Rudolph's Second Christmas

Most people who know the story of Rudolph are familiar only with the famous Johnny Marks song. However, not many people know that Rudolph was created by a Montgomery Wards employee named Robert May, and that he also wrote two furtuer Rudolph stories that chronicle his adventures and character development. This story, Rudolph's Second Christmas, proves every bit as enjoyable as the other two Rudolph stories, and shows Rudolph in a more active and charitable position. I know that this story alternates between prose and verse, but this can't be helped since this Rudolph episode was a posthumous publication after Robert May's death. Nevertheless, it allows Rudolph's heart of gold to shine through every moment of this enchanting episode in his 3-part saga. Rudolph's desire to make this Christmas better can be seen in the sympathy he showed towards the complaint letter he found among the letters that Santa Claus received, and also in his determination and faith in helping the children's circus improve in the quality of its performances. We also get to show Rudolph's inspirational example in allowing the misfit animals to improve the circus, because here, although we know that Rudolph set a positive example by celebrating difference, he was able to help other animals celebrate being different, until he is inspired to continue to serve Santa Claus at Christmas. Nevertheless, this unfamiliar and not-so-well-known Rudolph sequel, which is a different breath of fresh air from the TV specials, is deserving of a permanent place in any library of any Christmas lover and sensitive human being who can appreciate inspirational fables like this. I highly recommend this as well as the other two Rudolph stories in this 3-part saga, because Rudolph's quest to discover what makes him tick is a heartwarming Christmas parable that can serve every season.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it . . . " Now that I have you in the mood for this book, let me ask you a question. Did you know who wrote the original story of Rudolph? Well, it was Robert L. May. Did you also know that Mr. May had written a sequel? Have you read the sequel? If not, you should and this is it. Mr. May died in 1976. In 1991, his daughter was working in the family attic and found several drafts of a sequel written in 1947. These were edited into this story and published in 1992. New illustrations were developed by Michael Emberley to bring the story humorously up-to-date.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. Rudolph's Second Christmas was one of her picks.This book is the story of what happened in the year following Rudolph's famous trip with Santa Claus on that "foggy Christmas Eve." When Santa and Rudolph get back from some time off, they start reading thank you letters from children. Unfortunately, they find one complaint letter. They had missed two children with a circus who had been good. Rudolph volunteers to find out how they can avoid missing the children next Christmas. Along the way, he comes up with wonderful solutions that make the whole year better . . . as well as next Christmas. The book's story line builds nicely around the problems that the children and some unusual animals perceive they have by being different. Rudolph shows them how differences become advantages when brought to bear in the right time and in the right place. So the original story's theme of overcoming being shunned because of being different using Rudolph as the example is much more thoroughly explored in this book. I like the idea of Rudolph taking that lesson and teaching it to others. In many ways, that makes this book more intersting and valuable than the original, well-beloved story. Children are very aware of and critical about differences in other people and in themselves versus "the norm." This story gives you a nice chance to counterbalance that false conclusion that only sameness should be celebrated. In this way you can encourage your child to be both a keen observer of differences and an innovative thinker about how to turn them to advantage. There is a television commercial out now that does this well, for example. Two groups of children are being formed into teams by having captains choose players. The assum