Letters from Father Christmas

Product Information

In these letters Nicholas Christmas, his real name, recounted everything that was happening to him from one year to the next, in profusion of details and with many characters. And he also illustrated them, either in the letter itself or as attached images. Here I leave a link to several of those illustrations, although browsing the web there are many more of his best-known works. a b c d Willard, Nancy (5 December 1976). "Christmas Letters". The New York Times . Retrieved 22 November 2012.

Lowe, Ian (13 January 1994). "Gazette: Diana Caithness". The Independent . Retrieved 22 November 2012. (subscription required) From the annals of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of fantasy comes this collection of letters, perfect for the holiday season. A collection of letters written by Nicholas Christmas to the Tolkien children, this book is filled with the Christmas spirit and all the lovely stories that take place each year at the North Pole. The letters, penned in the 1920s and 30s, introduce the children to North Polar Bear and his helpful role as Father Christmas’ assistant in the preparation for the great Christmas delivery. Annual letters talk about wandering reindeer, small polar cubs, as well as the warm weather and fiscal belt-tightening required, which serve to entertain and educate the Tolkiens. As the years progress, the recipients change, though Father Christmas is sure to remember those older Tolkiens who may choose no longer to write. Making loose references to letters written and sent to him, Father Christmas adds a secondary gift with most letters, a hand-drawn picture in ink, depicting some of the key events mentioned in the text. This wonderful set of letters is sure to make any lover of Christmas feel a little warmer during the holiday season. Fans of Christmas will enjoy this short piece, as well as those who love Tolkien’s unique style. The letters my child received (and wrote in reply) incorporated some of the characters and plot from Tolkien (the North Polar Bear, for instance), but added new characters (especially Windley, a naughty girl elf). As with Tolkien's children, the exchanges continued a little after the real author was known, but it remained a wonderful imaginative stimulus and a shared semi-secret world. They were of course written in no way for publication, but the idea of making them into a book was appealing. Christopher was still teaching at Oxford, and immersed in the sorting of his father’s papers, as well as the preparation of Sir Gawain and Pearl for publication, not to mention early research into the state of the ‘Silmarillion’, and as I had previous editorial experience and was obviously readily able to consult Christopher I was asked to look at the letters with a view to their being made into a book.Letters from Father Christmas. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Revised and enlarged edition) Prior to publication, an exhibition of Tolkien's drawings was held at the Ashmolean Museum. These included works from The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Father Christmas Letters. The first edition was by Allen and Unwin on 2 September 1976, three years after Tolkien's death. The Houghton Mifflin edition was released later that year on 19 October. It was the third work by Tolkien to be released posthumously, after a collection of poems and the Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings. Edited by Baillie Tolkien, the second wife of Christopher Tolkien, it includes illustrations by Tolkien for nearly all the letters; however, it omitted several letters and drawings.

My child's purest inventions were Sitty the cat - for whom they tried to sneak real cat food into my shopping basket - and Sitty's friend, Ruffy the dog. Distinct personalities evolved, and we spent many hours creating, retelling, and reworking stories about them. I need not have worried: as soon as my child could talk, their vivid imagination was apparent. I was drawn into that world, and we redrew it together. If I hadn't "invented" Father Christmas and many other fantasies, my child would have done so. And I am glad. Prior to publication, an exhibition of Tolkien's drawings was held at the Ashmolean Museum. These included works from The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Father Christmas Letters. [5] [6] The first edition was by Allen and Unwin on 2 September 1976, three years after Tolkien's death. The Houghton Mifflin edition was released later that year on 19 October. [7] It was the third work by Tolkien to be released posthumously, after a collection of poems and the Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings. [8] Edited by Baillie Tolkien, [9] the second wife of Christopher Tolkien, [1] it includes illustrations by Tolkien for nearly all the letters; however, it omitted several letters and drawings. [10]I love this because it prompted "Father Christmas" to write similar letters to my own child over several years and because it kindled the flames of Tolkien fandom in my child, and thus, albeit to a lesser extent, me. A Middle English Vocabulary · Sir Gawain and the Green Knight · Ancrene Wisse · The Old English Exodus We went on to The Hobbit (see my review HERE), which I had disliked as a child, sowing the seeds of overlapping, but distinct reading tastes, that continues to this day. It also led my child to a world of like-minded friends at school, university, and beyond.

The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays · Beowulf and the Critics · Tolkien On Fairy-stories · In keeping with the atmosphere of the published work, the introduction evades the issue of the true author of the letters who was of course J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Throughout the period in question, the older children kept the secret as they learned the truth so the younger ones could continue to enjoy the excitement and suspense. Christopher had already begun to have his suspicions — no doubt encouraged by the challenge to his belief in Father Christmas posed by schoolmates — when he came upon a drawing lying on his father’s desk when his father had been called to the telephone. That drawing was the one of the World to be found at the end of the latest edition. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets. When I was a new mother, I wondered about the ethics of telling and acting out such an overt and detailed "lie" as Father Christmas delivering presents. It seemed less obviously fiction than reading Peter Rabbit or recounting fairy stories, which I was happy to do. I would recommend a print copy, since the pictures in this are wonderful, but if you have an iPad, you won’t miss out on the lovely colours this offers.Kudos, Mr. Tolkien, for helping me spark the holiday season with this piece. I will be adding this to my annual Christmas reading list and wish I had known about it years ago. Includes the Tolkien children's correspondence from 1920 to 1943 (not all, but almost) with Father Christmas (Nicolas Christmas being his real name). And these are a real wonder. The different calligraphies that he uses for each character, the languages ​​that he uses, which are not very elaborate but very different, and above all the enormous variety of very wonderful drawings that accompany these letters. When the last letter came around in 1943, the year Tolkien's youngest child Priscilla forgot to write to Father Christmas because she no longer believed in him, I cried so so so much. My dear Priscilla, While the Letters from Father Christmas do not relate to the Middle-earth of Tolkien's legendarium, some parts of the content can be noted:

In the course of the twenty-three year period, Snow-elves, Red Gnomes, Snow-men, Cave-bears, and the Polar Bear’s nephews joined Father Christmas and the North Polar Bear, and the adventures developed elements obviously emanating from the same imagination as that which created Middle-earth. That Tolkien had a facility for creating his own stories and universes is well known, and the same could be said for languages. What is less known is his facet as an illustrator, and although he was not very prodigal, he illustrated quite a few of his works at one time or another. So for Christmas, he put all this together and wrote a reply letter from Father Christmas himself to his son. That was in 1920, and until 1943 he continued to send letters to his children.A wonderful collection that spreads the Christmas cheer and is a real eye-catcher if you have the print edition. The perfect read for anyone enjoying the holidays and delighting in tales of mischief and the right kind of spirit for this time of year. For reading at Christmas it is ideal, and if the children already know the secret, doing it as a family is also something fantastic. When I started reading this, I was charmed with this illustrations and the idea of J.R.R. Tolkien even writing just these letters to his children, and then when I began reading this, I realized what a treasure this was, and I wished I had thought of doing something similar for my own children… and then I realized how it would pale in comparison to these letters, the stories they hold in them from Father Christmas to his children through the years. Join me in my final annual Christmas season reading. Here is the perfect story for young and not so young alike. Please find my original review here: