A properly Christmas book. This is the story of Nikolas, an extremely poor woodcutter's son. He had a deprived childhood, complete with wicked aunt, in the manner of all proper fairy tales, a saintly mother, and a good father, who turns out to have feet of clay. There's the mysterious knock on the door, which changes everything, a reindeer with powers of flight, elves with magical powers, and one Unkind Elf. This is Nikolas' journey from poverty to comfort, and to becoming Father Christmas for all time. Ho, ho, ho! Suitable for readers from about 7 - 70 ( )

Adversity

A fantasy origin story of Santa Claus, beginning with a young boy named Nicholas. It’s a little bit sad, somewhat depressing, gory, and violent, but probably a story that middle graders will gravitate to.

Our book group chose this as our December Christmas-theme book, and I was glad it was a quick read since I didn’t want to spend any more time on it and had to force myself to finish it. Not the feel-good Christmas story I was expecting.

I can’t recommend it. ( )

Mooi verhaal over het ontstaan van Kerstmis. ( )

I read this 4 hour audio book while making mushroom soup for Christmas, and then on Christmas Eve morning, chatting all the while with buddies from my book group. Adorable! So special and definitely one to revisit in future holiday seasons.