LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS: Centenary Edition, written by J.R.R. Tolkien and edited by Baillie Tolkien is still as charming and full of North Pole fun as it was when it first came out 100 years ago. This edition is decorated with delightful hand-written letters as well as a typed copy of those letters for easy access, envelopes with North Pole stamps and fun-loving pictures of all the goings on.
The 1926 letter from Father Christmas is a real romp. The children hear about a wild night when North Polar Bear causes the fireworks to turn the North Pole black and breaks the moon into four pieces including the Man in it who proceeds to land where the Christmas chocolates are stored and eats them all up!
The 1932 letter from Father Christmas is one of the longest letters in the book. So much happens as North Polar Bear gets lost in the caves and the feared Goblins play tricks by shutting off their lights and making misleading echoes. Father Christmas takes this opportunity to write about these caves and to make wonderful pictures of the interesting drawings left on the walls by civilizations from long ago. The chart he draws include ox, mammoths, dragons and a very hairy rhinoceros!
LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS: Centenary Edition is full of Tolkien’s magic, imagination, play on words and his detailed drawings of such things as reindeer on the loose and requests from children for dolls, Noah’s Arks, engines, books, paint boxes and chocolates! This edition is perfect for reading aloud with the whole family (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020).
The Children’s Bookshelf is a production of WCMU. Links to the podcast and activity questions, ideal for home use, can be found at Children’s Bookshelf dot org.
ACTIVITY QUESTIONS for Father Christmas
In the 1926 letter we hear of the wild scene North Pole Bear creates. Make a soundscape of this scene. Brothers, sisters and Mom and Dad can join in on the auditory fun: Make a big firework BANG! Make the noise of the stars SHAKING. How would it sound when the moon CRACKS and falls to the ground? Now add the sound of the man in the moon MUNCHING on all of the Christmas candy. Make sounds of many reindeer as they gleefully HOOT while running free and throwing presents all about----don’t forget the sound of their bells RINGING. You can use pots and pans and bells and horns to add to own vocalizations. Have fun! You might want to capture this soundscape on one of your devices.
Study the chart on page 102 of this book. Locate the mammoth, stag, ox, boar, rhinoceros, reindeer, cave bear, dwarf dachshund, goblin hunters and a horse. This is Father Christmas’s idea of what was on the cave walls. Older kids may want to do some research online and find pictures of what has been found on the walls of the caves in Lascaux, France. The pictures are estimated to be 17,000 years old. They are truly exceptional.
