Letters from Father Christmas

Letters from Father Christmas

Synopsis

Every December an envelope bearing a stamp form 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.

They 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 Beat climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas's house into the dining room; how he broke 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 scripts, adding yet more life and humour to the stories.  No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness and 'authenticity' of Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas.

From the first note to Tolkien's eldest son in 1920 to the final poignant letter to his daughter in 1943, this book collects all the remarkable letters and pictures in one enchanting edition.

To mark ten years since the publication of the complete edition of Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas in 1999, this new edition is the first time the letters have been available in B format.

About the Author

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays.

His books have been translated into almost 50 languages and have sold many millions of copies world wide.

Child's Review

I really enjoyed listening to the letters Father Christmas wrote about all his adventures at the North Pole and wish that he would send me letters like that too!

I liked the way some of the letters were written by Polar Bear and Ilbereth.  It was really funny when they disagreed about how and why things happened.

I also liked the pictures because they did a good job of showing what had happened at the North Pole.  But I found the hand written parts difficult to read.

Parent's Review

We read this is a family around Christmas time - one or two letters every night at bedtime.  It was a lovely way to wind down at the end of the day when the excitement and busyness of the festive season coupled with longer hours of daylight and warmer nights can make children reluctant to go to bed.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas is a lovely compilation of tales from the North Pole that all members of the family will enjoy.  You may even find yourself inspired to take pen to paper and start your own family tradition of receiving letters from Santa!

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