Letters from Father Christmas, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

by J.R.R. Tolkien (Author)

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"Tolkien at his relaxed and ingenious best." -- Review

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"Tolkien at his relaxed and ingenious best." The Times of London

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Product Details Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Rev Sub edition (December 1999) Language: English ISBN-10: 061800937X ISBN-13: 978-0618009374 Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #572,742 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Citations (learn more)

8 books cite this book:

• The Essential J.R.R. Tolkien Sourcebook: A Fan's Guide to Middle-earth and Beyond by George Beahm on page 36, and page 73
• The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien in Front Matter, and Back Matter
• The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien in Back Matter
• Tolkien: A Biography by Michael J. White in Back Matter
• J. R. R. Tolkien (Just the Facts Biographies) by David R. Collins in Back Matter

See all 8 books citing this book

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	86% buy the item featured on this page: Letters from Father Christmas, Revised Edition 4.6 out of 5 stars (25)
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Customer Reviews

25 Reviews 5 star:  (19) 4 star:  (4) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.6 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 39 of 39 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars a stunningly beautiful book, November 24, 2001 By  NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    "Letters From Father Christmas" is stunningly beautiful. I have no words to describe how wonderful this book is. It is a great book for the Christmas season. "Letters From Father Christmas" is a collection of the Letters that J.R.R. Tolkien's children received from Father Christmas (what they call Santa in England) during the over twenty years between 1920 and 1943. Each letter is reprinted along with their accompanying illustrations. Father Christmas' letters are beautiful in their own right, but I am blown away by his illustrations. Some of this art deserves to be in a museum. The letters each tell a story. The North Polar Bear (Santa's friend and assistant) figures prominently in these tales. Other characters (elves, goblins, the snow man--who is Father Christmas's gardener, and the man in the moon) add depth and humor to these tales from the North. Some of these letters had my daughter rolling with laughter as we read them together. They are quite funny no matter what age you happen to be (the Polar Bear's commentaries had me laughing). This is a great book. Readers cannot fail to be moved by these letters and stories. I give "Letters From Father Christmas" my highest recommendation. 38 of 39 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Great children's stories. Make sure to buy the new edition!, December 30, 2001 By  Craig Childs (Cordova, TN United States) - See all my reviews It is not surprising the creator of Middle Earth, and the father of the fantasy genre, would create such an elaborate, creative collection of Christmas stories for his children. This book is a nice addition to my library, as it contains the text of the letters, as well as Tolkien's hand-drawn illustrations and North Pole post markings. While this book does not relate to his Middle Earth universe, it is easy to recognize the origin of some of its characters. The goblin attack on Santa's cellar presages the Goblin-Elf wars in Lord of the Rings. Santa's elf-secretary Ilbereth is the obvious progenitor of the ancient elf-queen Elbereth. We even get a glimpse of elvish writing and the goblin alphabet! If you have the chance, buy the new revised version of this book. I have the 1991 reissue edition. It is only 48 pages long, and omits the letters from 1920 - 1924 and from 1939-1942 . The new edition is one hundred pages longer and contains previously unpublished material. 36 of 39 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Return to Sender, November 4, 1997 By A Customer This review is from: Letters From Father Christmas (Hardcover) J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his children a beautifully illustrated letter from Father Christmas each year. They are wonderful and witty adventures, with the holiday ever-threatened by the antics and errors of the bumbling North Polar Bear. Somehow F.C. and the elves always managed to stay up all night and make enough toys to save the day. The original edition of these letters, "The Father Christmas Letters," has been hard to find for some years. This newer edition was promising- each letter was enclosed in an envelope (much like the "Griffin and Sabine" books)- a nice touch, and expensive for the publisher to produce. Unfortunately, they did not go to the additional expense of actually including the full letters if they were longer than one page, as many are. Each year gets a single page, regardless of the actual length of the original letter. So many of the stories and adventures are cut off with no resolution. This edition is poorly slapped-together and unworthy of the artistry of the originals. Whomever is responsible should be ashamed.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Nice edition with illustrations This is a good, well-priced edition for the person who is interested in both reading the letters as a text and seeing Tolkien's artwork. Published 1 month ago by Allen Fremedon 5.0 out of 5 stars Its Not Middle earth, But Its Tolkien At His Best Life in the Tolkien family in the 1920s and 1930s had its ups and downs just like any family, but the Tolkien children had one major benefit at least, a father who could tell the... Read more Published 4 months ago by John D. Cofield 5.0 out of 5 stars Awaken Your Inner Child This is a charming book, full of wonderful illustrations drawn by Tolkien himself. The cast of characters is wonderfully amusing, especially North Polar Bear, who gets into all... Read more Published 6 months ago by Lovely Reader 5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone who still has an imagination Tolkein wrote these letters to his own children as if they were coming from Santa Claus at the North Pole. They are sweet, funny, obviously done with great love. Read more Published 7 months ago by W. Wieland Martin 5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book This book is appealing from many perspectives: historic, artistic, and emotional. The content is intimate "letters from Father Christmas" written by Tolkien to his children for... Read more Published 17 months ago by Joe Mester 5.0 out of 5 stars Start a new Christmas tradition with your own children We bought the edition for our son (now in college) that has the hand-written facsimile leters, each in its own envelope, which is itself a facsimile, complete with Tolkien's... Read more Published 19 months ago by A. M. Doyle 4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader A sweet, very clever idea that the John Ronald Reuel Tolkien fellow came up with to amuse his daughter. Read more Published 22 months ago by Blue Tyson 5.0 out of 5 stars You don't know what you're missing I am a big Tolkien fan but this book was new to me. It was a thrill to find and a thrill to read. I started over 20 years ago giving a Christmas book to my mother in November. Read more Published on January 10, 2007 by Paula S. Hannagan 5.0 out of 5 stars Santa Letters - Letters From Sweden Heartwarming, inspiring, uplifting. I also recommend a service that sends Santa letters from Sweden (but return address reads: North Pole). http://researchonkids. Read more Published on December 2, 2005 by AppleCider 4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Stories; Did Not Work in my Classroom While I completely agree with the other reviewers about the beauty and complexity and subtlety of J.R.R. Read more Published on February 5, 2005 by Hardworking Teacher Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Rev Sub edition (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061800937X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618009374
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #572,742 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a stunningly beautiful book, November 24, 2001

By	NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"Letters From Father Christmas" is stunningly beautiful. I have no words to describe how wonderful this book is. It is a great book for the Christmas season.

"Letters From Father Christmas" is a collection of the Letters that J.R.R. Tolkien's children received from Father Christmas (what they call Santa in England) during the over twenty years between 1920 and 1943.

Each letter is reprinted along with their accompanying illustrations. Father Christmas' letters are beautiful in their own right, but I am blown away by his illustrations. Some of this art deserves to be in a museum.

The letters each tell a story. The North Polar Bear (Santa's friend and assistant) figures prominently in these tales. Other characters (elves, goblins, the snow man--who is Father Christmas's gardener, and the man in the moon) add depth and humor to these tales from the North.

Some of these letters had my daughter rolling with laughter as we read them together. They are quite funny no matter what age you happen to be (the Polar Bear's commentaries had me laughing).

This is a great book. Readers cannot fail to be moved by these letters and stories. I give "Letters From Father Christmas" my highest recommendation.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great children's stories. Make sure to buy the new edition!, December 30, 2001

By	Craig Childs (Cordova, TN United States) - See all my reviews

It is not surprising the creator of Middle Earth, and the father of the fantasy genre, would create such an elaborate, creative collection of Christmas stories for his children. This book is a nice addition to my library, as it contains the text of the letters, as well as Tolkien's hand-drawn illustrations and North Pole post markings.

While this book does not relate to his Middle Earth universe, it is easy to recognize the origin of some of its characters. The goblin attack on Santa's cellar presages the Goblin-Elf wars in Lord of the Rings. Santa's elf-secretary Ilbereth is the obvious progenitor of the ancient elf-queen Elbereth. We even get a glimpse of elvish writing and the goblin alphabet!

If you have the chance, buy the new revised version of this book. I have the 1991 reissue edition. It is only 48 pages long, and omits the letters from 1920 - 1924 and from 1939-1942 . The new edition is one hundred pages longer and contains previously unpublished material.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Return to Sender, November 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters From Father Christmas (Hardcover)

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his children a beautifully illustrated letter from Father Christmas each year. They are wonderful and witty adventures, with the holiday ever-threatened by the antics and errors of the bumbling North Polar Bear. Somehow F.C. and the elves always managed to stay up all night and make enough toys to save the day. The original edition of these letters, "The Father Christmas Letters," has been hard to find for some years. This newer edition was promising- each letter was enclosed in an envelope (much like the "Griffin and Sabine" books)- a nice touch, and expensive for the publisher to produce. Unfortunately, they did not go to the additional expense of actually including the full letters if they were longer than one page, as many are. Each year gets a single page, regardless of the actual length of the original letter. So many of the stories and adventures are cut off with no resolution. This edition is poorly slapped-together and unworthy of the artistry of the originals. Whomever is responsible should be ashamed.