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The Christmas Chronicles puts three of Jeff Guinn's Christmas stories into one cover: The Autobiography of Santa Claus; How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas; The Great Santa Search. I'm a sucker for the well-told Christmas story and these are very well done. I particularly like that they intersect accurately with actual human history. I've read several autobiographies of Santa Claus and this is the best. It begins with the story of Nicholas who was born in 280 A.D. in Patara in Lycia (modern-day Turkey) and how he began gift-giving. As the years progress some fictional helpers [but most emphatically, NOT elves] such as Felix, the Roman slave, and Layla, Nicholas' wife, are added. However, most of Santa's helpers are historical human beings beginning with Attila the Hun (he was tired of fighting) and including Arthur of Britain, Francis of Assisi, Leonardo da Vinci, Sarah Kemble Knight, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Pickett, and Amelia Earhart (you thought she went down over the Pacific Ocean but that was just a ruse to get her to the North Pole as Santa's navigator). Over the centuries Santa and/or his various helpers also interacted with such historical figures as Patrick of Ireland, Charlemagne, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, William Bradford, George Washington, Washington Irving, Josef Mohr, Charles Dickens, Robert Peary, etc. It was Leonardo da Vinci who figured out how to make reindeer appear to fly and how humans could live undetected at the North Pole. Santa's headquarters were established at the North Pole in 1913. The book concludes with a recipe that goes far to explain Santa's "round belly"--Worth's North Pole Delight Tender Fried Chicken. In How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas it's the seventeenth century and Nicholas and Felix are off to the New World to try to establish Christmas customs there. Layla (Mrs. Claus) has stayed behind in England because Christmas is under attack there. Leonardo da Vinci is inventing peppermint candy. At first Layla works with Arthur in the secret toy factory in London but, as the Puritans/Roundheads gain power, a warrant is issued for her arrest and she flees to Canterbury. The rest of the story is based on the actual events of the Canterbury Christmas Day March of 1647. The concluding recipe is for Lar's Candy Cane Pie. The Great Santa Search deals with the commercialization of Christmas. It begins in 1841 when J.W. Parkinson of Philadelphia hires someone to impersonate Kris Kringle at his store. Soon there are Santa Claus impersonators everywhere. Commercial efforts concern Santa and his helpers but they just try to carry on as usual until reality television forces them to act. Bobbo Butler of FUN-TV announces that his next Christmas special will be The Great Santa Search, a reality contest show to select the real Santa Claus. The sponsor is Lucretia Pepper, president of LastLong Toys, which don't. So how hard can it be for the real Santa Claus to become a contestant and win the show? Read and find out. Then eat a slice of Hot Chocolate Cake.Read full review
It was a great way to set the mood for Christmas but had no real educational value
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
This is a great book it ties in history with the story of Santa. Very nicely written. I have enjoyed this book and have recommended it to several people it really helps get you in the Christams spirit!
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