Description[]
Letters from Father Christmas is a fantasy book written and illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit). It consists of letters written between 1920 to 1942 by Father Christmas himself.
Reader's Reviews[]
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Parental Guidence[]
- Reading Age:
- Reading Aloud Age:
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Gallery[]
In 1920, J. R. R. Tolkien started a tradition of writing Christmas letters to his children. Over the years, he illustrated the letters with a variety of characters, including Father Christmas. Tolkien also hand-lettered the envelopes, created North Pole postmarks and designed his own stamps.
Tolkien wrote the letters in the voice of Father Christmas, who was over 1,900 years old. This illustration from 1920 was sent to his son, John, who was three years old.
In his 1926 letter to John, Michael and Christopher Tolkien, Father Christmas wrote that the North Polar Bear ate "quite a lot of my Christmas chocolates." He also noted that the reindeer broke loose and were "tossing presents up in the air."
Father Christmas illustrations came to include a variety of characters. In this illustration from 1928, Polar Bear has fallen down the stairs after trying to carry "an enormous pile" of parcels on his head. Father Christmas confided, "Polar Bear was rather grumpy at my drawing it."
In the first of a series of 1931 drawings, Tolkien (as Father Christmas) wrote, "It has been very warm in the North this year." Polar Bear added a postscript, "I wish we kood have snow. My coat is quite yellow."
A 1933 Christmas envelope, addressed to "The Tolkiens," a family which now included a baby girl, Priscilla. Letters were either left in the fireplace, as if they had been brought down the chimney, or, in later years, were delivered by a local accomplice, the postman.
This illustration from 1933 shows Polar Bear "squeezing, squashing, trampling, boxing and kicking goblins skyhigh." In the panel below, Father Christmas is shown moments before being awakened by "a terrific din."
Father Christmas included this drawing in a 1934 letter to Christopher Tolkien. The tree came "all the way from Norway" and was planted in a pool of ice.
In a 1939 letter to Priscilla Tolkien, Father Christmas noted, "I am very busy and things are very difficult this year owing to this horrible war. Many of my messengers have never come back. I haven't been able to do you a very nice picture this year."
This illustration, from a 1943 letter to Priscilla Tolkien, was Father Christmas's last. "After this," he wrote, "I shall have to say 'goodbye,' more or less: I mean, I shall not forget you." Referring to the war, Father Christmas wrote, "There has been no damage in my country."
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In 1920, J. R. R. Tolkien started a tradition of writing Christmas letters to his children. Over the years, he illustrated the letters with a variety of characters, including Father Christmas. Tolkien also hand-lettered the envelopes, created North Pole postmarks and designed his own stamps.
Tolkien wrote the letters in the voice of Father Christmas, who was over 1,900 years old. This illustration from 1920 was sent to his son, John, who was three years old.
In his 1926 letter to John, Michael and Christopher Tolkien, Father Christmas wrote that the North Polar Bear ate "quite a lot of my Christmas chocolates." He also noted that the reindeer broke loose and were "tossing presents up in the air."
Father Christmas illustrations came to include a variety of characters. In this illustration from 1928, Polar Bear has fallen down the stairs after trying to carry "an enormous pile" of parcels on his head. Father Christmas confided, "Polar Bear was rather grumpy at my drawing it."
In the first of a series of 1931 drawings, Tolkien (as Father Christmas) wrote, "It has been very warm in the North this year." Polar Bear added a postscript, "I wish we kood have snow. My coat is quite yellow."
A 1933 Christmas envelope, addressed to "The Tolkiens," a family which now included a baby girl, Priscilla. Letters were either left in the fireplace, as if they had been brought down the chimney, or, in later years, were delivered by a local accomplice, the postman.
This illustration from 1933 shows Polar Bear "squeezing, squashing, trampling, boxing and kicking goblins skyhigh." In the panel below, Father Christmas is shown moments before being awakened by "a terrific din."
Father Christmas included this drawing in a 1934 letter to Christopher Tolkien. The tree came "all the way from Norway" and was planted in a pool of ice.
In a 1939 letter to Priscilla Tolkien, Father Christmas noted, "I am very busy and things are very difficult this year owing to this horrible war. Many of my messengers have never come back. I haven't been able to do you a very nice picture this year."
This illustration, from a 1943 letter to Priscilla Tolkien, was Father Christmas's last. "After this," he wrote, "I shall have to say 'goodbye,' more or less: I mean, I shall not forget you." Referring to the war, Father Christmas wrote, "There has been no damage in my country."
