As children, many of us wrote at least one "letter to Santa"; but can you imagine, as a child, receiving an envelope every December with a letter from Santa Claus, addressed to you in spidery handwriting, bearing a stamp from the North Pole, and left in the fireplace hearth, as if it had been delivered down the chimney?
Well, J.R.R. Tolkien's children received such letters every December from 1920 - 1943. Tolkien, as Father Christmas, wrote the letters, which were accompanied by humorous illustrations (also drawn by Tolkien).
LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS
is the charming collection of these letters, which also include notes from some of the other inhabitants of the North Pole, such as Ilbereth the Elf and a North Pole Bear. I wish I had known about this book as a child, or when my own children were young. (You can be sure Father Christmas will drop a copy in their stockings this year! shhh - don't tell.) 
Oh, I absolutely want to find this book. It looks entrancing. Thanks for posting this, Wendy!
ReplyDeleteTry to find the 2004 edition - some of the earlier ones left a lot of the letters out. There's an awesome edition that actually has envelopes with letters in them, that you can pull out and read. Happy searching!
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