Saint Nicholas

This story discusses the similarities between the real Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, now Turkey, in the early 300's and "St. Nick" or Santa Claus. It focuses on telling about Saint Nicholas. It starts with his years as a child and the fact that his parents die from a plague, and that he is adopted by his uncle and receives a large sum of money from the estate of his parents. It tells of how he gave his money away to the poor, including to three daughters of a poor man who could not afford dowries for them so that the eldest had decided to sell herself into slavery and how St. Nicholas gives them three bags of gold. (Which begins the idea of Santa Claus going around giving gifts at night.) St. Nicholas then becomes a priest and sets sail as a passenger in a boat caught in a storm from which all safely survive. He lands at Myra and goes to the Cathedral to thank God for the rescue and is informed that he is now the Bishop of Myra. He rescues three kidnapped boys. He is then imprisoned by emperor Diocletian for being a Christian. When Diocletian dies and Constantine takes over and becomes a Christian St. Nicholas is freed. The book starts and end with the connection between St. Nicholas and Santa Claus. There are several different views of the fact that there are ghost life spirits looking like they are after him, with his uncle protectively leading him away from them. But I think that if I was Saint Nicholas at a time when people didn't understand the plagues and so didn't know who would be felled by it next and my parents having already died from it, I would be pretty scared of the plague and very much feel like there was a ghost of death haunting me, too. I think that the picture is very realistic in depicting how St. Nicholas would have felt.

We found the book beautifully written and illustrated. It is legendary as well as factual, but his life is presented in a most touching and informative way.