If your child or grandchild has ever wondered where Santa fits in with the traditional Christmas story, now you can read them Santa's Birthday Gift. Finally, a book that ties two holiday traditions into one inspirational tale of wonder - as Santa brings gifts to baby Jesus. The cleverly-written, rhyming book reveals Santa's adventure from toymaker to star follower right into the heart of Bethlehem where he meets Baby Jesus in the manger. Delivering toys to a king is a touching experience for both Santa and readers alike, as they discover where the tradition began Santa makes a promise to Jesus to bring gifts to good boys and girls each year on Jesus' birthday. This delightful story is engaging and delivers meaningful lessons using recognizable nativity characters, and of course, Santa and Jesus.
Santa's Gifts is an illustrated novelty board book with flaps and sliders. This Christmas hide-and-seek book has big, sturdy flaps, chunky sliders, and a shiny foil ending, making it an ideal Christmas treat for toddlers. Children can lift the flaps and slide the doors to reveal fun Christmas presents, until the shiny foil ending when Reindeer's gift is revealed.
This is a comprehensive history of the world's midwinter gift-givers, showcasing the extreme diversity in their depictions as well as the many traits and functions these characters share. It tracks the evolution of these figures from the tribal priests who presided over winter solstice celebrations thousands of years before the birth of Christ, to Christian notables like St. Martin and St. Nicholas, to a variety of secular figures who emerged throughout Europe following the Protestant Reformation. Finally, it explains how the popularity of a poem about a "miniature sleigh" and "eight tiny reindeer" helped consolidate the diverse European gift-givers into an enduring tradition in which American children awake early on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. Although the names, appearance, attire and gift-giving practices of the world's winter solstice gift-givers differ greatly, they are all recognizable as Santa, the personification of the Christmas and Midwinter festivals. Despite efforts to eliminate him by groups as diverse as the Puritans of seventeenth century New England, the Communist Party of the twentieth century Soviet Union and the government of Nazi Germany, Santa has survived and prospered, becoming one of the best known and most beloved figures in the world.
The origins of Santa Claus, or so I am told, is that the young Bishop Nicholas secretly delivered three bags of gold as dowries for three young girls to their indebted father to save them from a life of prostitution. Armed with immortality, a factory of elves and a fleet of reindeer, his has been a lasting legacy, inextricably linked to Christmas. Of course, this Christmas looks a little different. Amidst a global pandemic, shimmying down the chimneys of strangers certainly does not adhere to social distancing guidelines. Some borders remain closed, and in some instances, the quarantine period is far too long. After all, he only has 24 hours to spread cheer across the world. As with the rest of us, Santa Claus is likely to get the remote working treatment. The reindeers this year are likely to be self-driving, reminiscent of an Amazon swarm of technology, and the naughty and nice lists are likely to be based on algorithms derived from social media accounts. In the age of the fourth industrial revolution, it is difficult to imagine that letters suffice anymore. How many posts were verified as real before shared? Enough to get you a drone. Fake news? Here is a lump of coal. Will we see elves in personal protective equipment (PPE) and will Santa Claus, high risk because of age and his likely comorbidities from the copious amount of cookies, have to self-isolate in the North Pole? In fact, will there be any toys at all this year? Surely production has been stalled with the restrictions on imports and exports into the North Pole. Perhaps, there is a view to outsourcing, or perhaps, there is a shift towards local production and supply chains. More importantly, as we have done in many instances in this period, maybe we should pause to reflect on the current structures in place. The sanctification of a figure so clearly dismissive of the Global South and to be critical, quite classist must be called into question. From some of the keenest minds, the contributions in this book make a strong case against this holly jolly man. We traverse important topics such as, is the constitution too lenient with a clear intruder who has conveniently branded himself a Good Samaritan? Allegations of child labour under the guise of elves, blatant animal cruelty, constant surveillance in stark contrast to many democratic ideals and his possible threat to national security come to the fore. Nevertheless, as the song goes, he is aware when you are asleep, and he knows when you are awake. Is feminism a farce to this beloved man – what role does Mrs Claus play and why are there inherent gender norms in his toys? Then is the worry of closed borders and just how accurate his COVID-19 tests are. Of course, this brings his ethics into question. While there is an agreement that transparency, justice and fairness, nonmaleficence, responsibility, and privacy are the core ethical principles, the meaning of these principles differs, particularly across countries and cultures. Why are we subject to Santa Claus’ notions of good and evil when he is so far removed from our context? As Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein would tell you, this is fundamentally a nudge from Santa Claus for children to fit into his ideals. A nudge, coined by Thaler, is a choice that predictably changes people’s behaviour without forbidding any options or substantially changing their economic incentives. Even with pinched cheeks and an air of holiday cheer, Santa Claus has to come under scrutiny. In the process of decolonising knowledge and looking at various epistemologies, does Santa still make the cut?
Santa Claus. Kris Kringle. Père Noël. He answers to many names, but who is beneath the iconic white beard? Embarking on a journey into a world seldom explored, journalist K.A. Witte spent months interviewing professional and amateur Santas worldwide, compiling their most cherished experiences. These are tales of holiday magic, faith, personal growth, and triumph over adversity—all woven together by the enduring power and warmth of Christmas. A child’s heartfelt wish fulfilled…a man experiencing Christmas joy for the first time…a Santa on a mission to lift the burdens of the sick… With hearty laughter, occasional tears, and an unwavering commitment to serving others, these men keep the holiday spirit burning bright. These are true stories from true Santas.
Through the mysteries and myths of Christmas and Easter, families balance the values of receiving and giving, of growth and sacrifice. Each aspect of the Santa myth, from his slide down a chimney to his big red suit, plays a part in a child's imagination. Through their offerings of milk and cookies and their letter writing, children bring their relationship to Santa into developing attitudes toward giving and receiving gifts. The Easter Bunny story, with its ritual egg hunt and baskets of brightly colored candy, is explored in terms of life and its possibility of growth. In these examples, Clark shows how children play an active role in constructing family rituals and cultural reality, since their willingness to make the stories their own helps to renew the traditions.
This extra long collection of 121 Christmas stories will warm readers’ hearts and spread the wonder of the holiday season with its tales of love, joy, and awe. A great holiday gift. Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Gift of Christmas will delight readers with its stories about the joy, wonder, and blessings of the holiday season. This special collection is filled with joyful, heartwarming and merry stories about holiday traditions, family, and goodwill that the whole family will enjoy. Most of these stories originally appeared in a limited edition book called Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas.
Two merry mathematicians explore the geometry of gift-wrapping, board game theory, and much more in this hilarious holiday treat. How do you apply game theory to select who should be on your Christmas shopping list? What equations should you use to decorate the Christmas tree? Will calculations show Santa is getting steadily thinner—shimmying up and down chimneys for a whole night—or fatter—as he munches on cookies and milk in billions of houses across the world? In The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus, distinguished mathematicians Hannah Fry and Thomas Oléron Evans demonstrate, with eminently readable clarity, how applied mathematics are so thoroughly interwoven throughout our everyday lives by explaining mathematical concepts through one very merry motif: Christmas. In their quest to provide mathematical proof for the existence of Santa, the authors take readers on a festive journey through a traditional holiday season, wherein every activity, from wrapping presents to playing board games to cooking the perfect turkey, is painstakingly and hilariously analyzed. Because who hasn’t always wondered how to set up a mathematically perfect Secret Santa? Lighthearted and diverting with Christmasy diagrams, sketches and graphs, equations, Markov chains, and matrices, The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus brightens up the bleak midwinter with a stockingful of mathematical marvels.
