Blogmas Day 20: Book Review | Letters From Father Christmas

Hello and welcome back to Blogmas.

For today’s post I want to share some thoughts about a book that has now become a festive favourite – Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R.Tolkien

Every December, a letter from the North Pole would arrive for JRR Tolkien’s children. These letters were stories and drawings from Father Christmas, telling the children about his goings on and wonderful life in the North Pole. The letters date from 1920 up to 1943 and alongside the illustrations, present such a lovely and enchanting tome for everyone to enjoy.

As I mentioned in my pre-Christmas book haul post right near the beginning of Blogmas, I’m starting to read Tolkien’s work for the first time through The Lord of the Rings and when I started The Fellowship of the Ring, I saw Beth at BooksNest haul and talk about this book.

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked it up and started reading, but I can now safely say it is utterly magical, charming and funny. There are so many different hijinks, stories that would engross every child and I think Tolkien’s children were so incredibly lucky to obviously have a father who had such a vivid and wild imagination. At the same time though, some of the letters are very poignant and reminiscent of the time, particularly when we get to 1939 and onwards.

I think one of my favourite things about these stories is the introduction of Polar Bear, who often adds his own side thoughts to the letters and is the cause of many hijinks – the collapse of Father Christmas’s roof as he fell into the house, how he turned on all the Northern Lights for two years in one go, and ended up in a goblin’s cave, just to name a few.

The letters and stories are so good, they’re timeless, and perfect cosy Christmas reading. I’m glad I found this book and I don’t doubt that I’ll re-read it every Christmas from here on in.

From me, it gets:

Have you read Letters from Father Christmas? If so, what are your thoughts?
If not, do you think it would be something you’d enjoy?

As always, thank you for reading and have a brazzle dazzle day!
xx