If You Ever Want to Bring a Pirate to Meet Santa, Don't!: 4 (Magnolia Says Don't!) Hardcover – Picture Book, 15 Nov. 2018

The best Christmas book! The must have... Bloody brilliant x

When your father tells you that you are going to meet a man with a beard and a sack of treasure, he means Santa, not the pirate by the mall fountain. And even if you befriend the pirate, it might not be a good idea to ask him to join you in line. After all, he is on the naughty list. His ideas of songs might not be festive. He might want to pillage anything you are offered in line. Will he reform before you get to the front of the line?This is another delightfully silly picture book. As the situation gets more out of hand, the more fun the book is, and the ending is priceless. The book is narrated in second person, but more as Magnolia, the main character, using her own bad experience to warn us away from what could happen. The pictures are on the cartoony side, but they perfectly capture the fun and absurdity of this story. It's perfect for Christmas, but I could see it slipping into a reading list the rest of the year.

I first discovered this series a couple years ago, as I am a teacher and received another book in this series. Upon exploring the book I noticed all my students (I'm a kindergarten teacher) LOVED another book in the serise called "If you ever want to bring a piano to the beach don't." The kids loved it because Magnolia (the main character) is very silly, and the drawings are very engaging. My entire class was very excited when we learned that another "Magnolia says" book was coming out. I must say this book did not disappoint! The children loved the pirate, and it gave us a good opportunity to discuss manners when waiting.However the thing I love about this book the most is the diversity in it. This is the only book I have found that shows a family where the children are (presumably) adopted but does not mention that the family is "different." In this book the siblings all look different, but the main character only addresses them as her brother and sister, without an explanation. This normalizes that families look different, and as a parent who has adopted children, it is a book where my kids can see themselves, and our family in a text without that being the lesson of the book. I absolutely adore these books!

I love, love, LOVE these books!! They are my daughters’ favorites so we read them A LOT. The illustrations are fantastic and add to the story so much, the storylines are short and funny for both kids and grownups, and there are certain consistent themes that run through all the books that my kids like to look for. Oh... and my daughter thinks she has a twin in Magnolia (the main character) and has taken up eating egg-and-cheese sandwiches to be just like her. Can’t say enough good about these books.

Our kids eagerly anticipated the new Magnolia Says "DON'T!" book, since they have loved all the previous stories. They have a lot of fun finding the funny little details in the illustrations on every page.My six-year-old daughter thought it was very funny that Magnolia's dad seemed to have kind of a "Well, this could be interesting!" attitude, apparently secretly gleeful at the mayhem shortening the interminable wait at the mall.Our four-year-old son loves pirates, and yelling pirate-y things. This book made him very happy indeed.Our two-year-old twins love yelling the loud parts of the book together, and pointing out every single fish.My wife and I giggled a bit at the names of the stores in the mall.All of us love the funny faces Magnolia's crew makes for the camera.This book, like all the other Elise Parsley books, gets LOTS of "Will you read me this book again??"And now that we have a six-year-old who is finding traction in the reading department, it also gets occasional, "Do you want me to read you this book??"Five grateful stars.

Funny, filled with amazing illustrations. My grandson loved it and now he wants all of Elise Parsley's books. Super fun to read aloud.

This is a wonderful story. I love the pirate intertwined with Santa. My 3 1/2 year old grandson made me read it 3 times in a row. A lovely story and fantastic book. A definite must have for any child’s library.