Customer Reviews

The Complete Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

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The author of the Wizard of Oz deserves consideration and respect for the delightful fantasies he has provided the world. This syrupy recreation of Santa's youth, manhood and ultimate immortality is quainting charming--especially to the young-at-
heart. However, there are several serious issues mentioned: if we are to die, why are we born at all? No outright religion is preached, but this is a Baum's philosophy: "Everything perishes except the world itself and its keepers..but while life lasts,
everything on earth has its use. The wise seek ways to be helpful to the world, for the helpful ones are sure to live
again."

This book relates how an orphan named Claus found his true calling--to bring joy to the children of the world. Each man must discover and honor his own mission, but Claus' dilemma is the morality of giving gifts to rich children, when there are so many who are truly poor. One chapter even deals with the timeless battle between Good and Evil.

Baum describes how each custom associated with the secular celebration of Christmas came into existence--without reference to the manger scene. Baum truly loved children, as he dedicated most of his writing to their enjoyment. He concludes about the annual gift-bringer: "No one..was so greatly beloved as Santa
Claus, because none other was so unselfish as to devote himself to making others happy. For a generous deed...spreads and leaves its mark on all nature and endures through many generations." An enjoyable, sentimental tale for children of all ages and religions.

I remember reading this book around fifth grade. I kind of liked it then, I think because of the whole fairies thing.

Basically the story follows the life of Claus, a baby adopted by fairies. (The story starts in fairy land and much of it involves the fairies and woodland spirits. If you are expecting traditional Christmas lore you will get that but not quite yet.) The fairies are immortal, but Claus will grow up and age. When he has grown to be a teenager the fairies set him up in a cottage in the woods. Apparently they are bringing him food and necessities, so his only job is to discover his purpose in life. He begins to make toys for children to cheer them up, and the story goes from there.

The entire host of fairies gets involved in toy production. Instead of making toys like the merry elves, they bring colors from flowers and other magical properties that Claus can include in his toys. This reads like a fairy tale and grdually Baum brings in elements from the Santa mythology. The transition from fairies and magic to Santa is what I liked most in the book.

I recently reread this book and liked it except for the whole toys making kids happy thing. Its not that I dislike kids or toys. Here Claus (obviously the future Santa Claus) makes toys for children and the toys are the panacea that makes their world perfect. With a small carved toy dog all of a sudden they are kind to siblings, respect their parents and are bursting with joy. If he passed out lifetime supplies of cocain and valium he couldn't make them happier. If I were to find that Baum had been commissioned by a department store to write this book as a special advertising section for holiday spending then that would explain alot. The huge emphasis on more toys=happy makes the book a little sick.

Overall this is a nifty twist on the Santa Claus myth. It reads well even in the summertime. The only drawback is the huge focus on happiness through toys. The only moral that I could extract from the story is that children NEED toys to be happy and this is soooo important that the entire world of fairy restructures itself around toys. Good story but it sometimes feels like good press for the toy department.