Customer Reviews

How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this sequel to his classic book The Autobiography of Santa Claus, Jeff Guinn tells a new tale of Christmas in peril. In the first book, Guinn took the historical facts about St. Nicholas and the various people who contributed to the Santa Claus legend around the world and wove them into a beautiful life story. In this book, he continued that tradition, taking the troubles of the English Civil War as a backdrop for a tale about Santa's wife, Layla. Staying behind in England to manage their affairs there while her husband begins his time in the American colonies, Layla finds herself at the forefront of a movement to protect Christmas from a Puritan reformation that wants to stomp out anything reminiscent of Catholicism in England. Layla is forced to flee to Canterbury, where she lives for a time with friends Alan and Elizabeth Hayes and their daughter Sara. As Oliver Cromwell amasses power in London, Layla and her friends concoct a daring plan to show Parliament that the people of England will never stand for Christmas being stolen from them.

Like The Autobiography of Santa Claus, this is a beautiful story that weaves together fact with fantasy to produce a thoroughly satisfying tale. In fact, this may even be a superior book to the original, in that it has a much more cohesive story. By necessity, Autobiography reads like a person's life story, hitting the high points but not really holding onto a compelling narrative thread to push the plot along. This new book is focused on a relatively brief period of time instead of the thousands of years in the first book, and on a single issue -- the attempt by the Puritans to squelch out Christmas in the 1640s. As such, it's a much stronger book simply from a storytelling standpoint.

Like the original, this book is written in 24 chapters -- making it quite convenient for parents to read a chapter a day to the little ones in December, finishing up on Christmas Eve. I don't have any kids myself yet, but I have every intention of doing this once I do. I also just found out that Guinn has produced a third book, The Great Santa Search, and I'll definitely be rushing out to get my copy before the holidays are over.

I adored this book! I thought at first that this book would pick up where the last left off, but instead it focuses on Layla's battle to restore Christmas to England in the 1600's. The story was extremely engrossing, and very sweet and even a little sad. I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year, and this was just the push I needed!

If you liked Guinn's autobiography of Santa Claus you will love this book. The story moves smoothly through the ages and has many links to history that, with a little imagination, you can find believable. The characters are delightful, making it a joyous holiday read. This one is a keeper--it won't go off to the half-price store at the end of the year!

I love this book. It was great to get some historical facts in with fiction. I am not an active reader and this one kept me interested to the end

The Christmas Chronicals as told to Jeff Guinn is absolutely my favorite story. I re-read all three books every year in preparation for Christmas. I re-tell parts of this story and have adapted it into my own Christmas traditions. Layla is my roll model!

I was intrigued with the topic and the historical perspective of the fiction book, but it was a chore to read. I felt exhausted from the dry content and the more I read, the harder it was to maintain my interest.

The year is 1620. While Santa Claus is off in the New World aka America, getting a new group of people interested in the spirit of giving, and what is now known as Christmas, Mrs. Claus has been left behind in England. It's a lovely country, but when signs of officials banning all types of Yuletide cheer begin popping up everywhere Mrs. Claus looks, she realizes that it's time to take matters into her own hands. It's bad enough that the Puritans have gained complete control of Parliament, but when, in the year 1647 a law punishing any and all who celebrate Christmas is passed, Mrs. Claus realizes that Christmas is in true danger, and it's up to her, without the help of her beloved Saint Nick, to save the marvelous holiday before it's destroyed forever.

I read Jeff Guinn's THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SANTA CLAUS when it was first released, and devoured every word of it. Yet I had no idea he would be able to weave the exact same sort of magic with its sequel HOW MRS. CLAUS SAVED CHRISTMAS. As with the first installment in the Christmas Chronicles, Guinn has put together a delightful holiday fiction tale, and laced it with rich historical facts - including the marching of ten thousand peasants in Canterbury who protested their right to celebrate Christmas in the year 1647. A charming piece of fiction that will certainly delight and educate all!

Erika Sorocco

My daughter gave me this book a few months ago, and I have really enjoyed reading How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas. I had not read the previous book about Santa Claus, but I will very soon. This book not only offers an intriguing story, but ties in historical facts and characters at the same time giving the reader a sense that it really did happen the way Mrs. Clause tells the story.

The characters seem true to life and the story follows a timeline as Mrs. Claus tells her listeners how she met her future husband and how they joined forces to provide gifts to needy children. This book may even inspire people to share what they have with those who are in need. At the same time, it can give you a smile with stories Mrs. Claus shares. Although this book is more relevant to read around the Christmas holiday, it can be enjoyed any time of year.

How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

First of all, you have to read The Autobiography of Santa Claus before this book. I think this book may be better. Autobiography sets the stage for this second book in the trilogy of Christmas. The first part of How Mrs. Claus starts off recapping things so I guess you could technically not read Autobiography first, but I suggest you don't. Layla Claus is left alone in England during a turbulent time of British history. King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell play a huge part in this book. I love how Jeff Guinn takes factual history and makes it another character in his story. He weaves the Puritians take over of England into them trying to cancel Christmas. The only bad things about this book is the fact that it drags in spots which would bore some children and the fact that he takes historical people such as King Arthur and Leonardo da Vinci and keeps them alive to help Santa out. I didn't enjoy that. I always thought that Santa used normal everyday people. However I'm willing to overlook this part. ;-) I would highly recommend this trilogy so far to parents to read to their children. It will instill Christmas in their hearts while teaching them some history at the same time.

I did not have any issues with the product or person. I have not got to enjoy this item yet but will soon.