Candy Corn Christmas!

What’s striped and sweet and ready to celebrate Christmas? Not many readers would guess candy corn. But in Fenske’s entertaining sugar-fueled romp, “the candy time forgot” across seasons rallies from its spot languishing in a pantry pumpkin pail to discover a household “wonderland of sight and sound”—and the crew of kernels wants in. Crisp rhymes detail the story’s beats (“They mingled with a watchful elf/ that sat alone upon a shelf”), and lively visuals show the anthropomorphized candy corn as they splash in a cup of eggnog, “zip and zoom” through a gingerbread house, and leave sticky residue behind before an angry candy cane tries to shoo them back to their own October holiday. But the arrival of pale-skinned Santa himself—who initially mistakes the candy corn for a new kind of reindeer kibble—settles the matter with a jolly plea for inclusivity. The fantastically festive party that follows is a visual treat for all. Ages 1–4. (Sept.)