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Title details for Letters to Santa Claus by The Elves - Available

Letters to Santa Claus

by The Elves
Pat Koch
ebook
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1 of 1 copy available
A "poignant" collection of real letters sent to Santa Claus—a town in Indiana—from the 1930s to the twenty-first century, from both children and adults (The New York Times).
For countless Christmases, children—and sometimes adults—have stuffed their dreams, wishes, and promises into envelopes. Over many decades, millions of these letters have poured into Santa Claus, Indiana.
Arriving from all corners of the globe, the letters ask for toys, family reunions, snow, and help for the needy—sometimes the needy being the writers themselves. They are candid, heartfelt, and often blunt. Many children wonder how Santa gets into their chimneyless homes. One child reminds Santa that she has not hit her brothers over 1,350 times that year, and another respectfully requests two million dollars in "cold cash." One child hopes to make his life better with a time machine, an adult woman asks for a man, and one miscreant actually threatens Santa's reindeer!
Containing more than 250 actual letters and envelopes from the naughty and nice reaching back to the 1930s, this moving book will touch hearts and bring back memories of a time in our lives when the man with a white beard and a red suit held out the hope that our wishes might come true.
"Often very affecting . . . also offers an unusual window into American history." —Library Journal
"The letters . . . are alternately silly and somber, hilarious and heartfelt." —The Weekly Standard

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 22, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780253017949
      • File size: 12381 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780253017949
      • File size: 12558 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      October 1, 2015

      Santa Claus is real. At least, it's a real place, a town in southern Indiana with, "Head Elf" and foreword author Pat Koch explains, streets named Mistletoe, Rudolph, and Kringle Place. The latter is the home of the Santa Claus Museum, founded by Koch's father, a man who swore that if he survived World War I he would return to his festively named town and play Santa Claus for the rest of his life. He survived and was true to his word. The book opens with a short history of the town and museum, which is followed by more than 250 letters (and envelopes) arranged chronologically by decade from the 1930s through the 2010s. The missives will inform readers about the times in which they were written and are often very affecting. The first one, for example, is from a nine-year-old girl in the 1930s asking for warm gloves, shoes, and underwear for her siblings. Listing them by name, she closes the missive "and the rest are dead." Other letters name dozens of toys to bring, plaintively ask for the writer's heart's desire ("the thing I want most is a dog. dog. dog."), or even try bargaining ("I will trade you my sister when she comes from the stork for a elf"). VERDICT A touching gift book that also offers an unusual window into American history.--Henrietta Verma, Library Journal

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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