Interrupting Chicken Saves the Nutcracker by David Ezra Stein (Candlewick). Okay, so the tiny red chick did promise Papa she’d stay in her seat for the whole show. In her defense, however, it’s awfully hard not to jump onstage and intervene when Clara, Fritz, the soldiers, and all the others from the beloved Yuletide ballet seem like they could use a hand. It’s so hard, in fact, that the feisty fowl somehow ends up in the spotlight over and over again!

The Winding Willow by Will Hillenbrand (Holiday House). “For Hubert Cumberbun, doing a good deed was everything. He liked the way it made him feel. One snowy day, he cleared a path to Aunt Nanny Mouse’s house.” But things take a decidedly otherworldly turn from there, when, heading home, the wee mouse finds himself atop a spooky, twisty tree — and then in the talons of a hungry owl! Will the mythic sky bears lofting in the clouds alongside Hubert guide him safely to the ground?

Cupig Saves Christmas by Claire Tattersfield (author) and Rob Sayegh Jr. (illustrator) (Flamingo Books). “It was a crisp and snowy December night. Cupig was preparing for her evening flight when she received an urgent call from jolly Saint Nick. ‘Oh, Cupig, thank goodness — I’m terribly sick!’” It’s Christmas Eve, but Santa is too ill to drive his sleigh! With the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the leprechauns unavailable, the holiday hinges on Cupig. No problem, thinks the scrappy swine. How hard could delivering presents be? Well…