Customer Reviews

Red Ranger Came Calling: A Guaranteed True Christmas Story

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I'll confess right here ... it's usually tough for me to get into the Christmas spirit. And most Christmas books for kids strike me as either lame attempts to rehash worn-out imagery... or stories which are really written for adults to recapture some "warm fuzzies" from their memory banks (never mind the kids, thank you).

This book must contain some powerful stuff ... if it can get a cynical crumudgeon like me to read it over and over to my son. Breathed begins his story with the moping, skeptical, don't-trust- anyone-too-much attitude which I immediately find familiar. But... then ... he magically weaves an unlikely tale which transforms that feeling into one of genuine hope. The "Santa" character is wonderfully (and appropriately) ambiguous. The reader,as well as the story's narrator, is not quite sure whether this guy is the real thing -- or yet another impostor. He doesn't fit the mold, that's for sure. But he does come through (at least it seems it was him) in the end. Oh sleighbells! Don't just take my word for it, read the gosh-darn thing, marvel at Breathed's quirky illustrations. And then feel the swell of hope, which is more than just wishing for nifty presents. A sure winner for children of all ages!

I remember standing in a bookstore (remember bookstores?) one Christmas season and noticing this book in hardcover on the bottom shelf in the cartoon section. I recognized Berke Breathed's name from Bloom County and thought it'd be worth a look see. I'd missed his sharp sarcastic wit since he retired Bloom County.

I stood there for a good 30 minutes reading the book from cover to cover, every single page. Beautiful, humorous writing; hilarious artwork... and a message. You didn't really get that much during the Bloom County days.

When I got to the end I was in tears. My sister was shopping with me, and I called her over and said, "Read this from the very beginning, every word, don't peak ahead. Stand here until you're done". Soon we both had tears in our eyes

What a funny beautiful way to describe what the love of Christmas does for us:

Sometimes folks need something to believe in.

Sometimes folks need someone to believe in them.

After reading "The Polar Express" by Chris Van Allsburg, I didn't think I would ever find a more enjoyable storybook. I was wrong. This one ranks along side "Polar..." as one of the greatest storybooks ever - and not only among Christmas stories. The emotions expressed by the children and adults to whom I have read this book are absolutely fantatstic. If you make it through this book without belly-laughing one minute and crying the next, you just aren't alive!!! If you read any storybook in your entire life for pure enjoyment, READ THIS ONE!!!!!!! If it ever comes out again in hardcover, buy it quick. Its a collectible. If it doesn't, buy it in soft-cover. Its still a collectible!

Without re-capping the story of this very unique book, let me say that the reading age should be 5 - 105! I was so moved and my imagination so captured by this tale that I made a summer vacation trip to Vashon Island in the Puget Sound, just to check out the legend. I spent a mystical afternoon dragging my son around Point Robinson and the town of Vashon, looking for the storybook places. Let me say that the "object in question" is still there, and the local folks seem to know nothing about it's history. I await Berkeley Breathed website to ask him personally about his father Red's experience. Thank you for a once in a lifetime book.

Berkeley Breathed is an artist with complete mastery of the written word and the visual image. His talents brought him wealth and fame and a Pulitzer Prize from his wonderful work on the 'toon "Bloom County". Feeling an itch for something a little different, Mr. Breathed began working on children's books and this picture book couldn't be more delightful if you had combined the talents of Gary Trudeau, Norman Rockwell and Dr. Seuss.

The Santa in this story isn't the robust, jolly old North Pole Elf from many other tales. In fact, he is a little infirmed and being looked after by the other elves. His hearing is less than perfect, and one of the key moments in the book comes when he thinks he hears "treed" when our hero Red Ranger has actually said "tweed". But by the end of the tale I felt myself getting a little choked up as Santa and Red come through for each other and restore each other's faith in the spirit of Christmas.

The illustrations are fanciful and colorful and allowed me to read a book which SHOULD have been way over the head of my 3 year old niece. She immediately made me read it again, then promise to read it to her again tomorrow.

This is a great book. The message (believe and be grateful) is well delivered. The writing is really funny, the illustrations are lively and hold the attention of the reader.

BUT BE CAREFUL! Read this book on your own first, before you read it to your kids on Christmas Eve...because the main character questions whether or not Santa is real, and he does it in a very pre-teen, sarcastic way. It may get kids questioning the whole "Santa" idea in the first place, even though in the end Santa is real. However it takes a somewhat mature reader to figure that out.

Great book, just read it before you share it with your kids.

Berkeley Breathed's father told him a story of Christmas 1939, and this book is that (tall) story. In 1939, his young father was a great fan of Buck Tweed, the Red Ranger, protector of the 23rd century, and was known himself as the Red Ranger. For Christmas he wanted an official Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hopper bicycle. But, it was the Depression, and such a gift was not likely to come. Hearing that Santa Claus had retired nearby, the Red Ranger set off to confront him, complete with death-ray/dart gun and red-stained pajama top. This is the story of that confrontation.

The story of this book is absolutely hilarious! (My son and I laughed mightily when the Red Ranger panicked and shot Santa in the forehead with his dart gun.) Also, the illustrations are masterfully done, and are at least as funny as the story itself. My seven-year-old son loved reading this book, which was perfectly written for one of his reading ability. As a matter of fact, the last picture has him wondering about the truth of this fantastic yarn!

Though this book might seem to have the lesson that one should believe in Santa Claus, its true lesson is one of caring about others and their feelings. This is a great book, and one that should be given to all families.

Red Ranger Came Calling is a lavishly illustrated Christmas tale that Berkeley Breathed's father would relate to his son, and is now being given to us.

This is a tale of a pessimistic young boy and a pessimistic old Santa who restore each others faith in the magic of Christmas during the depression. The prose and images bring the story to life, and the final image is enough to make you believe in magic all over again.

This is a Christmas story that should have a place of honor beside on your bookshelf beside "The night before Christmas" and "A Christmas Carol."

Then look no further. But keep in mind, the grownups are likely to be just as captivated by this beautifully illustarted, dry-humored book a bit more than the kids. (I know because I've got a bit of both in me!) Rest assured this book is just as funny as a certain Christmas movie about a youngster who deperately desires a BB gun for Christmas; but "Red Ranger" is a thousand times more sentimental. This young boy confronts an old washed-up man who claims to have once been the guy in the red suit. The boy adamantly denies having any belief in Santa. But his desire for the coveted "Buck Tweed, Red Ranger Bicycle" is so consuming that he decides to go out on a limb and place a tiny bit of faith (probably about the size of a mustard seed) in the old man. Well, I won't give away the ending except to say that you'll be moved when you discover the strange, but fulfilling conclusion to the story about a Christmas morning that held "the last little bit of an old man's faith and the first of a sour-faced little boy's". P.S. If you prefer a Christmas story with a Christ-centered theme, then purchase this book and see if you can't find a strong piece of Christian symbolism (unintended, perhaps) at the end. You may have to ponder it for awhile, but it's there.

The first time I read this, I read it to my two children ages 3 and 5. They are now 11 and 13 and we still read it. This is the perfect book for kids who are at "that age" when they question everything. If you haven't read it, read it for the first time WITH A CHILD! The end will blow your socks off!