Critter Christmas: Hamster in the Holly by Ben M. Baglio

Kids, animals, and Christmas seem to go together naturally, and Ben Baglio's Animal Ark series, set in a small veterinary clinic in the cozy English village of Walton, has plenty of animal action as Mandy Hope, whose parents who run Animal Ark, and her friend James solve mysteries and rescue animals in danger.

In Hamster in the Holly, (Animal Ark Series #35) set during Walton's Christmastide, Mandy Hope and her best friend James are in the last week of rehearsals for the Walton School Christmas play, The Little Mermaid. No would-be thespian, Mandy is miscast as the wicked witch, and her attempt at a scary cackling laugh sounds more like Santa, to the despair of the music director Mrs. Winterton. Still, between after-school and weekend play practice, Mandy and James keep busy helping Mandy's parents, the veterinarians at Animal Ark, take care of a variety of furry patients.

Mandy and James are excited to learn that one of their new neighbor's hamsters is expecting babies, but when the school hamster Henry makes another one of his escapes during rehearsal, it seems the two friends have too many hamster happenings on their hands. After a frantic search of the school by the cast members, Mrs. Winterton's young son Daniel is found trying to smuggle Henry out in an empty violin case. Mandy then realizes that the lonely little boy is trying to replace his pet hamster which has recently died, even though his mother insists that she's too busy to take on a new pet.

Finally it's the big day, and as she is costumed in a swirling black cape, tall hat, and green makeup with long fingernails to match, Mandy finally feels that she's getting into the part of the wicked witch just in time for her performance. To add to the day's excitement, the baby hamsters are born, and their neighbor sends her two adult hamsters to stay with Henry at school until the babies are safely through their first few days.

Just as the performance is about to begin, Mandy and James discover that Honey, one of the visiting hamsters, has escaped from her cage. The show must go on, but between their big scenes, James and Mandy scour the school and finally spot the runaway rodent jumping through an open window. Tracking the little pawprints through the new fallen snow, they discover Honey high in a holly tree on the school grounds, and Mandy, witch's cloak, plastic fingernails and all, realizes that she is going to have to climb the tree to rescue the half-frozen little animal before her final curtain call.

As always, Hamster in the Holly has a happy conclusion. With the successful performance behind her, Mrs. Winterton relents and allows little Daniel to chose a hamster from one of the babies in the new litter, not, as she says, as a Christmas gift, but as Daniel says, as the "best un-Christmas gift ever."

Other holiday stories in this long-running series are Terrier in the Tinsel (Animal Ark Series #34) and Spaniel in a Stocking (Animal Ark Holiday Treasury #8) (Animal Ark Series #48). This trio from the evergreen Animal Ark series would make timely treats beneath the tree for the young animal lovers on your holiday list.