Letters from Father Christmas

Letters from Father Christmas makes a fantastic addition to our Christmas Gift Basket, especially if you'd like to add a little something for older children and adults to enjoy.

The story of how this book came to be is fascinating. In 1920, when J R R Tolkein's oldest son, John, was three, the first of the Christmas letters arrived. From then on, every December until 1943, an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for John and his three siblings. Inside would be a letter in strange, spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches.

The letters were from Father Christmas and they told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole. There was the time all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place. And the time the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room. Then there were the wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house.

Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth, the Elf, would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories.

This enchanting book is perfect for families to read together in the weeks before Christmas. Each letter is a nice length to be read as a bedtime story to younger children and the drawings and funny stories are enchanting for adults and children alike. Older children who are fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy - as my three children are - will recognise some familiar elements in the letters ... the goblin attack on Father Christmas's cellar contains echoes of the Goblin-Elf wars and Father Christmas's elf-secretary, Ilbereth, is probably the model for the elf-queen, Elbereth.

ISBN: 9780008627577
Format: paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 192