Santa Claus : a Book about the doings of Santa Claus and His Brownies at Mount Korvatunturi

I have read this Christmas story since I was 6 and have continued to read it every Christmas Eve for 20 years. It is a beautifully illustrated book, with great imagery and discussions of what happens at the North Pole before Christmas. It is by far my favorite Christmas book and I continue to share it with everyone I know.

My son was given this book by his German grandmother for Christmas, and it's the most interesting Christmas book I've ever seen. It explains everything kids need to know about where Santa Claus comes from - but in a modern approach: there are high-tech elves, Santa distributes presents in planes because his sleigh can't cope with the magnitude of presents anymore and parents have to buy some gifts for their children at the toy store because he doesn't have the facilities to make them.I especially love the book's explanation of why many Europeans are visited by Santa on Christmas Eve (as was the tradition in my German family), and Americans and other nations open their gifts on Christmas morning - Santa does have to fly further from Finland, after all, so he doesn't get to the US until the middle of the night. Ingenious - my son will never be confused again!The illustrations alone are worth a look, every time you open the book you'll see something new!

This is my favorite christmas story. I have read it every Christmas for 20 years. The illustrations are wonderful. Everytime you read it you find something new in the pictures.

This is the best book our family has ever seen about Santa Claus!! I vote it ten stars, not just five. This book is truly off the charts for its cleverness, terrific illustrations, inventiveness and sheer Christmas joy. I do not know why some US publisher has not bought the rights and made it into the classic it deserves to be, and is in our family. My Son was given this book at his first Christmas. Both he and my daughter and I, their Mom, have enjoyed this book every year since then. I would love to be able to obtain more copies of it to hand down to my grandkids and so on. It gives very detailed and often quite funny "true" information about Santa and his whole village at the North Pole. It is quite an operation, believe me! Santa has his sleigh but also has a fleet of red airplanes with reindeer logos on them. The drawings are so full of detail and funny things going on that it keeps both kids and grown-ups exclaiming and laughing. For example, birds sit on elves' noses. Baby elves suck pacifiers. The elf band is playing "Ob-la-di, ob-la da"; the printer elves tie up their beards around their heads so they do not get them in the ink, and in the carpenter shop, there is a sign saying, "safety first." There are even elves who spray paint the toys. So hilarious, as a little animal watching this gets sprayed too. The elf children's classroom often was intently examined by my kids. The book is Scandinavian in origin I think, and that is why it is so hard to find now here in the USA. The outfits and scenery, houses and huts are Norwegian or Swedish, and the costumes have all sorts of decorative Nordic touches. Each elf seems to have a different personality. My kids always liked the picture of the elves getting ready for bed--in their bunk house they are bedding down, and one is reading the newspaper, one is watching a portable TV, and one is about to brush his teeth. The loner elf likes to sleep in a simple haystack--"to each his own," my kids would always chime in with the narrative. This book is so clever and if you can ever find it you will want to keep it forever. It has a humorous charm that even very tiny children will enjoy, and it will win your heart. It is unlike any other Christmas book I have ever seen in the US. My kids are now 19 and 16 and they still get it out every holiday season to enjoy the pictures and simple story once again. It is simply precious!

I HAVE BEEN READING THIS BOOK TO MY CHILDREN ON THE EVE OF CHRISTMAS EVE SINCE 1982. THEY LOVE IT AND SO DO I. THERE IS SO MUCH TO LOOK AT ON EVERY PAGE.