - yet.
Guy's has also written plays for both adults and children. He has previously been a theatre producer, illustrator, temp, gerbil whisperer and has acted his way out of several paper bags.
Guy spent his childhood reading comics and hoping one day to become a superhero. He spends his adulthood in more or less the same way.
Guy lives in London with his wife and no dog - yet.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 18, 2022
A pretty cheesy at times (especially the names, though they were super creative), but a good unique Christmas story. We read it as our read-aloud story for December and my students loved it.
December 22, 2010
Santa is for life, not just for Christmas with this fab new book from author Guy Bass and illustrator David Lopez. Many people assume that picture books are for younger readers but illustrations in books are just as important in books for many children in the 8-10 age group, especially if they are struggling or reluctant readers. Images relating to the story help these readers engage more readily with the plot, and also help break up that big blocks of text that can scare off some children. Secret Santa: Agent of X.M.A.S. is the perfect book for all children in this age range, struggling reader or more confident they will love the crazy and hilarious adventures of this new superhero and his eleven sidekick.
I am sure many children over the years have asked the incredibly important question: What does Santa do for the other 364 days of the year? And I am sure most of them have been fobbed off with standard answers such as "sleeping" or "making toys" or such like. Now, however, the truth has finally been revealed - the man in red is actually the top agent for the Xtremely Mysterious Agency of Secrets (X.M.A.S.) and spends those 364 days saving the planet from the dastardly actions of the world's most dangerous criminals. A team of highly-trained Elf Agents work tirelessly to monitor all kinds of criminal activity and add the most deadly perpetrators to The Naughty List. No reindeer pulled sleigh for this Santa though, he needs something far more practical - in this case it is a Mark 499 Sleigh, a high speed vehicle that can travel on land, water and, of course, through air.... but that's not all: by activating its quantum core good old SC can also travel "at the speed of time" (well how else could he deliver so many presents to so many children all over the world on that one day a year when he takes a break from crime-fighting?).
This book (which I hope will be the first of many) sees Santa being given a new Little Helper, an elf aptly named Jingle Bells who has supposedly come "top of the tree" at X.M.A.S. Academy. I say supposedly as Jingle Bells has a secret he wants to hide from everyone, but in doing so he finds himself thrown head first into a life threatening mission on his first day on the job, and quickly discovers that working for X.M.A.S. is not all about making presents to be delivered at that festive time of the year. As a reluctant sidekick to the heroic secret agent Santa Jingle Bells provides many of the hilarious moments that will have kids and parents laughing out loud together. We are also treated to a maniacal master villain who wants to dominate the world through extreme climate change - starting with a new Ice Age for the USA.
Guy Bass obviously has an off the wall sense of humour, and uses this to give new meaning to the many well known and loved legends and stories that surround Santa Claus. He is aided and abetted by the fantastic illustrations of David Lopez, used to both add humour and detail to the story (although I so wish they were in colour). There are some pretty complicated words at times in this story, but I don't think this should put off readers of 7 or 8 - with a little help they should cope fine, although they would enjoy it even more if read to them by a parent as a bedtime book.
I am sure many children over the years have asked the incredibly important question: What does Santa do for the other 364 days of the year? And I am sure most of them have been fobbed off with standard answers such as "sleeping" or "making toys" or such like. Now, however, the truth has finally been revealed - the man in red is actually the top agent for the Xtremely Mysterious Agency of Secrets (X.M.A.S.) and spends those 364 days saving the planet from the dastardly actions of the world's most dangerous criminals. A team of highly-trained Elf Agents work tirelessly to monitor all kinds of criminal activity and add the most deadly perpetrators to The Naughty List. No reindeer pulled sleigh for this Santa though, he needs something far more practical - in this case it is a Mark 499 Sleigh, a high speed vehicle that can travel on land, water and, of course, through air.... but that's not all: by activating its quantum core good old SC can also travel "at the speed of time" (well how else could he deliver so many presents to so many children all over the world on that one day a year when he takes a break from crime-fighting?).
This book (which I hope will be the first of many) sees Santa being given a new Little Helper, an elf aptly named Jingle Bells who has supposedly come "top of the tree" at X.M.A.S. Academy. I say supposedly as Jingle Bells has a secret he wants to hide from everyone, but in doing so he finds himself thrown head first into a life threatening mission on his first day on the job, and quickly discovers that working for X.M.A.S. is not all about making presents to be delivered at that festive time of the year. As a reluctant sidekick to the heroic secret agent Santa Jingle Bells provides many of the hilarious moments that will have kids and parents laughing out loud together. We are also treated to a maniacal master villain who wants to dominate the world through extreme climate change - starting with a new Ice Age for the USA.
Guy Bass obviously has an off the wall sense of humour, and uses this to give new meaning to the many well known and loved legends and stories that surround Santa Claus. He is aided and abetted by the fantastic illustrations of David Lopez, used to both add humour and detail to the story (although I so wish they were in colour). There are some pretty complicated words at times in this story, but I don't think this should put off readers of 7 or 8 - with a little help they should cope fine, although they would enjoy it even more if read to them by a parent as a bedtime book.
December 23, 2012
Good fun, a great choice for kids. We listened on audio in the car, it took the edge of a long-ish drive to the Midlands to see family for Christmas.
I enjoyed the super-hero/side kick spoof and creative take on the myth of Santa, it was humourous too - well I thought it was funny! (If I'm honest, my sense of humour has probably not really developed much beyond that of the average 8 year old.)
I enjoyed the super-hero/side kick spoof and creative take on the myth of Santa, it was humourous too - well I thought it was funny! (If I'm honest, my sense of humour has probably not really developed much beyond that of the average 8 year old.)
December 13, 2022
A silly story about what Santa does the other 364 days of the year.
It's a quick read, and the author does a quite good job of narrating it. I reread it at least every other year as one of my December books.
It's a shame that it doesn't seem as popular as some of the author's other works, and never received a sequel.
It's a quick read, and the author does a quite good job of narrating it. I reread it at least every other year as one of my December books.
It's a shame that it doesn't seem as popular as some of the author's other works, and never received a sequel.
October 5, 2015
secret santa is agreat book its about jingle the man caricter becomeing santas asisent or side kick if you will say and them trying to stop the vialen docter numurus he is a cloud I will recrmend this book to crismus lovers every whare this book is realy exiding I give this book a 3 stars up
January 5, 2012
this book was really good! look on the last page to see the naughty list top ten!!
April 16, 2012
This book was hilarious! it was one of my favorites.
December 12, 2013
its a funny book that really sasys the true meaning of joy - For santa! Its full of so called action and amazement it really is an awesome book and i am glad i read it.
December 22, 2013
This was very fun and my second graders really enjoyed it. I liked that even though Jingle thought he was fooling Santa, Santa has years of experience with naughty or nice. Silly in a good way.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews