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Dasher (Special Movie Cover Edition)

How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever

Part of Dasher

Illustrated by Matt Tavares
Hardcover
$19.99 US
10-5/8"W x 9-7/16"H | 20 oz | 30 per carton
On sale Sep 29, 2026 | 40 Pages | 9781536255058
Age 4-8 years | Preschool - 3

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Return to the beloved Christmas story of Dasher—now with exclusive additions featuring art from the Disney Jr. and Disney+ animated special!

Dasher is an adventurous young reindeer with a wish in her heart. She spends her days with her family under the hot sun in a traveling circus, but she longs for a different life—one where there is snow beneath her hooves and the North Star above her head. One day, when the opportunity arises, Dasher seizes her destiny and takes off in pursuit of the life she wants to live. It’s not long before she meets a nice man in a red suit with a horse-drawn sleigh—a man named Santa. And soon, with the help of a powerful Christmas wish, nothing will be the same.
Tavares excels at Christmas stories (Red & Lulu, The Gingerbread Pirates), and young readers are apt to inhale every word of this yarn. As an illustrator, Tavares is a master of dramatic light, emotion and mood, as well as deep, vibrant color, whether he’s depicting Dasher’s family penned in at the circus or Santa’s sleigh magically lifting up into the air. Dasher is sure to join the stacks of enduring Christmas favorites read by families year after year.
—BookPage (starred review)

Gorgeous illustrations make this one sure to fly off shelves "like the down of a thistle."
—Kirkus Reviews

Richly colored illustrations in watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pastel delineate the history of how Dasher volunteered to pull Santa’s sleigh and help him bring joy to children on Christmas. Readers will enjoy this lush new holiday tale that focuses on Santa’s original reindeer.
—Booklist Online

Happily for all, a bit of magic assists gift delivery, and Santa’s gratitude leads to granted wishes and a reindeer reunion. Tavares’s classically painted figures are lit by moonlight and falling snow in this cozy antidote to holiday hullabaloo.
—Publishers Weekly

Dasher’s personality is clearly conveyed through her fervent wish for a better life, and her love of her family...and of carrots. Tavares’s painterly watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pastel illustrations reflect the pleasantly nostalgic tone used throughout this Santa’s-reindeer origin story.
—The Horn Book

Matt Tavares’s Dasher is magical. Kids are going to love this story for decades to come.
—Colby Sharp, co-founder of Nerdy Book Club
Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of the New York Times best-selling picture book Dasher and its sequels, Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas and Dasher and the Polar Bear, as well as Red and Lulu, the graphic novel Hoops, and several sports biographies, including Becoming Babe Ruth and Growing Up Pedro. He is also the illustrator of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, and Over the River and Through the Wood by L. Maria Child, among many other picture books. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.

Video trailer

About

Return to the beloved Christmas story of Dasher—now with exclusive additions featuring art from the Disney Jr. and Disney+ animated special!

Dasher is an adventurous young reindeer with a wish in her heart. She spends her days with her family under the hot sun in a traveling circus, but she longs for a different life—one where there is snow beneath her hooves and the North Star above her head. One day, when the opportunity arises, Dasher seizes her destiny and takes off in pursuit of the life she wants to live. It’s not long before she meets a nice man in a red suit with a horse-drawn sleigh—a man named Santa. And soon, with the help of a powerful Christmas wish, nothing will be the same.

Praise

Tavares excels at Christmas stories (Red & Lulu, The Gingerbread Pirates), and young readers are apt to inhale every word of this yarn. As an illustrator, Tavares is a master of dramatic light, emotion and mood, as well as deep, vibrant color, whether he’s depicting Dasher’s family penned in at the circus or Santa’s sleigh magically lifting up into the air. Dasher is sure to join the stacks of enduring Christmas favorites read by families year after year.
—BookPage (starred review)

Gorgeous illustrations make this one sure to fly off shelves "like the down of a thistle."
—Kirkus Reviews

Richly colored illustrations in watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pastel delineate the history of how Dasher volunteered to pull Santa’s sleigh and help him bring joy to children on Christmas. Readers will enjoy this lush new holiday tale that focuses on Santa’s original reindeer.
—Booklist Online

Happily for all, a bit of magic assists gift delivery, and Santa’s gratitude leads to granted wishes and a reindeer reunion. Tavares’s classically painted figures are lit by moonlight and falling snow in this cozy antidote to holiday hullabaloo.
—Publishers Weekly

Dasher’s personality is clearly conveyed through her fervent wish for a better life, and her love of her family...and of carrots. Tavares’s painterly watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pastel illustrations reflect the pleasantly nostalgic tone used throughout this Santa’s-reindeer origin story.
—The Horn Book

Matt Tavares’s Dasher is magical. Kids are going to love this story for decades to come.
—Colby Sharp, co-founder of Nerdy Book Club

Author

Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of the New York Times best-selling picture book Dasher and its sequels, Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas and Dasher and the Polar Bear, as well as Red and Lulu, the graphic novel Hoops, and several sports biographies, including Becoming Babe Ruth and Growing Up Pedro. He is also the illustrator of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, and Over the River and Through the Wood by L. Maria Child, among many other picture books. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.

Media

Video trailer

Meet the Creator: Q&A with DASHER Author-Illustrator Matt Tavares

By Jaclyn Withers – Sales Coordinator, Candlewick Can you imagine it? The gentle falling of snow outside your window, the fireplace lit, a warm beverage placed onto your nightstand as you sit down to read the latest title in the Dasher series to your little ones. They look up to you, eyes full of sparkles

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Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas

Matt Tavares’s sequel to the New York Times best-selling Dasher is a joyful ode to helping others—and another holiday classic in the making. “If you ever get lost, just look for the North Star.” With only one sleep left before Christmas Eve, Dasher can’t contain her excitement for her favorite holiday. With the sound of Christmas carols on the

Read more