I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Snatching St. Nick about a mischievous kid called Cooper who has a reputation for always getting into trouble. When he strikes up a bet with his adversary Dax Christmas is about to get crazy! Dax bet Cooper that he couldn't stay on his best behaviour before Christmas and will never be so well behaved to get what he really wants - a Zop-Em 3000. Cooper being Cooper gets fed up of trying to be good and decides its just not worth the effort and comes up with a crazy plan to kidnap Santa! To make things even worse there's even more trouble afoot when Floozer tries to turn Christmas into a combat attack. There's quite a few giggles to be had in this book and it did make me smile quite a few times. Such a fun and crazy book that will give children a fun entertaining read for the festive season.
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This book was hilarious. We read it during Christmas and we really enjoyed the adventure. His mistakes and the problems that arise just make the story better.

Okay this was really cute! there are some problems but then again i am an adult and i am sure if/when i let my child read this they will love it ALOT.

A sweet and festive Christmas story, which will bring so much cheer and smiling faces - children will love this book, it's such an easy book to read and leave you to feel all the magic of the Christmas season.

2.5/5 stars


This was very average for me. I really didn't love it however I'm going to attribute that to my age. I think the intended age range would really have a great time reading this during the holiday season. As an adult there is a level of imagination you have to use when reading some middle-grade books, unfortunately, this was just too much to the point where I felt like it didn't make sense. Overall it just wasn't the book for me.

This book is definitely funny. I had a hard time connecting with the characters, but the main story was entertaining and exciting. Might make for some great discussions.

I received an advanced readers e-copy of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a middle-grade book that follows multiple POVs but mainly Cooper's. This is a funny little story to read and I think middle school students would enjoy it. I do have a few problems with the story, however, I, unfortunately, kept feeling myself being pulled out of the zone of reading because of the dialogue that Cooper and his friend Peony and even Dax felt very unlike how 10 year olds speak. The main heist also felt very unrealistic, now a younger middle schooler might not care that much about that but an older middle school student would definitely notice the unrealistic aspects. This wouldn't be great for a younger audience of kids due to the nature of name-calling and the heist itself, including what Cooper does during the heist, are not great things to have children read without ample discussion following them. Even for middle school students, I would encourage a discussion about what went on in the book. There were a few tropes that felt very hallmark-y to me, though, I love a Christmas hallmark film around the holidays- these, unfortunately, fell a little flat to me. I could see what the author was trying to do with this story and I can appreciate the time and effort and clear planning that went into this story. The first few chapters had totally enraptured me and I found myself giggling at the antics throughout the story. Still, I felt it fell a little flat in the areas I spoke about which bummed me out! I will say, the chapter titles are hysterical! I love when authors play around with funny chapter titles.

I'm unsure what exact percentage I got through this book, but I could not finish it. I hate giving books one star because I know how much time and energy goes into them, but this just wasn't very good. The writing is sooooo immature and all over the place. It was trying too hard to be relevant to youths, but it ended up being inappropriate for the target audience and hard to follow. I love reading middle grade and children's stories so I know what to expect and at what level each book should be. The writing in this one was choppy and nonsensical. Not only that, but the plot itself just didn't make much sense and felt so thrown together. Just because a book is written for a younger audience doesn't mean basic plot structure shouldn't be considered. I know this review seems all over the place, but honestly, I'm just unsure of my exact thoughts because this book confused me so much. Overall, just not good- disappointingly so.

Thank you to NetGalley and Raynen Katz Books for an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for this arc. Not one of my favourite children’s Christmas books, but some nice ideas in it.
Thanks so much for the arc

The author kindly sent me a copy of this book since I was not able to download this version.

I know that every author puts their heart into what they write and I appreciate that. Here are the problems that I had with this book.

First of all this book is narrated by Cooper, a 10 year old "bad boy" who is determined to get a particular toy for Christmas. He knows that he is always on the naughty list but has come up with another plan.

I personally don't think most 10 year old children still believe in Santa.. If they are old enough to read this book I would not recommend it.

The language in this book is not anything that I would want my 8 year old grandson to read. There is a lot of slang and just plain bad and insulting language. Example: "A smarty-pants looking kid with thick-rimmed glasses asked "I've seen quite a few humans working around this place. Why? " Answer from the tour elf "Discrimination suit of '62. Had to hire humans after that.". How would a young child understand that?

What I felt was even more inappropriate, "Aren't elves always short like you?" Answer "Not necessarily. Humans and elves began to marry each other and have kids, so now you don't know who is who and what is what". Definitely not what I would want to explain to my grandson!!

The main message of the book doesn't really come until the final chapters when we learn some of the reasons why Cooper is always behaving badly.

The little boy's plan to go to the North Pole is very unbelievable and then there are others, bad elves, who change the plan entirely.

I believe the author wanted to make the book amusing for the child reading it, I just don't think the story or language is appropriate and I couldn't recommend it.

I received a galley of this book from the author.

I could not finish this book. Not because I'm an adult reading middle-grade fiction. This particular middle-grade fiction threw all the tropes into the pot and stirred them around. Dead mother, check. Super busy executive father, check. Crazy old grandparent, check. You get the idea. The narrator was like one of those kids on a Nickelodeon series who is far too aware of the camera and constantly plays to it. It all became too much. I made it about 1/3 of the way through, and it still hadn't really done much more than set up the need to kidnap Santa. My desire to see what would happen was outweighed by my frustration with the writing.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review. This was a cute story but very juvenile. I think this book would be great for fourth and fifth grade kids.

What a cute cover! Definitely a book for your younger ones stockings. Beautifully written & illustrated

It’s always a struggle to get my youngest nephew to read as he’s not a fan of reading, so I’m always on the lookout for anything I think might spark his interest. Now while Snatching St. Nick probably skews more toward younger readers, it’s a really fun story. Snatching St. Nick tells the story of Cooper, a rather overactive 10 year old who many people label a ‘bad boy’, a real troublemaker, but there is a reason for his acting out, a reason you’ll learn by the end of the book. At the start we learn that Cooper has a nemesis at school, Dex, a real goody-goody. They’ve made a bet that Cooper can’t a Zop’Em 3000, the absolute must have toy this Christmas season. The only way to get one is to be at the top of Santa’s Nice List. It becomes clear very early on that poor Cooper has no chance of getting to the top of that list so he comes up a backup plan: kidnap an elf and ransom him back to Santa for an Zop’Em 3000. Things don’t go as planned and instead if kidnapping an elf, he nabs the Big Man himself, and from there things go from bad to worse and soon all of Christmas is in jeopardy. As I said, while it to tends to skew a bit towards a younger audience, it’s a fun story and is sure to put a smile on your face.
I’d like to thank Raynen Katz Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Snatching St. Nick.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/snatching-st-nick-myla-taylor/1140414325?ean=2940165606854&bvnotificationId=8fc85663-3782-11ec-ab98-0e519d4bae1d&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/189611250

The description of this book made me think it would make a fabulous pre-christmas read with children. Upon reading I was quite disappointed in the quality of language used, it definitely would.not be a book I would choose to read with a child of any age. It all felt like a cheaply made film, I can almost hear the canned laughter. It's a shame as I felt the storyline had great potential.

I received an advance copy of, Snatching St, Nick, by Myla Taylor. This book is very juvenile, its a great Christmas book for little kids.