Book Review: The Story of Santa Claus

Book: The Story of Santa Claus by Joseph A. McCullough with illustrations by Peter Dennis

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Every December 24th millions of children eagerly await a visit from a large, bearded man in a red suit. But where did Santa come from and how did he evolve into today's Jolly Old Saint Nick?

Well before Washington Irving's legendary poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' shaped the modern vision of Santa Claus riding a flying sleigh pulled by magical reindeer, his story actually began about seventeen hundred years ago in the Eastern Roman Empire. There, a young orphan named Nicholas became famous for using his inheritance to give gifts to the needy. In his most wildly-known story, he threw bags of gold over a wall into the house of a destitute merchant, so that the man would not be forced to sell his daughters into slavery. Eventually, this young and holy man became the Bishop of Myra and lived a life of faith and miracles, fighting injustice and protecting the weak. Even after his death, his miracles continued, and he is credited with saving sailors, healing the sick, and even raising the dead. In time, he became known as St. Nicholas the Wonder Worker.

In the numerous centuries since the passing of Saint Nicholas, his story has grown, developed, and been combined with numerous other legends. In the Netherlands, he became known as Sinterklaas, the old man who brought presents to children with the help of his assistant Zwarte Piet. In England, he became Father Christmas, the living embodiment of the holiday.

Fully illustrated with original color drawings, Santa Claus celebrates the story of his beginnings as a holy man in Ancient Rome, through his development in the Middle-Ages, to his current, likeness on advertisements, greeting cards, apparel and decorations - right down to real-life mall-based family photo opp. It is a winding, magical tale filled with mystery and good will towards all men, sure to fill even the most jaded scrooges with a little bit of Christmas magic.

A portion of all of the profits from this book will be donated to help disadvantaged children throughout the world.



Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Just in time for Christmas, a wonderful book about Santa Claus.

This was an interesting read, the first part of the book focused on the life of Saint Nicholas and how he worked to help the poor and unfortunate. As the stories about him grew, he became a legend and many prayed to him for help. After he died, the stories continued with people telling how Saint Nicholas had helped them or someone they knew.

It wasn't until much later that his image and stories were crafted into what we now know as Santa Claus. That's what the second part of this book focused on: Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and many more things related to the modern interpretation of Saint Nicholas.

Even though this is for children, it's written in such a way that older readers could enjoy. Who is this book for? I think anyone who may have an interest in wanting to know more about how the image of Santa Claus was created.

This is part fact and fiction with the first part dealing with the person who inspired the image of Santa Claus and the second part filling in all the fantasy parts of Santa's world.

There is also beautiful artwork that's included in this book. It's very well done.