Violet and I just finished reading The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum and highly recommend it for your family holiday reading list. It tells the story of Santa Claus and how he came to be who he is. Do I need to mention it is completely secular? I would classify it in the mythology category, although I'm not Dewey Decimal expert and it may be a folk tale.
L. Frank Baum is the author of The Wizard of Oz and the next 13 Oz books. We've been working our way through all the Oz books, and are now in the second set, those written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Santa Claus is of one Baum's non-Oz books that I really wanted to read. Violet consented that we could step out of the world of Oz briefly to read this book as the holiday approaches. I think she is glad we read it, as it does answer some age-old questions, such as how does he get down those skinny chimneys? She's long wanted to know that.
The book was written in 1902 and like the Oz books written by Baum, it has really stood the test of time. The book is easy to read. Hidden throughout the book are good morals about being a good person. Actually the Oz books are filled with good morals that are rarely "in your face." Baum was a man ahead of his time. He wrote of diversity and acceptance in the early 1900's, topics that still plague us today.
So if you've tired of A Christmas Carol or want something besides Olive the Other Reindeer to read for the two thousandth time (or heck, in addition to), check your library and see if they have a copy. It was re-released in 2003, so if you find that version you'll get to see Michael Hague's awesome illustrations.
My commercial is over. You may now resume your regularly scheduled reading.
1 comment:
I might have to check that out. I think it's on the gutenberg project web site too.
Thanks.
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