Book Review: Ronaldo: The Phantom Carrot Snatcher by Maxine Sylvester

Ronaldo: The Phantom Carrot Snatcher

Author: Maxine Slyvester

Publication Date: 17 November 2016

Genre: Children’s Fantasy

Pages: 216

Publisher: Independent

Ronaldo and Rudi discover friends come in all shapes and sizes as they embark on a superhero mission to help a lost wolf cub called Ernie find her pack. Rudi comes up with a plan to find the pack and deliver a message during a speed test at flying school. But Ronaldo isn’t totally onboard with the idea. He desperately wants to break the speed record and the plan means jeopardising his chance of becoming champion. 

Will Ronaldo go for glory… or will he discover the true meaning of friendship and sacrifice the race for Ernie? 

Bumbling Wing Commander Blitsen, head of The Reindeer Flying Academy, and mischievous brothers, Dasher, Comet and Prancer also feature in this fun tale of bravery and friendship.

This was one of those books that I needed to read at the right time. I was having a crap day, and this book was so incredibly heartwarming and fun to read.

Ronny and Rudi are both reindeers that are pupils at The Reindeer Flying Academy. Ronny is the fastest reindeer of his class, and he’s so close to clenching the golden snowflake trophy. After every flying test, Ronny and Rudi treat themselves to glasses of piping hot chocolate and fresh carrot sticks. The only problem? Ronny’s carrot sticks keep disappearing.

Ronny discovers that his carrot sticks are being consumed a lost wolf pup named Ernie. It’s so heartbreaking to hear that Ernie has been separated from her pack. Even though Ronny and all reindeers are frightened of wolves (because they gobble up reindeer) he feels terrible for attempting abandon Ernie. He decides to team up with his best friend Rudi to reunite Ernie with her pack.

I absolutely loved watching the new friendship that developed between Ernie and the boys. The boys were clearly afraid of Ernie because of what they had heard about her kind, but they gave her a chance anyways and refused to leave her behind. There’s also a really wonderful scene where Ernie is able to repay their kindness by defending the boys against a bully and reinforcing that friends stick together no matter what.

The author did an incredible job with the illustrations. The cover is stunning and immediately makes me nostalgic for sledding with hot chocolate afterwards. There are also illustrations sprinkled throughout the book, and each one of them is really well done. Such amazing talent.

Overall, this is an incredible book for children and the perfect gift for the holiday season. I think kids would really love the friendships, adventure, the magical flying, and of course, all of the hot chocolate.

Thank you to the author for providing this book for an honest review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.