The only word to describe this book by is...wait for it... PRECIOUS!!!

Nice

When I started reading this, I was charmed with this illustrations and the idea of J.R.R. Tolkien even writing just these letters to his children, and then when I began reading this, I realized what a treasure this was, and I wished I had thought of doing something similar for my own children… and then I realized how it would pale in comparison to these letters, the stories they hold in them from Father Christmas to his children through the years.

And what years they were, the first of these being written in 1920. His oldest was then only three years old when he began writing these, and they were continued through for over twenty years. Even though Santa may live at the North Pole, he was not oblivious to the problems the world was facing, then, and there are some nods to the leaner years, where Santa may have sent fewer items than in the past since there were so many difficulties for other children in the world. At the same time, each letter contained enough charm, humorous events, and an occasional word from the North Polar Bear, Santa’s chief assistant.

I would recommend a print copy, since the pictures in this are wonderful, but if you have an iPad, you won’t miss out on the lovely colours this offers.

Growing up, my belief in Santa was pretty strong, most of the homes in my neighborhood contained children, some with two, some with four children, most with three, but Santa came to our home with a giant red leather-bound book, in which he had stories of things we’d done throughout the year written down, so when it was our turn to sit on his lap, we often were cautioned about things we’d done wrong and congratulated for things we’d done right. Since this was a neighborhood ritual, we all gathered at one house and patiently waited our turn. Santa was the same from year to year, with a real beard and no stuffing needed, and his “suit” was clearly his own, nothing new about it. He was, as we all knew, the real deal.

Fans of Tolkien will love this, as well as those who are looking for a nice, charming Christmas story.
Included are copies of all of the letters, you can see how shaky Santa’s handwriting is, and the drawings add so much more to what is already delightful, I loved the lengths he went to so that his children would have something to believe in.

Ein Buch, von dem man sich wünscht, es würde niemals enden ♡

This was so Cute!! I loved how polar bear always managed to get in trouble

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading this collection of letters that "Father Christmas" wrote to the Tolkien children from the 1920s to the end of the 1930s. What I discovered surprised me, and yet I couldn't help but nod my head and chuckle and think, "of course, of course!" When the imagination behind Middle Earth meets up with the magic and lore of the North Pole, a very unique Father Christmas emerges! Here we have a Father Christmas who is kind and thoughtful yet who also fends off marauding goblins (who tend to steal Christmas presents!) and who is always shaking his head and cleaning up the mess made by his good-natured but trouble-making helper, the North Pole Bear. We have a variety of interesting elves and gonomes, and even snowmen and the children of snowmen--and Cave Bears and the nephews of the North Pole Bear (who are pint-sized but full of trouble, too!) Why, did you know Father Christmas has a switch that turns on the Aurora Borealis? And that the North Pole Bear and the elves have their own alphabet? Father Christmas is also a fine artist and sends along many drawings illustrating the chaotic and humorous events in his letters. I almost felt sorry for the chap and he always seems to be exhausted or frustrated from one crazy event or another (such as trying to find North Pole Bear who got lost in the caves!)--sometimes too tired or with hands too cold or sore to write much, but then there is a good spirit behind all the letters and we know he and North Pole Bear have a grand friendship for all that. And gosh darn it if I wasn't tearing up for "The Final Letter."

While I certainly feel this book could be enjoyed by some children, I really think grown-ups might want to preview it first as it is, as I said, not your typical jolly Santa Claus with perfect elves in a glorious toy factory with Mrs Claus baking cookies. But it is full of wonderful imagination and I was captivated. What lucky children the Tolkeins were to receive these loving missives from Father Christmas!

Primera lectura: diciembre 2020
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

REREAD (2024): This books remains the perfect Christmas read. I'll literally never cherish anything more during the Christmas season. I assure you you will be bawling your eyes out by the end—it is the most wholesome, yet heartbreaking read. (Also makes me wanna reread all my other Tolkien books and get my hands on a biography of this man—he was simply the best!)

Quick list of my favorite moments:

● Tolkien started writing these letters when his eldest son, John, was three years old. He would continue to write them for over 20 years, until his youngest daughter, Priscilla, was 14 years old.
● Tolkien's different calligraphy styles are a sight to behold—he put so much thought into every single design of these letters, it makes me so soft, e.g. Polar Bear's handwriting is very clunky and big bc he has "a fat paw", as Polar Bear himself explains in one letter from 1925
● The 1925 ends thus: "Lots of love to you both and Christopher, whose name is rather like mine." (Christopher Tolkien was born November 1924.) And bestie, when I tell you I already BROKE DOWN CRYING reading these lines because Christopher would be the one kid who would do the most to keep his father's legacy alive—DO NOT TALK TO ME
● in 1927, year of the great depression, Father Christmas writes to the kids: "I get poorer and poorer: still I hope that I have managed to bring you all something you wanted." — as an adult it becomes so clear how much Tolkien struggled, yet still wanted to put his family first; THIS MAN! It's also noticeable how much more detailed this letter is compared to ones from previous years; though the kisd didn't get many materialistic presents that year, their father put all his love into the letter design
● in 1927, FC also writes: "I haven't heard from John this year, I suppose he is growing too big and won't even hang up his stocking soon." BESTIES I AM CRYING
● in 1929, PB's signature being his paw — I love it!
● Tolkien's illustrations are such a delight and it's fun to see how they echo his later illustrations for The Hobbit, e.g. the mountain from the 1931 letter (see p. 73)
● throughout the years, you can really tell that Christopher was the one child most enthusiastic about the letters and FC's stories; he seems to be the one who wrote the most back <3 — which again makes me so soft bc it's a foreshadowing to the later role that Christopher would play in his father's life and the huge contribution(s) he would make to his legacy
● the Christmas tree and skating on the frozen lake illustration on p. 114 might be my favorite (SO PRETTY!)
● the letter from 1934 also made me cry (AGAIN) bc it is one of the first letters directly addressed to Priscilla and in it, FC writes: "Dear Priscilla, thank you for your nice letters. Lots of love. [...] Can you read thus yourself yet: it is my best writing? Polar Bear sends love. He is glad you have called your bear Bingo: he thinks it is a jolly name..." And the reason this makes me cry is that I myself am reading this letter in 2024—I'm reading this letter adressed to 5-year-old Priscilla Tolkien, only to realise that in 2024 she has already been dead for two years. LIKE YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, this is so beautiful, yet so depressing.
● Tolkien is also hella funny and there's so much fun banter between FC and PB and the elfs, one of my favorite dialogues comes when FC tries to write a poem for Priscilla stating "...You're half past nine" (in order for the rhyme to work), only for the elf to interject: "She's not a clock." — LMAO THIS IS PEAK HUMOR TO ME
● the letter from 1942 is so fucking detailed that I couldn't fail but note that it's remarkable HOW MUCH EFFORT Tolkien still put into these letters after literally two decades of writing them—IN A WORLD OF BOYS HE'S A ... GENTLEMAN !!!
● also the last letter from 1943, only addressed to Priscilla, in which FC states/laments that she will be hanging up her stocking just once more and their exchange will stop bc she is growing up and getting to old for these shenanigans (DO YOU HEAR ME SOB???), never fails to make me cry for another reason as well bc in it FC writes: "I shall not forget you. [Besties, I am already dissolved into tears!!!] We always keep the old numbers of our old friends, and their letters; and later on we hope to come back when they are grown up and have houses of their own and children." And besties, do you know why that makes me cry? Priscilla Tolkien lived to be 91 but never got married and certainly never had any children of my own. As I will likely share her fate I'm not saying that this wasn't by her own design (and who can blame her with a father who set the standard so damn high??) but it's still bittersweet to read how Tolkien envisioned the future of his daughter, only for it to turn out so differently.

ORIGINAL REVIEW (2018):
I can't believe I'm saying this but I finished this book bawling last night. I haven't cried so much upon finishing a book since ... oh well, I forgot I read Crooked Kingdom at the beginning of March but, you get me, it's been a month. ;)

This collection of Christmas letters touched me in a way I would've never anticipated. They are a manifestation of "show, not tell" – Tolkien's love for his kids, and how much thought and care and love for detail he put into their upbringing shines through his letters to them. It is so apparent how much love Tolkien had for his four children, how much love he had for storytelling, inventing languages, and drawing pictures.

I feel weird writing this but I felt so close to him as a human being and all of his children as well. We notice them growing up throughout the span of 23 years in which Tolkien wrote them these Father Christmas letters. We notice how the eldest no longer believes in Father Christmas, no longer puts up his stockings and no longer responds to F.C.'s letters. I noticed Tolkien's heartbreak over this as well. Of course, you want your kids to grow up and become their own people, but it's natural for parents to not want to let go so quickly. These moments of vulnerability touched me the most.

When the last letter came around in 1943, the year Tolkien's youngest child Priscilla forgot to write to Father Christmas because she no longer believed in him, I cried so so so much.

n  My dear Priscilla,

A very happy Christmas! I suppose you will be hanging up your stocking just once more: I hope so for I have still a few things for you. After this I shall have to say "goodbye", more or less: I mean, I shall not forget you. We always keep the old numbers of our old friends, and their letters; and later on we hope to come back when they are grown up and have houses of their own and children.n

It really reminded me of the interaction between Kat and her father in 10 Things I Hate About You: "You know fathers don't like to admit it when their daughters are capable of running their own lives. It means we've become spectators. Bianca still let's me play a few innings - you've had me on the bench for years. When you go to Sarah Lawrence, I won't even be able to watch the game."

Oh boy, I'm getting really, really sappy over this but this collection is honestly my favorite work of Tolkien's. I'm aware that I wouldn't have loved it so much hadn't I read so much of his fiction before, and so on a rational level The Silmarillion will always be my fave, but on an emotional level it's these damn letters. They showed me how fucking much I vibe with Tolkien's sense of humor. He was so funny and clever with his jokes, I can't wrap my head around it.

n  At twelve, or later,
he will arrive – and hopes once more
that he has chosen from his store
the things you want. You're half past nine;
[Ilbereth interjecting: She is not a clock!]n

I loved that he created these different personas (Father Christmas, the North Polar Bear, Ilbereth etc.) because the interaction between them (in the letters) was fucking golden and remained authentic and true to their origin throughout the curse of 23 years, e.g. the North Polar Bear always interjecting "RUDE" when the other characters were calling him out. :> How is that even possible? Tolkien was such a dedicated hoe, I am shooketh! But he also didn't fail to address important issues of the time such as World War II and the environment. I loved that he raised his kids to value humility and see things in perspectives; after all, looking at the grand scheme of things, these UK kids were very well off.

These letters mean a heck of a lot to me and have solidified Tolkien as one of my absolute favorite authors. And yes, I'm reading Christmas books in April, don't @ me.

No creo que me haya leido un libro de temática navideña más bonito que este. Desprende magia y ternura, no hago más que imaginarme las caras de los hijos de Tolkien cada vez que recibían las cartas con esas historias tan entrañables y graciosas y esos dibujos tan preciosos.



Lo mejor el Oso Polar y sus tropelías :D



Super recomendable. Navideño 100%

A friend reviewed this this very morning insisting the audiobook was a must-listen and so I bought it this morning for a couple dollars on Audible and got my steps in listening to this wonderful, wonderful collection. If you have a couple hours in the car or around the house this Christmas, nothing will be more Christmassy than this collection of letters from JRR Tolkien to his children.

Quite charming collection of letters Tolkien wrote ummm I mean Nicholas Christmas wrote to Tolkien's children during the 1930s. I think this would be best enjoyed with a cup of eggnog, a fireside, a hardback copy to look at the illustrations, and the audio copy to follow along with the reader.

12/25/18 annual audio reread #268

[First read: 28th November, 2015.
Second read: 10th December, 2016.]

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is best known for his high fantasy series The Lord of the Rings and the pre-cursor, The Hobbit, as well as being one of the foremost respected professors on Anglo-Saxon Britain, but behind closed doors he was a wonderful father and a tremendous family man. He had four children, John, Michael, Christopher and Priscilla, and with every passing year they would receive hand-written and illustrated replies from Father Christmas, detailing all of his escapades up in the North Pole.

This book is a wonder to behold. I am a pro-consumerist, anti-capitalist far-left-wing socialist and I pretty much despise Christmas, but this book holds within its pages every little thing that I can tolerate about the festive holidays. This is what I wish Christmas were still about: not spending £50 on cards, or buying a PS4 and an XBOX One for your child because they want both of them, but loving your family through thick and thin, and war, and using Father Christmas as a catalyst for teaching young children the importance of giving as well as receiving and the value of money.

Each letter was hand-written by Tolkien in a shaky script to denote Father Christmas's advanced years, but his drawings were utterly superb. Every year, Father Christmas would try and sort out all the world's presents, but Polar Bear and his friends would upset everything whilst having an enormous amount of fun. As the years went by, more and more characters were added and a whole race of Goblins was brought in to wage war against the beautiful splendour of Father Christmas.

The thing that struck me the most about this book is the fact that I was surprised how surprised I was at Tolkien's imagination. He also tried to deal with things like war in a way that a child can understand without shying away from how truly terrible it is. It is a lesson in Being Bloody Nice and I truly loved this book. It made me believe that one day I may end up liking Christmas: perhaps maybe even loving it.