A Christmas Eve Problem in Ruby Reef
The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas by Ellen Kolman, illustrated by Kaelen Felix, is out today from Prolific Pulse Press.
It’s Christmas Eve in Ruby Reef. The ornaments are hung, the ribbons are wrapped, and the whole town is ready to celebrate. There’s just one problem: the town tree has no star.
If you’ve ever stood back to admire a Christmas tree and felt that something was missing, you already know how big a problem that is. And if you know Crabby Abby, you know she won’t sit still while it goes unsolved.
An Undersea Quest
Crabby Abby, the decorator crab who first won readers over in Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab’s Big Heart, sets off with her friends Daniel and Lavender to find a star for the tree before Christmas morning.
Their search takes them across the reef, past swaying kelp forests and glowing coral, under a bright Christmas Eve moon. Along the way, young readers will find plenty to point at, laugh about, and talk over together.
We won’t spoil where the search leads. But we will say that the star they find may not be the one anyone expected.
The Light That Shines Brightest
At its heart, this is a story about what really makes Christmas shine. As Abby, Daniel and Lavender search the reef, they discover that kindness and God’s love shine brightest of all.
That message is woven into an adventure, not tacked on at the end. Children experience it through the friends’ choices along the way, which makes it easy to talk about afterward: Who was kind? How did it help? Where do we see God’s love at Christmas?
Meet the Creators
Ellen Kolman, author. Ohio native Ellen Kolman is an award-winning author driven by a passion to teach children the love of Jesus. She has been teaching and entertaining children in church and Christian school settings for over 35 years. Her young students inspired her to write stories that help them understand kindness, forgiveness, empathy, and friendship. Ellen and her husband Andy have five adult children, five grandchildren, and a little white dog named Chip. Learn more on Ellen’s author page.
Kaelen Felix, illustrator. Kaelen Felix brings Ruby Reef to life with richly colored, hand-drawn art, from Abby’s mismatched shoes to every ornament on the tree. She is the author, illustrator, and designer of Wings and Whispers – Tales of Friendship, Volume 1, and has been creating children’s books for clients since 2018 in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. She holds a BFA in Illustration from Memphis College of Art.
Ways to Share It This Season
- At home: Make it a Christmas Eve read-aloud, then let kids pick the star for your own tree.
- In the classroom: Pair it with a lesson on kindness, or have students draw their own undersea Christmas tree.
- In Sunday school or children’s church: Use the story to open a conversation about God’s love and the true light of Christmas.
- As a gift: Tuck it into a stocking, an Advent basket, or a teacher gift bag.
Get Your Copy
The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas is available now on Ellen Kolman. Order today and it can be under your tree well before Christmas Eve.
New to Crabby Abby? Start with her first adventure, Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab’s Big Heart (2025).
More books by Ellen Kolman
- An Egg Called Easter (2026)
- Who Is Jesus? Easter Devotional & Coloring Book (2026)
- The Wonder of the Twinkly Lights (2025)
- A Gentle Whisper (2025)
- Sunshine Makes a Difference (2024)
- Seeds of Sunshine (2022)
- A Special Kind of Halo
- Darwin the Wonder Dog Goes to School
- And Purdie the Unicorn Can’t Stop Popping Balloons
Share your Christmas reading photos with us. We’d love to see Crabby Abby under your tree!
