December 6th, Christmas Reading suggestion

Today is St Nicholas Day.

Read both fact and fiction.  Find out more about St Nicholas, and enjoy a charming, original tale about Santa Claus.

December 6th, Christmas reading suggestion:


 Santa: A life by Jeremy Seal

Santa Claus began as Nicholas, a Byzantine bishop whose anonymous acts of night time charity would turn him into the most popular and enduring of all saints. Jeremy Seal's journey follows Nicholas' allconquering expansion west from Turkey to the Crusader ports of Bari and Venice, and thence to 16th century Amsterdam. Seal records his subject's 20th century rebirth in the advertising boardrooms of Manhattan, and his own children's encounter with Santa in his new Lapland home. This high adventure spans early-Christian relics and Italian chicanery to reindeer, chimneys and chocolate coins, in a riveting narrative that combines epic sweep with cameos of childhood innocence. From the nature of belief to the settling of modern America, this is an extraordinary tale, triumphantly told. (Trove)




Every child knows about Santa Claus, the jolly man who brings gifts to all on Christmas Eve. There are many stories that tell his life, but the delightful version related in The life and adventures of Santa Claus is by far the most charming and original.
Deep in the Forest of Burzee, a wood-nymph discovers an abandoned baby and raises him as her child. Young Claus is taught by the wise mythological creatures of the Forest, who love him as one of their own. Though he lives amongst magical beings, he comes to cherish his fellow humans, especially the children. When Santa Claus whittles his first toy, he knows he has found the way to bring happiness and love to children all over the world (inside cover of book).