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In this book, Baum presents a unique and inventive take on the Santa Claus legend. The narrative follows the adventures of Santa Claus, exploring his origins and the magical journey he undertakes to deliver gifts to children around the world. The story is filled with Baum's characteristic creativity, blending elements of fantasy and wonder to create a captivating portrayal of Santa Claus's life and adventures.

"Christmas Comes Once a Year" is a wonderful Christmas-themed book. The title itself is a nod to the old English proverb, emphasizing the significance of Christmas as a time of joy, festivity, and gathering. The book is structured as a collection of stories, anecdotes, and reflections, each centered around different aspects of the Christmas holiday. Leighton weaves together various elements of the season, such as the preparation of festive foods, the exchange of gifts, the decorating of homes with holly and ivy, and the communal spirit that defines Christmas.

When Kyra contracts a magical cold, her sneezing transports Mathilda into the Library where Kyra is forced to admit magic exists. When Mathilda tries to escape, Ruksy wipes her memory and Kyra has to pretend nothing happened. Imogen suspects Tayla is the magical graffiti artist and follows her to a secret studio where she warns Tayla about her reckless use of magic, but Tayla refuses to listen.

As the Purple Lotus begins to disrupt fairy and elf magic everywhere, the Bureau lose control of their magic, all except Kyra who is unaffected. Apinya pleads with Kyra to stop the Lotus by reclaiming her Orb Magic. When she refuses, Apinya plays her last card and reveals the truth about the disappearance of Kyra’s birth father.

Kyra and the Bureau escape from Magnus Sorenson with the Purple Lotus plans, but they seem to offer no hope until Kyra has a vision of what she alone must do. As the Purple Lotus continues to drain elf and fairy magic, Kyra and the Bureau risk everything in a desperate attempt to destroy the Lotus. But with the existence of magic revealed to the whole world, things can never be the same.

Kyra’s attempt to reclaim her Orb Magic from the Purple Lotus fails and its true purpose is revealed – to drain magic from elves and fairies, leaving Trilings all-powerful. When the DMI’s plan to destroy the Lotus fails, Kyra and Bureau make a risky and desperate trip back in time in an attempt to steal the original plans for the Lotus from the Triling, Magnus Sorenson.

With Apinya’s true identity exposed, Maxwell and the two Keys are captured and taken to the Bangkok warehouse, where Kyra finally locates the Third Key using her Orb Magic. While the Bureau attempt to rescue Maxwell, Kyra, Imogen and Tayla retrieve the Third Key which magically transports Kyra to the Temple of the Purple Lotus where her Orb magic is drained and the Purple Lotus comes to life.

Mathilda’s surprise birthday party for Kyra is thrown into chaos when Lily insists on helping and her magic causes some surprising transformations. In the Library, a dangerous magical creature gets loose and Apinya insists that the only way to stop it is for Kyra to use her Orb Magic. This brings Kyra a vision containing a clue to the location of the third Temple key.

The Bureau attempts to capture a bug whose bite causes the victim to tell the truth, but the bug bites Lily who is on her first date with Ben. Peter and Ruksy must pretend they are back together in order to prevent Lily from revealing that she is a fairy. Kyra is refused permission to testify at Maxwell’s hearing before the DMI. Maxwell is removed from teaching and Apinya is made permanent.

The Bureau has to overcome some tricky magical graffiti while Imogen is worried because Darra has gone missing. At a sleepover at Lily’s, Kyra has a vision of Darra in trouble, then is magically snatched to a warehouse where she saves Darra from attack by a mysterious Cobra statue. With no idea what is happening, Kyra is chased by a fairy and an elf, and is shocked to find she is in Bangkok.

Professor Maxwell allows Tayla to attend magic school for a day, but when Tayla cracks a magical mirror, she creates a malevolent doppelganger bent on destroying the Bureau, so she won’t be sent back into the mirror. Peter manages to warn Kyra, who is looking after her sickly stepfather, and she races to the rescue. Watching the Bureau put things right begins a change in Tayla’s attitude.

An old journal written by early 20th century Temple-seeker Magnus Sorenson leads Kyra and Darra to Thailand. After overcoming magical obstacles, Kyra and Darra find another Cobra Statue which delivers the Second Key to Kyra. Though Imogen knows Tayla is the graffiti artist, she keeps it from the Bureau and visits Tayla at her home where she learns why Tayla has no love for the magical world.

When Tayla loses a magical compact at school, Kyra’s friend Mathilda finds it and her wishes start coming true. Mathilda suspects the existence of magic so Kyra has to enlist the Bureau to convince her otherwise. With the café in danger of closing, Peter persuades his friend Ben to play guitar and sing. Ben is a hit and Lily gets a crush on him, but her attraction causes an embarrassing reaction.

Darra rescues Kyra then explains his quest to find the legendary Temple of the Purple Lotus. Kyra agrees to help Darra find the Three Keys to the Temple, and when they return to the warehouse the Cobra Statue offers the first Key to Kyra. Meanwhile, the Bureau continues to search for the magical graffiti artist and Imogen is intrigued by Tayla, the prickly new fairy waitress at the café.

Following clues in Magnus’ second journal, Kyra and the Bureau jump to Vietnam where Kyra uses Orb magic to reveal a Cobra Statue. The Third Temple Key is gone but the statue comes to life and chases them back to the Library where it smashes Ladder before cornering Kyra and giving her a vision. Maxwell warns Kyra to give up the quest but Kyra refuses – she has to know why this is happening to her.

The discovery of a time travel device allows Kyra and Darra to travel back in time to steal Magnus’ second journal, but they’re captured and Magnus learns that Kyra is a Triling like himself. Magnus tries to persuade Kyra to join his quest for the Purple Lotus and use it to benefit Trilings, but Imogen comes to the rescue. When they return to the Library, Ruksy demands to know what is going on.

When Imogen begins to suspect that Apinya is not who she claims to be, she and Lily set out to prove it and discover Apinya has a connection to the Bangkok warehouse where Darra and Kyra found the First Key. Kyra invites Darra to lunch so he can get to know her stepfather, and while looking at some old family photos, Kyra makes an astonishing discovery about her Triling heritage.

Despite the Bureau’s protests, Maxwell takes responsibility for the damage to the Library and is suspended from teaching. His replacement is Doctor Apinya, a distinguished magical archaeologist, who takes a keen interest in Kyra. To resurrect Ladder, Lily, Ruksy and Peter venture into the fairy tale book to secure enchanted wood and fall foul of the Witch of Crow Crag.

Jealous of his friends’ magic, Peter borrows a tuxedo that gives him superspeed, and also releases a rogue diving suit that mistakes Peter for its enemy. Peter flees to school to find Kyra, but the suit follows, creating mayhem and endangering the magical secret until Kyra and Peter lure it back to the Library. Ruksy’s magic imprisons the suit, but Peter has broken Ruksy’s trust and she dumps him.

Maxwell is unable to help Kyra understand her connection to the Temple keys so they seek Apinya’s help. Under Apinya’s guidance, Kyra has a vision of the Temple, the Cobra and the keys but things turn scary and Kyra decides to abandon Orb Magic. To improve her chances of a job with the DMI, Imogen wagers with Lily that she can acquire a fairy ability and Lily takes the bet to gain an elf skill.