Letters from Father Christmas

Every December, Tolkien’s children would receive a letter from the North Pole. The letters were from Father Christmas and were hand written in his shaky writing and had amazing illustrations and descriptions of things that had happened at the North Pole. Such as the reindeer escaping and scattering presents everywhere; how the Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house or how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall out.

The book includes photographs of the original envelopes, letters and drawings. They included personal notes for each child ans sometimes there were messages from the grumpy Polar Bear would scrawl a note or Ilbereth the Elf. They have written in text to make them easier to read. Sometimes Santa’s writing is a bit hard to understand on the original page!

This is a wonderful book to read at Christmas time. The letters are interesting, exciting and funny too. It is nice to imagine Tolkien secretly writing them each year and shows just how much he cared for his children. This is a great book for slightly older readers who still want to imagine the magic of Christmas!

A charming insight into Tolkien's imagination, and commitment to writing for his children. We loved it!