Shannon's Library

LET’S GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Do you know the REAL story about the REAL Santa Claus? How he came to be the Santa that we all know and love? And what he’s been doing in the millennia since his birth? Well, if you don’t, this book will answer all those questions for you! As an extra bonus, it has some fun illustrations along the way!

Shannon’s Rating — G

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LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Once upon a time, a journalist wrote a story about Santa Claus that was printed in a local newspaper.  Shortly thereafter, this journalist was visited by a mysterious man who informed him that he got many of the facts about Santa Claus wrong.  The journalist was then whisked away to the North Pole where he was able to meet with and interview the REAL Santa Claus. What follows is Santa telling his story, beginning way back in 280 A.D. with his birth.  And as Santa himself says…

“YOU’RE RIGHT TO BELIEVE IN ME.”

Lovers of Christmas and lovers of history are sure to LOVE this book! It begins at the very beginning, of course, of Santa’s life.  He was born in the middle east to wealthy parents who named him Nicholas. When orphaned at a young age, Nicholas was put into the care of the town priests.  He was a compassionate and loving young man who wanted to dedicate his life helping the less fortunate. He began sneaking into poor people’s homes and leaving them coins, often in their stockings hanging by the fire.  Sometime in his late 60’s, Nicholas realized that something magical was starting to happen to him.  He was no longer aging and could travel from place to place much quicker than other people.  And so, began the Christmas magic that has continued throughout the ages!

Before launching into his story, Nicholas tells the journalist…

“The true story of Christmas, and my part in it, is as wonderful and complicated as the world itself.  Very few people really know much about the holiday at all.”

As Nicholas recounts his story, we learn much more than just about Santa. We learn about how many of the traditions of Christmas came to be.  This was definitely my favorite part about the book.  I’d never stopped to think much about why we celebrate Christmas in the way that we do. It was fascinating to learn how various Christmas traditions in countries around the world originated.

Throughout the years while Nicholas travels around the world gift-giving, he picks up helpers along the way that join in his gift-giving quest.  Many of these helpers are historical persons you might have heard of; Attila the Hun, Leonardo da Vinci, King Arthur, Benjamin Franklin, Amelia Earhart, and Teddy Roosevelt. Did you know that Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin were the brains behind the flying reindeer and the sleigh? No? Neither did I! And did you know that Amelia Earhart and her knowledge of the airspaces around the world is the reason Santa and his sleigh can fly around the sky undetected on Christmas Eve? Fascinating!

Not only does Nicholas recruit helpers throughout his adventures, but he also influences crucial events and people that helped shape Christmas into what it is today.  For example, and of course, my favorite, is when Nicholas encourages Charles Dickens to write “A Christmas Carol.”  There was a friendly debate earlier in December on my Instagram page about what was the best Christmas book ever written. Well, this novel puts that question to rest forever. When Charles Dickens asks if his new story, “A Christmas Carol,” is “all right,” King Arthur exclaims,

“Is it all right? Mr. Dickens, you have written the finest story of Christmas that will ever be printed on a page! Bless you, sir, and may you feel great satisfaction for a job well done!”

And then, Nicholas echoes this thought…

“Charles Dickens has outdone any writers of the past or future in creating the finest Christmas fiction possible.”

There. Debate over. If both King Arthur and Santa Claus declare “A Christmas Carol” the best Christmas book ever, then I think we all have to agree with them!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading “The Autobiography of Santa Claus,” by Jeff Guinn. If you want to get caught up in a fun story AND learn a bit of Christmas history, then pick this book up this Christmas season!