The Christmas Contest: An Advent Novel

Residents of the North Pole compete to be named Santa Claus's apprentice in this charming, festively illustrated chapter book told in a groundbreaking advent calendar format, with chapter-a-day reading making it a well-paced and anticipation-filled experience!

Santa Claus has a problem. There are too many kids on the nice list this year, and he's worried he won't be able to deliver all the presents by himself! The only solution is to recruit an apprentice for the first time in his long career--to be chosen through a carefully crafted competition. Soon, the North Pole is buzzing with excitement as contestants come forward to show they've got the Christmas spirit and know-how to help jolly old St. Nicholas himself.

There are elves who think they deserve a promotion, children from the village, a gnome who only says "groumf," and even a stuffed monkey! As Christmas Eve draws closer and Santa Claus tasks the hopefuls with more and more creative tests, who will come out on top?

With this book's unique advent calendar format, each of the twenty-four chapters is sealed by its own perforated enclosure that readers can gently tear open--by hand or with the help of a ruler--to read a chapter a day in the weeks leading to Christmas!

Author: Maxime Gillio
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 09/30/2025
Pages: 196
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 7.40h x 5.90w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781665990639
Audience: Ages 9-12

About the Author
Maxime Gillio has twenty-five books to his credit in genres from thriller to social subjects to cozy children's books. He is also an organizer of literary events and the founder of Les Halliennalles book festival.

Benedetta Capriotti was born in Italy, in a seaside town of the central region Marche. Since she was a child, she has had a great passion for drawing and art; in high school, she would draw in Greek and Latin books, so she chose to attend a professional school of fashion and technical drawing. Afterwards, she studied illustration at the International School of Comics in Rome. In addition to drawing, she likes reading, traveling, and animals, and she would like to live in a quiet house in the English countryside.