Product Description

A sumptuous gift book originated from the beautiful letters and drawings Tolkien, in the guise of Father Christmas, sent his children over a twenty year period. The letters tell the story of life at the North Pole, the mischievous North Polar Bear, the helpful Ilbereth the elf, and the adventures they shared between the Christmases. As well as beautifully reproduced pictures, the book also features 10 envelopes containing 10 pull-out letters and pictures for children to read, hold and enjoy. The pull-outs are facsimile extracts of the original letters, with simple 'translation' on the back of each to help those who have trouble deciphering Father Christmas's shaky handwriting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303005 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 44 pages

About the Author
Baillie Tolkien is married to Christopher, the youngest of the children to whom the letters are written. They now live in France

Customer Reviews

Inspired
This is a fantastic book. The stories of the North Polar Bear are funny and engaging for Children of all ages. The Children in my local library were reading it with obvious delight with lots of "ooooh look at that mummy" "I really like that picture" so I bought a copy and I wholeheartedly agree with them!

Every house should have one
My mum used to read this to us when we were children - it really added to the magic of Christmas, especially as 'Father Christmas' then used to write notes to us on the back of beautiful postcards.

Tolkien builds a fabulous picture of Father Christmas's world in a way that shows how he understood children so well - of course there has to be a North Pole, and I never forgot the stories of the North Polar Bear climbing up to get Father Christmas's hat back and breaking it cos he had beren eating rather a lot and was a bit plump! The goblins were a bit scary, the North Polar Bear a bit scatty (one year he went to sleep in the bath and the cellars got flooded ruining all the presents so that year there nearly weren't any presents at all). So beautifully illustrated and magical, my brother and I would beg my mum to re-read the book every year in the lead up to Christmas and when we got our cards from FC it was always a highlight of Christmas morning. My mum never wrote as much as Tolkien or drew pictures, but a few lines in shaky writing thanking us for the sweets we left out and and telling a small story to explain if we hadn't quite got what we'd asked for was part of the magic of Christmas - it stopped us complaining if we got something different and we always treasured the cards - who says everything about Christmas has to be expensive! Every friend of mine gets a copy when they have their first child.

Simply Superb!
This book is a treasure, and I thank the Tolkien Estate, and Tolkien's own family for allowing their personal letters to be shared with the wider public. The illustrations (all by JRR Tolkien himself) are enchanting. Original calligraphy samples are included with full typesets of each letter. Father Christmas' explanations for shortages (during WWII) and other mishaps (the Goblin's invaded) are a wonderful read. His helpers, a Polar Bear and a secretarial Elf, enter the story and never leave, as the saga continues each Christmas. Never mind the kids - buy this one for yourself.