Ever wished for some context on the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” In this funny and surprisingly moving story, the recipient of the elaborate gifts tells all. It begins, of course, with a bird and a tree, which is “nice enough.” He likes pears. “[My] true love sent it, so of course I loved it. Of course I did.” Twelve days later, the narrator (white) has an uncomfortable phone call with his true love concerning the hordes of people—drummers, milkmaids, dancers, men in leotards—and animals packed into his house like sardines (“Why did you think I would like this?”) Accompanied by his gifts, he visits his mother and inadvertently starts a parade. There he meets a child who says that he’d sell the cows’ milk to buy books for his school—and just like that, the narrator gains a little perspective. He and his posse organize a circus and a bake sale (“You can bake a lot of cakes when you have a hundred and twelve cows, geese, and hens…”), with proceeds going to the child’s library. It feels good to help. The narrator flies (on swans) to his true love, to thank her for the gifts… only to find that they weren’t what she’d intended to send. (The website had been “really confusing.”) Presented in full-page illustrations, as well as in panels with speech bubbles, the colorful, busy artwork is as amusing as the narrative of this offbeat, heartwarming holiday tale.