In 1920 the Tolkien children started receiving letters from Father Nicholas Christmas. In the letters he starts to tell his children the stories and events of that year, and what he has done. There are a number of characters that surround Father Christmas, from a clumsy polar bear, elves and the battles that they have with the goblins that live in the North pole.

The letters at the beginning are quite short, and as they get older the stories get longer and the themes darker. Each letter came with some sort of drawing, showing the houses, or where the toys are made and there were little touches like the envelopes being dusted with snow.

Not only does this show the talent and imagination of Tolkien, but the affection that he had for his children. The part that really makes this book shine for me though, is the reproductions of the actual letter and envelopes which are full of colour and detail and Christmas magic.

Ця книга як можливість доторкнутися до прекрасного, до щемкого. Батько, який творить для своїх дітей казку, з року в рік надсилаючи їм листи від Різдвяного Діда та його помічника Великого Білого Ведмедя. Великий Ведмідь розбишака і завжди втрапляє в якісь халепи)
Не передати, як зворушливо читати ті історії, які вигадує Толкін, щоб розважити свою малечу і, можливо, пояснити, чому на Різдво вони не зможуть отримати саме ті подарунки, які замовляли. Але остаточно мене підкорили ілюстрації: такі потішні! Можу тільки уявити, як діти чекали Різдва не тільки заради подарунків, а й заради цих листів! Я б точно чекала!
Частина листів припадає на воєнні роки. Вони рясніють переживаннями Різдвяного Діда за дітей, що втратили дахи над головою. Отак реальність втручається в магію казки, не руйнуючи її, а радше сповнюючи її нової глибини.
Втім коли наймолодшій Прісциллі виповнюється чотирнадцять, доступ до казки скасовується. Єдиний вихід – почати все спочатку через рік)

4.75⭐️

The letters Tolkien wrote to his kids were just SO SWEET! The humour and lore he wrote around Father Christmas and Polar Bear was a lot of fun, and seeing the kindness of a father shine through was just wonderful!!

Un libro muy bonito, que transmite cariño y desprende espíritu navideño en cada una de sus páginas.

Confieso que, después de leerlo, los hijos de Tolkien me han dado mucha envidia (sana). ¡Yo también hubiese querido recibir esas cartas!

So sweet & enchanting! And listening to the audiobook with all the delightful Christmas music & impeccable voice acting was the sugarplum on top!

I could just picture the Tolkien children pressed together around the fireplace at Christmas listening to their father read the letters from Father Christmas and then being able to read them themselves as they got a bit older. Tolkien truly has a way with words and the North Pole he created was the loveliest. The adventures of Father Christmas, Polar Bear, the red elves, and the goblin attacks would delight the most curmudgeon-ed heart.

Even if you aren’t a Santa fan, this is an endearing collection of letters a father penned for his children to keep their imagination alive. I’m calling this my new favourite Christmas classic!

If you like Tolkien's more whimsical offerings, like The Hobbit, Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, you'll like this. Cheers to the Tolkien family for being willing to share it with everyone else!

Yes, I've read this book before, last year even. However, despite the audio version having been quite charming (plus the look I took at the paperback version I gifted a friend), I discovered this was the type of book that needed to be held and explored with your eyes and fingers just as much. Thus, I bought this special edition and enjoyed it throughout a few days, taking my time to add to my enjoyment.

The story of how these letters and illustrations came to be is utterly charming:
Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. The letters were from Father Christmas and told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole:
• How all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place.
• How the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room.
• How he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden.
• How there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house!
The first of these letters arrived in 1920, addressed to Tolkien's oldest son, the final and very poignant one is from 1943 to his daughter.

Sometimes there are scribbled notes from the Polar Bear and sometimes the reader finds the elegant script of Ilbereth, the Elf, all of which is adding yet more life and humour to the already vivid, funny and colourful stories.

What gets to me is the attention to detail and care that went into the making of these letters.
It's not just Tolkien disguising his handwriting (and explaining the weird look the handwriting thus has to make it more plausible), but that he even designed the envelopes as well as each and every stamp on them! And all on top of him adding sketches and illustrations to the letters, and even telling some stories almost entirely in pictures.

Imagine having a father who would do that for you and your siblings!

Additionally, the letters aren't just meaningless smalltalk but contain important comments and life lessons, teaching us modern readers a thing or two about the time the Tolkien family lived in as well.

This, then, is the deluxe edition. The normal one already has very well-reproduced letters, but this book is designed to fully immerse the reader in a wintery wonderland full of elves, a talking polar bear, Father Christmas and a lot of mayhem at the North Pole. But see for yourselves:







Gorgeous, enchanting and proof of what a wonderful mind J.R.R. Tolkien has had. A must-have on my shelf.

A lovely collection of illustrated letters from Father Christmas to Tolkien's children.



The tone and content of the letters changes over time to reflect the children growing up, and Tolkien Father Christmas doesn’t shy away from mentioning the horrors of the world, including war and hunger. The letters incorporate aspects of the children’s lives and things they'd written to him, but there is some continuity in the stories of what FC and his elves etc get up to. Lovely illustrations, too.

There are similarities with Mervyn Peake's Letters from a Lost Uncle, which I reviewed HERE.



A Bonding Book that Made a Tolkienite (two, actually)

I love this because it prompted "Father Christmas" to write similar letters to my own child over several years and because it kindled the flames of Tolkien fandom in my child, and thus, albeit to a lesser extent, me.

We went on to The Hobbit (see my review HERE), which I had disliked as a child, sowing the seeds of overlapping, but distinct reading tastes, that continues to this day. It also led my child to a world of like-minded friends at school, university, and beyond.

The letters my child received (and wrote in reply) incorporated some of the characters and plot from Tolkien (the North Polar Bear, for instance), but added new characters (especially Windley, a naughty girl elf). As with Tolkien's children, the exchanges continued a little after the real author was known, but it remained a wonderful imaginative stimulus and a shared semi-secret world.

Lego was a great passion. My child had pirate Lego, Ancient Egyptian Lego, and Star Wars Lego amongst others, but really wanted Roman Lego. For several years, they wrote to Father Christmas, asking for some. Each year, Father Christmas found it harder to come up with a new excuse - especially once said child knew the truth of Father Christmas and presented ever more challenging arguments as to why the elves could surely make it, and that there would be many other enthusiastic recipients. Eventually, Father Christmas said that most Roman things were ruins now, so they could just use regular Lego as ruins!

When my child turned 18, I asked if they still wanted a stocking from Father Christmas, but they said they'd rather just have regular presents. That year, the final gift from Father Christmas was a solitary Lego figure - a Roman soldier. (Thank you, internet!)


The Big Question

When just beginning to question the plausibility of Father Christmas, my child asked "How does Father Christmas make a profit?" (probably after listening to my father pontificating on matters of economics and personal finance).

I'd have questioned the premise that he needs or wants to make a profit, but my husband came up with an excellent answer: branding, licensing, and franchising.

The Ethics of Lying about Father Christmas

When I was a new mother, I wondered about the ethics of telling and acting out such an overt and detailed "lie" as Father Christmas delivering presents. It seemed less obviously fiction than reading Peter Rabbit or recounting fairy stories, which I was happy to do.

I didn't want to deprive my child of a core part of our culture, but thought I might feel guilty for deceiving, or that they might feel betrayed when the truth came out.

I need not have worried: as soon as my child could talk, their vivid imagination was apparent. I was drawn into that world, and we redrew it together. If I hadn't "invented" Father Christmas and many other fantasies, my child would have done so. And I am glad.

Other Imaginary Friends

My child's purest inventions were Sitty the cat - for whom they tried to sneak real cat food into my shopping basket - and Sitty's friend, Ruffy the dog. Distinct personalities evolved, and we spent many hours creating, retelling, and reworking stories about them.

But there was one time when I found my child, aged about three, sobbing uncontrollably. Between the stifled, hiccuping tears, they told me Sitty had said she didn't want to be friends any more! What sort of imaginary friend says that?! Fortunately, she relented quite quickly, there was no long-term trauma, and it's now a well-loved family anecdote.

A vivid imagination, fed by good books, is a powerful, symbiotic, mystical force. Thank you Tolkien.

Von 1920 bis 1943 hat Tolkien seinen Kindern Briefe vom Weihnachtsmann geschrieben, die hier abgebildet sind und die Texte auf deutsch übersetzt wurden. Eine zauberhafte Idee und die Zeichnungen sind wahnsinnig kreativ und wirklich gut.
Trotzdem bin ich nicht so richtig ins Fühlen gekommen und war nicht so verzaubert von den Geschichten, wie ich es mir erhofft hatte.
Die Erzählungen rund um den Nordpol, wo der Weihnachtsmann mit dem Polarbär und andere verzauberte Wesen lebt und jedes Jahr die Kinder der Welt beschenkt sind kreativ und bauen auch aufeinander auf. Auch aktuelle Themen, wie Armut und der Weltkrieg werden angerissen, aber alles in allem hatte ich mir irgendwie mehr erhofft. Mir die Zeichnungen anzuschauen hat am meisten Freude bereitet.
Vielleicht eher etwas für Tolkien-Fans.

Que maravilla de libro!!! Y que maravillosa debió de ser la infancia de los hijos de este autor, que sigue sorprendiendome con su imaginación.

Me imagino a mí de niña leyendo estas cartas y fijo que lo haría con la boca abierta por las cosas tan sorprendentes que cuenta, jejeje

Um dos melhores presentes deste natal, foi este "Tolkien pai natal" com um saco recheado de imaginação e espírito natalício.
Foram 20 anos a escrever cartas em nome do velhinho das barbas que certamente fizeram as delícias dos filhos. Uma feliz conjugação do talento criador do escritor, e da ternura de pai muito dedicado à sua prole.

This was so sweet and heartfelt. Such lucky children to have Tolkien as their father. And such gorgeous illustrations!! Really worth reading around Christmas time. This will certainly be a book I share with my future children.