He's back! 'The Elf on the Shelf' is No. 3

Jocelyn McClurg

USA TODAY

The Elf on the Shelf hovers overhead during last month's Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade in New York.

You know Christmas is right around the corner when that little spying Elf starts popping up on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.

TheElf on the Shelf is up to No. 3, from No. 13 last week. (The full list will publish on Thursday.) The recent "Christmas Tradition" – in which parents put the elf in different places around the house to see who's been naughty or nice – is a boxed set featuring a book and a doll.

It's become such a phenomenon that a gigantic version of the Elf has become a regular at the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day parade. The Elf box set first cracked USA TODAY's list in November 2009 at No. 127. By Dec. 12, 2013, it had hit No. 1.

Can he do it again this year?

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