A Letter to Santa Claus

I LOVE this book. It is one of the books I check out every year from the library at Christmas. However, I have moved to Seattle and my library does not have it! I think I may have to finally buy it.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute. To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. A Letter to Santa Claus was one of her picks.Charlotte was a young girl who was always keeping busy. The town she lived in was so small . . . it wasn't even a town. The child she had to play with was her baby brother. So, she was always learning by copying what the adults did. If her Mother or Father wrote a note, she would beautifully copy the note and add some illustrations. The only problem was . . . she couldn't read what she wrote. Since Christmas was coming, Charlotte wanted to send a letter to Santa Claus. She wanted him to know what she would like for Christmas and to warn him that she would be in her brother's room rather than hers. Her grandparents would be visiting, and they would be in her room. Her Mother wrote out a letter for Charlotte to copy. And she did so. Then she copied out the list of what she wanted. But she got busy and knocked several papers on the floor. She picked one up and put it in with her letter to Santa. But it was the wrong one!The rest of the story nicely develops around the theme of giving as the way to receive. The illustrations in this book are very noteworthy for their lively pastel watercolors. They create a wonderful mood of loving and caring that you and your child will enjoy very much. I especially like this story because the plot has the most original twist I have seen on the "letter to Santa" theme. The book also moves away from "how can I get more?" -- which permeates most letters to Santa stories. Although the book appears to be out of print at the moment, I suggest you track it down anyway. You'll be glad you did, if you are like me in your enjoyment of this beautiful holiday story.After you finish enjoying this book with your child, I suggest a project of writing a letter to Santa on behalf of someone who may not be remembered by Santa. Then, you can take the gift that arrives to be shared with others on Christmas Day.May the true spirit of Christmas always be with you!