Santa Claus: The Magical World of Father Christmas (Y) Hardcover – October 7, 2014

The colors & pockets on the pages made this exceptional.

I have been writing personal Santa letters to my nephews and nieces for years. But, it really became a "set in stone" tradition when my soon to be 21 year old nephew was born. He received his first letter right before his first Christmas, along with a Christmas stocking, hand knit especially for him by Mrs. Claus. I realized, as he got older, that the annual letters would probably not be appreciated by a teenager. I decided age 12 was when he would receive his last Santa letter. But how could I make that last letter extra special? Then, I found this book. The letter explained that he was finally old enough to be let in on some of Santa's secrets. And the book did just that in a most perfect way. It is both magical and totally believable in the way the author explains the secrets of Santa and the North Pole. Although, I knew he had stopped believing in Santa a few years prior, I swear, that as he looked through this book, he once again became the little boy who so fervently believed in Santa. He spoke about things in the book as if they were gospel truth. It was a precious moment I'll never forget. I've since sent final Santa letters, along with the book to his younger brother and a cousin. I still have a niece and nephew on my Santa letter list and their copies of Santa Claus are tucked away, waiting to be sent with their last Santa letters in a few years. I purchased them early because I was afraid the book might not be available when the time came. Last year I noticed that it was no longer available. I'm so glad it's back. I think it's time that I purchased a copy for myself, so I too can believe again.

Christmas book to replace one I had. Could only find a used one This book came in great shape! My Granddaughter loves it!

This book answers many of the pressing questions that a small person might have about Santa and the logistics of his operation and delivery system. It has lovely illustrations, but somehow I don't enjoy reading it with my kids as much as I thought I would. It feels a little busy, I guess. And I also feel torn in the sense that, in the absence of a book like this, kids (and parents!) can have a lot of fun speculating about the particulars of how Santa does it all. This book has chosen the answers and presents them as facts, which takes away a little bit from the wonder of it all and puts some limitation on the family's opportunity to create their own narrative and ideas. I think there something nice about sharing the general story of Santa with your children, and then letting the details evolve in the collective imagination of your family, rather than having a book to decide it all for you.Also, I know there are parents out there who disappove of "lying" to kids about Santa. If you lean in that direction, you will *really* dislike this book because it doubles down on the deceit by providing detailed explanations and justifications for all the apparently impossible aspects of Santa's job.

I purchased this thinking it was the pop-up book so I was disappointed when it arrived and it was not. This book is the same as the pop up but flat and boring. I purchased for a little girl who really loved my pop up book of the same name. I told her Santa had given it to me when I was younger and that he gives special boys and girls these books, not everyone. Even though it was not the pop up book, I still gave it to her with a very detailed "santa key" for her to leave outside for santa on Christmas Eve and a calligraphy typed letter from Santa. She loved it! Great price.

Santa Claus: The Magical World of Father Christmas, arrived quickly and exceeded my expectations! I purchased this book as a Christmas gift after recalling it as one of my favorites from my childhood. The story includes absolute beautiful images and descriptions about the North Pole, elves, Santa and Mrs. Claus, etc. I loved this book so much it stuck with me even into adulthood as one of my favorites.The only difference between this book and the one I remembered is that this version is not a pop-up, interactive story. Despite this difference the book is just as intriguing and visually appealing because as I mentioned before, the images are interesting enough because of how realistic they look. The book arrived quickly and is brand new. I will most defiantly purchase more stories from this seller.

I bought this book from Amazon a few years ago and I hear that now it is much smaller and doesn't include as many of the "extras".If that is important to you, then you will just have to take a gamble I guess :)My version is large with the jewel on the cover. The illustrations are beautiful.It is a wonderful book for adults...for small children however, good luck.My daughter likes to go through it and look at the pictures (she is now 6) and we read the little inserts about the Arctic animals, however she says "Mom, there are waaaaaay too many words, please don't read it to me." and she is right.The pages are very WORD HEAVY. I mean, it is well written, but not the attention span of most little kids I know (I work in a preschool also).She also thinks that the elves are a bit creepy. They remind me of the ones from The Polar Express.It is a beautiful book.But if you want a fun story with lots of extras, try the Jolly Postman book!

This book is as fantastic as everyone said it was. Fantastic illustrations and SUCH fun information about the workings of Santa Claus. However, as other reviewers indicated the book must have changed recently. There were no pull-outs or pop-ups as there once were, which I found to be disappointing. Also, I bought this in hopes of giving it to my almost three-year old and it is certainly too old for her. There is a lot of text and information and it is organized more like an Encyclopedia than a story - so I have put it aside and plan to give it to her for Christmas a few years from now.

This is such a gorgeously illustrated and written book about Santa and all the goings on in his workshop around Christmas time and really lets kids have a clear idea of who Santa, the elves and Mrs. Claus are and what they do to make sure all the kids around the world get their presents on Christmas morning. Highly recommend this book for kids anywhere from the age of 4-12 years old.

I borrowed this for my son (4) from the library, and we were both totally bewitched by its wonderful graphics, and all the magical, breathtaking details which it reveals about Santa - did you know that Santa uses his belt buckle to shrink to get into houses with now chimneys, that the reindeer eat moss and lichen pies baked by Mrs Claus, that Santa's trim is made from the molted hair from arctic hares and that the elves drink carrot cordial, children's wishes are stored in bottles. It really weaves the magical into the real world- there are fact boxes on the Christmas Tree, Arctic animals, aurora borealis etc which would hold a much older child's interst and imagination.We have had it for two days from the library and it is a must buy which will be in a stocking next week. It is a real quality publication with so much attention to detail, with all the fold out pictures, flaps, letters, santa's diary... Magic!

A friend of mine recommended this book, she has had it for a couple of years and her son is a year older than mine. She raved about it, so I got it for my son this year and I wished I had know about it before. He thought it was fantastic, a real believer still (as am I). It answers all those mysterious questions that one is never quite quick enough to answer or answer well. We read it on the lead up to christmas day. "Oh! of course" would be my sons reply to much of the information. The illustations are incredible and the little treats inside special pockets are fun. A lovely lovely book. Highly recommended.

I wanted a father christmas book to read to my 2.5 year old son to tell the story of what Santa does on Christmas eve. (wrapping presents, meeting reindeer, squeezing down the chimney!) This is a lovely, good quality, intricate book, With great illustrations, however I personally feel it is too much for a 2.5 year old. I didnt even attempt to read it to him. We just looked at the pictures.Probably more suited to a 6+ years. Also it has a modern twist to it which wasn't really what I was looking for! The hunt continues!

Would definitely recommend this book it is so lovely. Pictures in it are beautiful and so lifelike, the book explores the world of father christmas, we use this book in our class and read a page with the children a day at christmas time and they love it.