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Miracle on 34th St.
The classic story.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1947
125 people are currently reading
3664 people want to read
About the author
Valentine Davies
16 books12 followersValentine Davies (August 25, 1905 – July 23, 1961) was an American film and television writer, producer, and director. His film credits included Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Chicken Every Sunday (1949), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), and The Benny Goodman Story (1955). He was nominated for the 1954 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Glenn Miller Story.
Davies was born in New York City, served in the Coast Guard, and graduated from the University of Michigan. He wrote a number of Broadway plays and was president of the Screen Writers Guild and general chairman of the Academy Awards program.
He wrote the story for the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, which was given screen treatment by the director, George Seaton. Davies also did a novelization of the story, which was published as a novella by Harcourt Brace & Company in conjunction with the film release. Miracle on 34th Street earned him an Academy Award for Best Story.
Davies was born in New York City, served in the Coast Guard, and graduated from the University of Michigan. He wrote a number of Broadway plays and was president of the Screen Writers Guild and general chairman of the Academy Awards program.
He wrote the story for the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, which was given screen treatment by the director, George Seaton. Davies also did a novelization of the story, which was published as a novella by Harcourt Brace & Company in conjunction with the film release. Miracle on 34th Street earned him an Academy Award for Best Story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 580 reviews
October 2, 2018
Whoo-hoo! It's just TWELVE WEEKS until Christmas!! I adore the holiday season. I especially love good holiday movies and books!
One of my favorite Christmas movies is "Miracle on 34th Street" starring Natalie Wood. At the time that the movie was made, Valentine Davies also penned a short novella to accompany the film release. There have been several adaptations of the movie and book but no other book has been released by the Davies estate - until now.
Miracle on 34th Street is a picture book for kids of all ages. The story is accurately re-told for the enjoyment of children. The writing, while simple, is not childishly over-handed and the prose flows brilliantly throughout the book. The illustrations by James Newman Gray are exquisite. Their detail and vivid colors are sure to capture the eye of many young readers.
Most importantly, this new rendition fully captures the hope, magic and joy of the original movie. This is a must-have book for your holiday library collection.
Thank you to #Netgalley, #SourcebooksJabberwocky and the Davies Estate for this marvelous holiday tale.
One of my favorite Christmas movies is "Miracle on 34th Street" starring Natalie Wood. At the time that the movie was made, Valentine Davies also penned a short novella to accompany the film release. There have been several adaptations of the movie and book but no other book has been released by the Davies estate - until now.
Miracle on 34th Street is a picture book for kids of all ages. The story is accurately re-told for the enjoyment of children. The writing, while simple, is not childishly over-handed and the prose flows brilliantly throughout the book. The illustrations by James Newman Gray are exquisite. Their detail and vivid colors are sure to capture the eye of many young readers.
Most importantly, this new rendition fully captures the hope, magic and joy of the original movie. This is a must-have book for your holiday library collection.
Thank you to #Netgalley, #SourcebooksJabberwocky and the Davies Estate for this marvelous holiday tale.
December 23, 2020
"Do you believe that you are Santa Claus?"
"Of course!" said Mr. Kringle.
I was raised in a dark, distant time. There were no streaming services, no DVDs, not even VHS. Where I lived, we didn't get cable. There were three broadcast channels, and PBS, and you were at their mercy. They showed the holiday classics once each year, and if you missed that single broadcast - woe unto you! (Seriously. You DID NOT want to be the only kid at the elementary school water fountain who had missed the annual showing of The Charlie Brown Christmas special the night before.) So it was a great comfort to have this book as a youngster, as it is frequently a verbatim retelling of the film, just in case I managed to miss my one opportunity to see the movie.
Since I seriously doubt anyone reading this review is unfamiliar with the film, I'll give only the briefest recap: a man who's convinced he's the real Santa Claus has to convince others of his identity. Chief among the doubters are a jaded divorced mother and her cynical young daughter.
"Well, said Susan with conviction, "if you're really Santa you can get it for me! And if you can't, then you're only a nice man with a white beard, like Mother says!"
It's a challenge that our Mr. Kringle does not take lightly.
For Kris had begun to realize that Doris and little Susan were but unhappy products of their times. They presented a real challenge to him - a sort of test-case for Santa Claus. If he could win them over, if he could get them to believe in him - then there was still hope. If not, Santa Claus and all he stood for were through.
There is a trial with a very funny denouement, and an ending that never fails to elicit both a tear and a smile from this cynical, jaded old gal.
Read the book, or see the movie, but DO make this little miracle a regular part of your holiday celebrations.
"Of course!" said Mr. Kringle.
I was raised in a dark, distant time. There were no streaming services, no DVDs, not even VHS. Where I lived, we didn't get cable. There were three broadcast channels, and PBS, and you were at their mercy. They showed the holiday classics once each year, and if you missed that single broadcast - woe unto you! (Seriously. You DID NOT want to be the only kid at the elementary school water fountain who had missed the annual showing of The Charlie Brown Christmas special the night before.) So it was a great comfort to have this book as a youngster, as it is frequently a verbatim retelling of the film, just in case I managed to miss my one opportunity to see the movie.
Since I seriously doubt anyone reading this review is unfamiliar with the film, I'll give only the briefest recap: a man who's convinced he's the real Santa Claus has to convince others of his identity. Chief among the doubters are a jaded divorced mother and her cynical young daughter.
"Well, said Susan with conviction, "if you're really Santa you can get it for me! And if you can't, then you're only a nice man with a white beard, like Mother says!"
It's a challenge that our Mr. Kringle does not take lightly.
For Kris had begun to realize that Doris and little Susan were but unhappy products of their times. They presented a real challenge to him - a sort of test-case for Santa Claus. If he could win them over, if he could get them to believe in him - then there was still hope. If not, Santa Claus and all he stood for were through.
There is a trial with a very funny denouement, and an ending that never fails to elicit both a tear and a smile from this cynical, jaded old gal.
Read the book, or see the movie, but DO make this little miracle a regular part of your holiday celebrations.
December 31, 2025
The miracle behind this beloved Christmas classic occurred, appropriately enough, at a department store - with a story idea that occurred to screenwriter Valentine Davies when he was standing in a long queue. One can imagine the premise taking shape in Davies’ mind: What if Santa Claus – the real Santa Claus – was working as a department-store Santa in modern times?
The Santa Claus story that Davies crafted, and presented to producers at 20th Century-Fox, became Miracle on 34th Street (1947), one of the best-loved holiday films of all time. This novella version of the story, published in tandem with the film’s original release, was a best-seller in its day; and for modern readers, it should provide a pleasant return to the compelling magic of the original cinematic story.
As in the film, the story’s protagonist is one Kris Kringle, who lives at a “home for the aged” in Great Neck on Long Island. When a combination of circumstances makes it necessary for Kris to vacate his place at the home, he finds his way down to New York City, and happens to be there just when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is in danger of being ruined by a drunken man who is in no shape to portray Santa Claus. Kris reluctantly agrees to portray Santa, to the considerable relief of Doris Walker, the Macy’s employee who is in charge of the parade.
Bitter life experience, including a divorce, has taught Doris to take a strictly practical approach to life, and to raise her daughter Susan in the same spirit. She is not harsh or cruel; she is simply a good person who has been wounded by life, and is determined not to let anyone hurt her daughter in the same way. Toward that end, she has raised Susan not to believe in anything that is not “real” – including Santa Claus.
Doris’s neighbour Fred, a young lawyer, is concerned about this aspect of Susan’s outlook, and is privately convinced that he and Doris could make a good match. Susan, however, politely rejects any attempts at the beginnings of courtship, though she sees that Fred plays a positive role in Susan’s life.
Kris Kringle eventually becomes the store Santa for Macy’s, in spite of Susan’s misgivings about him – on his Macy’s employment form, he lists his age as being “As old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth” (p. 18). Once he is on board at Macy’s, he tells Doris of his concerns regarding what he sees happening to the celebration of Christmas:
“You know, Mrs. Walker,” he said, “for the past fifty years or so I’ve been more and more worried about Christmas. It seems we’re all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less, that Christmas and I are sort of getting lost in the shuffle.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Doris. “Christmas is still Christmas.”
“No,” said Mr. Kringle, shaking his head. “Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind. That’s what’s been changing. That’s why I’m glad I’m here – because maybe I can do something about it.” (pp. 27-29)
One of Kris’s goals is to help both Doris and Susan overcome their cynicism about Santa Claus, Christmas, and life in general. Fans of the movie Miracle on 34th Street will remember the moving scene when Kris, in his role as the department-store Santa for Macy’s meets a little Dutch girl, from Rotterdam, who has been adopted by an American family. The face of the solemn little girl, a (presumably orphaned) survivor of the Second World War, lights up when Kris greets her in perfect Dutch. Kris talks with her in Dutch about her Christmas wishes, and even sings a Dutch Christmas song with her. The girl’s adoptive mother looks on, her face aglow with happiness and gratitude.
No, I am not getting teary-eyed with my recollections of that scene. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
The scene doesn’t quite pack the same emotional punch in print that it does on screen, but Davies emphasizes how, when Susan sees Kris with the Dutch girl, “There was something very real about this Santa Claus and it puzzled her considerably” (p. 23).
Eventually, Kris gets Susan to at least talk about the concept of a Santa Claus who grants children’ Christmas wishes. Susan says that what she wants for Christmas is a nice suburban house in Long Island, with a yard to play in. Kris points out that “if every child got what he wanted right away, life wouldn’t be half so much fun now, would it? Sometimes it’s better to keep on wishing, so that when you get your wish, you really appreciate it! In other words…there are lots of reasons why every wish a child makes can’t come true” (p. 46). Susan tends to think that Kris is just a nice old man with a big white beard.
The crisis of Miracle on 34th Street occurs when Kris is accused of assault by Macy’s arrogant store psychologist, Albert Sawyer, and faces the prospect of institutionalization. In the book, the basis for Sawyer’s accusations against Kris is handled somewhat better than in the original movie. I have never liked the moment in the film when Kris, angry that Sawyer has been subjecting a young and naïve Macy’s employee to Sawyer’s armchair psychoanalysis, hits Sawyer with his cane; it seems decidedly out of character for Kris, and – let’s face it – it is a case of assault and battery, no matter how much we may dislike Sawyer.
In the book, by contrast, it turns out that Macy’s has a “Personnel Study Group,” chaired by Doris, that meets regularly for lectures and discussions. And the study group’s agenda for the evening of December 18, at the Neighborhood Center Auditorium in Greenwich Village, has been set by Mr. Albert Sawyer, and the subject is “Exploding the Myth of Santa Claus” (p. 60).
One week before Christmas? Really? Really?
Kris attends the meeting, and eloquently refutes Sawyer’s poorly made points, and in response Sawyer makes as if to assault Kris. “Kris raised his cane, prepared to defend himself, and Sawyer grabbed for it furiously. With a quick tug, Mr. Kringle pulled it free. As he did so, the stick grazed Mr. Sawyer’s cheek” (p. 66). Sawyer, who is clearly in the wrong, nonetheless has a basis for accusing Kris of violent tendencies.
Confined to the Bellevue mental hospital, a despairing Kris is visited by Fred. Kris has deliberately given wrong answers to the clinicians’ questions, and seems perfectly ready to be committed. When Fred, who wants Kris to fight for his freedom points out that even Doris is starting to believe in him, Kris replies that “It’s not just Doris. It’s men like Sawyer. He’s dishonest, selfish, vicious. Yet he’s called normal and I’m not. He’s out there and I’m in here. Well, if he’s normal, I don’t want to be. I’d rather stay in here!” (p. 75). It reminded me of Henry David Thoreau’s words in Civil Disobedience: under a government that imprisons anyone unjustly, the only place for a just person is likewise a prison.
News of Kris’s arrest goes nationwide – understandably, as Kris’s willingness to send parents to stores other than Macy’s for the right Christmas gift has prompted Macy’s, and Gimbel’s, and every other store in New York City to adopt the same sort of goodwill policy. A New York radio columnist praises “Kris Kringle, the little Santa Claus who alone is responsible for the wave of good will which has swept this city”, denounces the charges of lunacy against him, and concludes that “If bringing back the true Christmas spirit is a form of insanity, then these are very strange times, indeed!” (p. 83)
Fred commits to represent Kris at Kris’s commitment hearing, even though doing so means giving up his post at a prestigious New York law firm – and imperiling his increasingly close relationship with Doris. The odds against Kris and Fred seem strong.
But, as in the film, Susan, who feels sad for Kris, writes him a letter, addressed to him at the New York County Court House. It reads, “DEAR MR. KRINGLE, I MISS YOU VERY MUCH AND I HOPE I WILL SEE YOU SOON. I KNOW IT WILL COME OUT ALL RIGHT. I BELIEVE YOU ARE SANTA CLAUS AND I HOPE YOU ARE NOT SAD. YOURS TRULY, SUSAN WALKER.” And Doris adds, as a postscript, the words “I believe in you, too. Doris.”
Doris’s growth and change is emphasized in passages like this one:
“Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to,” said Doris, echoing Fred’s words as much as herself to Susan. The child didn’t quite understand, so Doris went on. If you didn’t believe, you never would get the things you really wanted. Doris had learned that, to her bitter sorrow. Anyone could have faith when everything was fine. But real faith meant believing, rain or shine. (p. 117)
And Susan’s sweet little letter to Kris Kringle, at the New York County Court House, turns out to be the catalyst that moves Miracle on 34th Street toward its Christmas-magic happy ending.
Valentine Davies was just 55 years old when he died at his home in Malibu, California. “Marian Saphro, who was Davies’ secretary at the time of his death, recalled many years later that her boss passed away in the midst of a hearty laugh. Somehow, it seems only fitting for the man who gave the world Kris Kringle, with all his joy and magic.” He was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences at the time of his death, and the Writers’ Guild of America “now presents the Valentine Davies Award as one of its highest honors” (p. 125).
Would Miracle on 34th Street the book have done as well without Miracle on 34th Street the movie? Perhaps not. But I suspect that the movie’s many fans will turn to this book with the same sort of enjoyment that they have derived from the classic film. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good day!
The Santa Claus story that Davies crafted, and presented to producers at 20th Century-Fox, became Miracle on 34th Street (1947), one of the best-loved holiday films of all time. This novella version of the story, published in tandem with the film’s original release, was a best-seller in its day; and for modern readers, it should provide a pleasant return to the compelling magic of the original cinematic story.
As in the film, the story’s protagonist is one Kris Kringle, who lives at a “home for the aged” in Great Neck on Long Island. When a combination of circumstances makes it necessary for Kris to vacate his place at the home, he finds his way down to New York City, and happens to be there just when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is in danger of being ruined by a drunken man who is in no shape to portray Santa Claus. Kris reluctantly agrees to portray Santa, to the considerable relief of Doris Walker, the Macy’s employee who is in charge of the parade.
Bitter life experience, including a divorce, has taught Doris to take a strictly practical approach to life, and to raise her daughter Susan in the same spirit. She is not harsh or cruel; she is simply a good person who has been wounded by life, and is determined not to let anyone hurt her daughter in the same way. Toward that end, she has raised Susan not to believe in anything that is not “real” – including Santa Claus.
Doris’s neighbour Fred, a young lawyer, is concerned about this aspect of Susan’s outlook, and is privately convinced that he and Doris could make a good match. Susan, however, politely rejects any attempts at the beginnings of courtship, though she sees that Fred plays a positive role in Susan’s life.
Kris Kringle eventually becomes the store Santa for Macy’s, in spite of Susan’s misgivings about him – on his Macy’s employment form, he lists his age as being “As old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth” (p. 18). Once he is on board at Macy’s, he tells Doris of his concerns regarding what he sees happening to the celebration of Christmas:
“You know, Mrs. Walker,” he said, “for the past fifty years or so I’ve been more and more worried about Christmas. It seems we’re all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less, that Christmas and I are sort of getting lost in the shuffle.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Doris. “Christmas is still Christmas.”
“No,” said Mr. Kringle, shaking his head. “Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind. That’s what’s been changing. That’s why I’m glad I’m here – because maybe I can do something about it.” (pp. 27-29)
One of Kris’s goals is to help both Doris and Susan overcome their cynicism about Santa Claus, Christmas, and life in general. Fans of the movie Miracle on 34th Street will remember the moving scene when Kris, in his role as the department-store Santa for Macy’s meets a little Dutch girl, from Rotterdam, who has been adopted by an American family. The face of the solemn little girl, a (presumably orphaned) survivor of the Second World War, lights up when Kris greets her in perfect Dutch. Kris talks with her in Dutch about her Christmas wishes, and even sings a Dutch Christmas song with her. The girl’s adoptive mother looks on, her face aglow with happiness and gratitude.
No, I am not getting teary-eyed with my recollections of that scene. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
The scene doesn’t quite pack the same emotional punch in print that it does on screen, but Davies emphasizes how, when Susan sees Kris with the Dutch girl, “There was something very real about this Santa Claus and it puzzled her considerably” (p. 23).
Eventually, Kris gets Susan to at least talk about the concept of a Santa Claus who grants children’ Christmas wishes. Susan says that what she wants for Christmas is a nice suburban house in Long Island, with a yard to play in. Kris points out that “if every child got what he wanted right away, life wouldn’t be half so much fun now, would it? Sometimes it’s better to keep on wishing, so that when you get your wish, you really appreciate it! In other words…there are lots of reasons why every wish a child makes can’t come true” (p. 46). Susan tends to think that Kris is just a nice old man with a big white beard.
The crisis of Miracle on 34th Street occurs when Kris is accused of assault by Macy’s arrogant store psychologist, Albert Sawyer, and faces the prospect of institutionalization. In the book, the basis for Sawyer’s accusations against Kris is handled somewhat better than in the original movie. I have never liked the moment in the film when Kris, angry that Sawyer has been subjecting a young and naïve Macy’s employee to Sawyer’s armchair psychoanalysis, hits Sawyer with his cane; it seems decidedly out of character for Kris, and – let’s face it – it is a case of assault and battery, no matter how much we may dislike Sawyer.
In the book, by contrast, it turns out that Macy’s has a “Personnel Study Group,” chaired by Doris, that meets regularly for lectures and discussions. And the study group’s agenda for the evening of December 18, at the Neighborhood Center Auditorium in Greenwich Village, has been set by Mr. Albert Sawyer, and the subject is “Exploding the Myth of Santa Claus” (p. 60).
One week before Christmas? Really? Really?
Kris attends the meeting, and eloquently refutes Sawyer’s poorly made points, and in response Sawyer makes as if to assault Kris. “Kris raised his cane, prepared to defend himself, and Sawyer grabbed for it furiously. With a quick tug, Mr. Kringle pulled it free. As he did so, the stick grazed Mr. Sawyer’s cheek” (p. 66). Sawyer, who is clearly in the wrong, nonetheless has a basis for accusing Kris of violent tendencies.
Confined to the Bellevue mental hospital, a despairing Kris is visited by Fred. Kris has deliberately given wrong answers to the clinicians’ questions, and seems perfectly ready to be committed. When Fred, who wants Kris to fight for his freedom points out that even Doris is starting to believe in him, Kris replies that “It’s not just Doris. It’s men like Sawyer. He’s dishonest, selfish, vicious. Yet he’s called normal and I’m not. He’s out there and I’m in here. Well, if he’s normal, I don’t want to be. I’d rather stay in here!” (p. 75). It reminded me of Henry David Thoreau’s words in Civil Disobedience: under a government that imprisons anyone unjustly, the only place for a just person is likewise a prison.
News of Kris’s arrest goes nationwide – understandably, as Kris’s willingness to send parents to stores other than Macy’s for the right Christmas gift has prompted Macy’s, and Gimbel’s, and every other store in New York City to adopt the same sort of goodwill policy. A New York radio columnist praises “Kris Kringle, the little Santa Claus who alone is responsible for the wave of good will which has swept this city”, denounces the charges of lunacy against him, and concludes that “If bringing back the true Christmas spirit is a form of insanity, then these are very strange times, indeed!” (p. 83)
Fred commits to represent Kris at Kris’s commitment hearing, even though doing so means giving up his post at a prestigious New York law firm – and imperiling his increasingly close relationship with Doris. The odds against Kris and Fred seem strong.
But, as in the film, Susan, who feels sad for Kris, writes him a letter, addressed to him at the New York County Court House. It reads, “DEAR MR. KRINGLE, I MISS YOU VERY MUCH AND I HOPE I WILL SEE YOU SOON. I KNOW IT WILL COME OUT ALL RIGHT. I BELIEVE YOU ARE SANTA CLAUS AND I HOPE YOU ARE NOT SAD. YOURS TRULY, SUSAN WALKER.” And Doris adds, as a postscript, the words “I believe in you, too. Doris.”
Doris’s growth and change is emphasized in passages like this one:
“Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to,” said Doris, echoing Fred’s words as much as herself to Susan. The child didn’t quite understand, so Doris went on. If you didn’t believe, you never would get the things you really wanted. Doris had learned that, to her bitter sorrow. Anyone could have faith when everything was fine. But real faith meant believing, rain or shine. (p. 117)
And Susan’s sweet little letter to Kris Kringle, at the New York County Court House, turns out to be the catalyst that moves Miracle on 34th Street toward its Christmas-magic happy ending.
Valentine Davies was just 55 years old when he died at his home in Malibu, California. “Marian Saphro, who was Davies’ secretary at the time of his death, recalled many years later that her boss passed away in the midst of a hearty laugh. Somehow, it seems only fitting for the man who gave the world Kris Kringle, with all his joy and magic.” He was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences at the time of his death, and the Writers’ Guild of America “now presents the Valentine Davies Award as one of its highest honors” (p. 125).
Would Miracle on 34th Street the book have done as well without Miracle on 34th Street the movie? Perhaps not. But I suspect that the movie’s many fans will turn to this book with the same sort of enjoyment that they have derived from the classic film. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good day!
December 30, 2018
"Can’t you let yourself believe in people like Kris—in fun and joy and love and all the other intangibles?"
Kris Kringle may seem like just another resident at the nursing home, but what is so special about him is that he looks uncannily like our image of Santa Claus… not only that, he believes himself to actually be Santa Claus! Sounds a bit batty, right? Well, that’s what many think. Only a few supporters truly believe him to be the real Santa Claus. And Doris and her little daughter, Susan, are skeptics as well. He may be a nice, little old man, but there is no such thing as Santa… right? Kris’s goal is to win these two over, and in the process he gets himself into a bit of trouble that lands him in court. With a little help from believer and lawyer Fred Gayley, Kris will need to prove his identity in order to disprove a case of insanity.
"If bringing back the true Christmas spirit is a form of insanity, then these are very strange times, indeed!"
Most everyone is familiar with the movie of the same title. What I didn’t realize before picking up this little novella was that the screenplay came in existence first. According to the historical note at the end of the book, Valentine Davies had the idea for the story which he took to screenwriter and director George Seaton, who then turned it into a screenplay which was released in 1947. Davies then wrote a novelization of the story which was published in conjunction with the movie. For the most part, I find that I prefer a book over a movie. Not so here. While I don’t remember every detail of the movie, I have fond memories of watching it years ago. I hoped the book would bring back some of that magic. Unfortunately, it failed to do so. The prose was rather simple and the characters were flat. While I felt sympathetic towards Kris Kringle, he didn’t really stir up any emotion in me. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Santa Claus! There were a few special quotes, but not enough to make the story highly engaging. I wanted to ‘believe’, but nothing here was evocative enough to draw me in and feel much of anything. It pains me to say I just wanted to rush through this and check it off my list. I feel like the Grinch! But really, Christmas is a magical time of year, full of wonder, and I enjoy it as much as the next person. If I want to stir up any nostalgia and feel my heart beat with excitement for the season, I’ll have to stick with A Christmas Carol to get the job done. I can’t recommend this one which I’m rating a mere 2 stars. I’d say watch the movie, and hopefully that will add a bit of sparkle that the written word in this case just didn’t achieve. Perhaps I’m just not a fan of novelizations.
"Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind."
Kris Kringle may seem like just another resident at the nursing home, but what is so special about him is that he looks uncannily like our image of Santa Claus… not only that, he believes himself to actually be Santa Claus! Sounds a bit batty, right? Well, that’s what many think. Only a few supporters truly believe him to be the real Santa Claus. And Doris and her little daughter, Susan, are skeptics as well. He may be a nice, little old man, but there is no such thing as Santa… right? Kris’s goal is to win these two over, and in the process he gets himself into a bit of trouble that lands him in court. With a little help from believer and lawyer Fred Gayley, Kris will need to prove his identity in order to disprove a case of insanity.
"If bringing back the true Christmas spirit is a form of insanity, then these are very strange times, indeed!"
Most everyone is familiar with the movie of the same title. What I didn’t realize before picking up this little novella was that the screenplay came in existence first. According to the historical note at the end of the book, Valentine Davies had the idea for the story which he took to screenwriter and director George Seaton, who then turned it into a screenplay which was released in 1947. Davies then wrote a novelization of the story which was published in conjunction with the movie. For the most part, I find that I prefer a book over a movie. Not so here. While I don’t remember every detail of the movie, I have fond memories of watching it years ago. I hoped the book would bring back some of that magic. Unfortunately, it failed to do so. The prose was rather simple and the characters were flat. While I felt sympathetic towards Kris Kringle, he didn’t really stir up any emotion in me. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Santa Claus! There were a few special quotes, but not enough to make the story highly engaging. I wanted to ‘believe’, but nothing here was evocative enough to draw me in and feel much of anything. It pains me to say I just wanted to rush through this and check it off my list. I feel like the Grinch! But really, Christmas is a magical time of year, full of wonder, and I enjoy it as much as the next person. If I want to stir up any nostalgia and feel my heart beat with excitement for the season, I’ll have to stick with A Christmas Carol to get the job done. I can’t recommend this one which I’m rating a mere 2 stars. I’d say watch the movie, and hopefully that will add a bit of sparkle that the written word in this case just didn’t achieve. Perhaps I’m just not a fan of novelizations.
"Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind."
May 24, 2017
First airing in theaters in 1947, and based on a story by Valentine Davies (though the actual screenplay was by George Seaton) Miracle on 34th St. is one of America's better-known and beloved classic Christmas movies. In contrast, the novelization, done by Davies himself, is so little known that I had to add it to the Goodreads database myself when I began reading it two days ago. (I started reading it because one of my Goodreads groups has a thread for classic Christmas books, and I wanted to contribute something to that.) Having read the book, I could understand its relative obscurity. This is actually one of the very rare cases where I enjoyed the film more than the book.
The movie and the novel were released simultaneously; so Davies probably never watched the movie itself before novelizing it. (He probably worked from Seaton's screenplay, though we aren't told.) I'm guessing that his writing schedule may also have been considerably rushed to meet that deadline. At 120 smaller-than-standard pages, with good-sized type and a lot of white space, the book is definitely a quick read. It reproduces, in bare-bones fashion, the essentials of the movie storyline (some incidents in the film are omitted or changed here); but in general, the film version is the more detailed in developing the characters and events, and the more emotionally evocative. Davies comes across as very mediocre in his literary gifts; he's produced a dry retelling of the story, with a great deal of telling rather than showing, and a fairly flat tone. Since I've seen the movie (more than once), the book benefited from my familiarity with the characters, but if I'd only read the book, I probably wouldn't have been as engaged with them; and the fact that I'd seen the film acted to eliminate any suspense or tension in the narration. A better writer, with more apparent understanding of fictional technique, could have really adapted the material to the written medium and made it compelling; Davies didn't. (I was also surprised to find that the book has one d-word early on --the film, in keeping with the Hollywood standards of that day, has no bad language.) I didn't really dislike the book (it benefits from nostalgia for the movie); but I hesitate to recommend it --readers who've seen the movie are apt to be disappointed with this pallid version, while readers who haven't seen the celluloid version might assume it's as lackluster as the book, and miss a good viewing experience. My advice is to watch the film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/ ) and skip the book.
Also, I've always had mixed feelings about the message conveyed by both book and movie. Yes, I get that "Santa Claus" functions here (as in some other classic works, such as Francis Church's "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus") for the warm-fuzzy side of human experience: altruism, optimism, belief in intangibles, recognition of a dimension to reality that's outside the coldly rational, pessimistic and self-centered. As such, I naturally sympathize. BUT, I also believe it's possible to reject a materialist and egoistic view of the universe without necessarily equating this with a claim that an immortal man in a red suit lives at the North Pole and delivers gifts to all the world's children via their chimneys on Christmas Eve; and that one can recognize the limits of reason without actually disparaging reason ("Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to" is, unfortunately, a prime example of the latter). What Seaton and Davies are preaching is essentially postmodernism: objective reality doesn't matter; all that really matters is whatever you subjectively want to believe. That's not, ultimately, the most helpful way of relating to reality. And it can be particularly pernicious when it takes the form of claiming that the warm-fuzzy side of human experience is a myth, but a myth that's the comforting province of childhood; i.e., children should be encouraged by adults to live in a cocoon of fantasy to shield them from awful reality (and then have that cocoon ripped away from them when they're "old enough"). It's always seemed to me that this is what the conventional practice of making kids believe in Santa actually is based on. (Of course, I don't know much about it from personal experience; I don't ever recall believing in Santa, and had figured out by the time I was five that he was just a man dressed up in a red suit and fake beard.)
My wife and I are both firm believers in the intangible dimension of reality: in the importance of love, caring and generosity; the idea of meaning and purpose in the universe; existential optimism; the value of believing in the unseen. For us, this is in accord with what reason leads us to, though it goes beyond reason, and it's centrally embodied in the baby born in a stable at Bethlehem, to bring mankind peace and goodwill in an eternal scheme of things. We always tried to lead our kids to the understanding that this is what Christmas is about, and we never deliberately told them untruths; they knew about the historical St. Nicholas as an example of gift-giving, and they always knew where Christmas gifts really came from. Every parent or set of parents, of course, has to do what they honestly believe is best in that area. But that's what we felt best to do, and I would do it again; so that colors my approach to this tale. All of that said, we've watched the movie as a family, and appreciated it as a fictional metaphor --we just didn't confuse metaphor with reality!
The movie and the novel were released simultaneously; so Davies probably never watched the movie itself before novelizing it. (He probably worked from Seaton's screenplay, though we aren't told.) I'm guessing that his writing schedule may also have been considerably rushed to meet that deadline. At 120 smaller-than-standard pages, with good-sized type and a lot of white space, the book is definitely a quick read. It reproduces, in bare-bones fashion, the essentials of the movie storyline (some incidents in the film are omitted or changed here); but in general, the film version is the more detailed in developing the characters and events, and the more emotionally evocative. Davies comes across as very mediocre in his literary gifts; he's produced a dry retelling of the story, with a great deal of telling rather than showing, and a fairly flat tone. Since I've seen the movie (more than once), the book benefited from my familiarity with the characters, but if I'd only read the book, I probably wouldn't have been as engaged with them; and the fact that I'd seen the film acted to eliminate any suspense or tension in the narration. A better writer, with more apparent understanding of fictional technique, could have really adapted the material to the written medium and made it compelling; Davies didn't. (I was also surprised to find that the book has one d-word early on --the film, in keeping with the Hollywood standards of that day, has no bad language.) I didn't really dislike the book (it benefits from nostalgia for the movie); but I hesitate to recommend it --readers who've seen the movie are apt to be disappointed with this pallid version, while readers who haven't seen the celluloid version might assume it's as lackluster as the book, and miss a good viewing experience. My advice is to watch the film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/ ) and skip the book.
Also, I've always had mixed feelings about the message conveyed by both book and movie. Yes, I get that "Santa Claus" functions here (as in some other classic works, such as Francis Church's "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus") for the warm-fuzzy side of human experience: altruism, optimism, belief in intangibles, recognition of a dimension to reality that's outside the coldly rational, pessimistic and self-centered. As such, I naturally sympathize. BUT, I also believe it's possible to reject a materialist and egoistic view of the universe without necessarily equating this with a claim that an immortal man in a red suit lives at the North Pole and delivers gifts to all the world's children via their chimneys on Christmas Eve; and that one can recognize the limits of reason without actually disparaging reason ("Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to" is, unfortunately, a prime example of the latter). What Seaton and Davies are preaching is essentially postmodernism: objective reality doesn't matter; all that really matters is whatever you subjectively want to believe. That's not, ultimately, the most helpful way of relating to reality. And it can be particularly pernicious when it takes the form of claiming that the warm-fuzzy side of human experience is a myth, but a myth that's the comforting province of childhood; i.e., children should be encouraged by adults to live in a cocoon of fantasy to shield them from awful reality (and then have that cocoon ripped away from them when they're "old enough"). It's always seemed to me that this is what the conventional practice of making kids believe in Santa actually is based on. (Of course, I don't know much about it from personal experience; I don't ever recall believing in Santa, and had figured out by the time I was five that he was just a man dressed up in a red suit and fake beard.)
My wife and I are both firm believers in the intangible dimension of reality: in the importance of love, caring and generosity; the idea of meaning and purpose in the universe; existential optimism; the value of believing in the unseen. For us, this is in accord with what reason leads us to, though it goes beyond reason, and it's centrally embodied in the baby born in a stable at Bethlehem, to bring mankind peace and goodwill in an eternal scheme of things. We always tried to lead our kids to the understanding that this is what Christmas is about, and we never deliberately told them untruths; they knew about the historical St. Nicholas as an example of gift-giving, and they always knew where Christmas gifts really came from. Every parent or set of parents, of course, has to do what they honestly believe is best in that area. But that's what we felt best to do, and I would do it again; so that colors my approach to this tale. All of that said, we've watched the movie as a family, and appreciated it as a fictional metaphor --we just didn't confuse metaphor with reality!
December 14, 2023
3⭐
Genre ~ children's fiction for ages 4-9
Setting ~ NYC
Publication date ~ October 2, 2018
Est page Count ~ 32
Audio length ~ 16 minutes
Narrator ~ George Newbern
Gave Libby a peruse at 4:16 am for some Christmas audios in hopes of lulling me back to sleep. I figured I could spare 16 minutes while I stare in the dark tossing and turning with nothing better to do since I've never read it, or watched the movie for that matter, and 'tis the season.
Susan doesn't believe in Santa. She meets Kris Kringle who is adamant that he is indeed really Santa Clause. Will she and others in the city believe him?
So this was alright. Maybe I would have liked it better had I read the classic from 1945, or even watched the movie from 1947. I'm guessing this was true to the original just cut down into a children's version. Did they really take Santa to court to prove he was real? Have I missed out and really do need to watch the movie? Let me know if I need to fit it among The Polar Express, Elf and A Christmas Story this season.
Narration notes:
I've listened to George many times in adult fiction and he always does a great job. This one has side effects that give the story a little extra pizzazz, which would surely be a fun listen for the kiddos, whether they believe or not.
Here's a fun fact I found on Wikipedia:
The inspiration for the story, about a disillusioned woman, her skeptical daughter and a mysterious man who believes he is the real Santa Claus, came when Valentine Davies was standing in line at a big department store during the Christmas season.
Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
Genre ~ children's fiction for ages 4-9
Setting ~ NYC
Publication date ~ October 2, 2018
Est page Count ~ 32
Audio length ~ 16 minutes
Narrator ~ George Newbern
Gave Libby a peruse at 4:16 am for some Christmas audios in hopes of lulling me back to sleep. I figured I could spare 16 minutes while I stare in the dark tossing and turning with nothing better to do since I've never read it, or watched the movie for that matter, and 'tis the season.
Susan doesn't believe in Santa. She meets Kris Kringle who is adamant that he is indeed really Santa Clause. Will she and others in the city believe him?
So this was alright. Maybe I would have liked it better had I read the classic from 1945, or even watched the movie from 1947. I'm guessing this was true to the original just cut down into a children's version. Did they really take Santa to court to prove he was real? Have I missed out and really do need to watch the movie? Let me know if I need to fit it among The Polar Express, Elf and A Christmas Story this season.
Narration notes:
I've listened to George many times in adult fiction and he always does a great job. This one has side effects that give the story a little extra pizzazz, which would surely be a fun listen for the kiddos, whether they believe or not.
Here's a fun fact I found on Wikipedia:
The inspiration for the story, about a disillusioned woman, her skeptical daughter and a mysterious man who believes he is the real Santa Claus, came when Valentine Davies was standing in line at a big department store during the Christmas season.
Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
December 10, 2025
Looking for some holiday reading that packs a punch, I turned to this novella by Todd Strasser (based on the film adaptation by Valentine Davies). Having seen the movie many times, I decided to try to story version of this holiday classic! Susan Walker has never felt Christmas was anything important. Susan’s never believed in miracles and Santa Claus is just another of those things the holiday season pushes on people without any evidence. However, she goes through the motions to visit him at the large department store, chatting with Kris Kringlez Kris is quite dismayed that Susan is so skeptical, vowing to help her believe. There’s something about their conversation that creates a sparkle in Susan’s mind and she thinks that she might believe, though it will take a lot more than one chat. As Susan begins believing, Kris finds himself in some trouble that will require the courts.
By the end, something magical takes place and Susan is sure that Santa does exist. A brilliant piece that renews my love of the season.
Christmas is the ideal reading time, no matter what genre interests you. This book by Todd Strasser was an especially great treat for me. Not only does he pen the perfect Christmas story, but also touches on the sentimental side of the attentive reader. The narrative builds from the start, creating action and intrigue, while also challenging truths some have created. Strasser creates a path on which the reader will soon discover the honest aspects of the holiday season. True, the book skims over aspects the cinematic version explores at length, but the sentiment is there and kept me intrigued until the final page.
Characters are present and evolve throughout the piece. Susan and Kris Kringle deliver great themes about Christmas and the power of belief, which hits home for many. Strasser portrays themes with ease through the characters and keeps the reader excited, especially if they have seen the movie. Minor characters prove useful as conduits, helping flavour the story well. I could picture those depicted in this piece, paralleling people from the movie.
Surprises emerge at various points of the story, keeping the reader wondering what’s to come. Those who have seen the movie won’t be overly shocked by the story, though there are some twists to keep things entertaining. I quite enjoyed this version of the piece, which was a great single sitting reading experience. While there were some abbreviations from the movie, this was enjoyable and perfect for adding to my annual reads!
Kudos, Mr. Strasser, as you took some of Valentine Davies’ ideas and put them to work!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
By the end, something magical takes place and Susan is sure that Santa does exist. A brilliant piece that renews my love of the season.
Christmas is the ideal reading time, no matter what genre interests you. This book by Todd Strasser was an especially great treat for me. Not only does he pen the perfect Christmas story, but also touches on the sentimental side of the attentive reader. The narrative builds from the start, creating action and intrigue, while also challenging truths some have created. Strasser creates a path on which the reader will soon discover the honest aspects of the holiday season. True, the book skims over aspects the cinematic version explores at length, but the sentiment is there and kept me intrigued until the final page.
Characters are present and evolve throughout the piece. Susan and Kris Kringle deliver great themes about Christmas and the power of belief, which hits home for many. Strasser portrays themes with ease through the characters and keeps the reader excited, especially if they have seen the movie. Minor characters prove useful as conduits, helping flavour the story well. I could picture those depicted in this piece, paralleling people from the movie.
Surprises emerge at various points of the story, keeping the reader wondering what’s to come. Those who have seen the movie won’t be overly shocked by the story, though there are some twists to keep things entertaining. I quite enjoyed this version of the piece, which was a great single sitting reading experience. While there were some abbreviations from the movie, this was enjoyable and perfect for adding to my annual reads!
Kudos, Mr. Strasser, as you took some of Valentine Davies’ ideas and put them to work!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
December 13, 2020
Bells jingling for this amazingly heart-warming Christmas-oozing book. I can literally smell the gingerbread cookies, feel the snowy winter, hear the sleigh bells and taste its unique sweetness. Yes, this is exactly what I was looking for and I’m in love with it! My heart is like a marshmellow right now. What a lovely book! A Christmas miracle everybody’s in need of. Santa comes back to the town only to find it’s filled with cynicals and capitalists! However, he’s not the one to give up; Kris Krieger brings back the lost spirit of Christmas and joy by touching people’s lives and spreading the much-needed cheer. Having devoured it in one sitting, I can easily say with a clear conscience and light heart that it's an amazingly fulfilling, cozy and elating read.
Finally, for all the cynics out there:
"Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to."
Finally, for all the cynics out there:
"Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to."
November 27, 2016
This is the first book that I have read where the author admittedly wrote it for a screenplay then translated it into book form. It reads that way and I loved it. I felt I was reading the movie but in a more explored, in depth way. I loved the experience.
I loved following Susan's path from skeptic to unabashedly believing in the existence of Santa Claus. I mean, if the United States Post Office believes in the guy, who can refute that? Reading about Doris's thawing from her divorce, which is alluded to being quite damaging to her, was heartwarming. The patience and love Fred has for her is sweet. But ultimately, the point Valentine Davies was trying to make in 1947, is the Christmas is getting too commercialized. We need to stop and reflect what it is all about. It isn't about the shopping, trying to one up each other, racing around to find that perfect present. It is about having faith, enjoying each other, peace and good will towards all.
My copy is a 1947 edition I found in a used bookstore. It is pencilled up from the prior reader and I loved it. This was a well loved copy belonging to someone who loved the message. I think the note I loved the best and I am inferring it; is at the end of a chapter where Fred is left anxiously wondering what "competent source" he can produce for the Judge to prove the existence of Santa Claus. The former book owner writes "See pg 104". I turned to page 104 and see boxed in with READ in capital letters next to the message that Susan writes to Kris Kringle professing her belief in Santa Claus. Doris has a postscript that acknowledges her belief. Sometimes faith is all you need to have as a competent source to support belief.
Happy Holidays, Goodreads Friends!!
I loved following Susan's path from skeptic to unabashedly believing in the existence of Santa Claus. I mean, if the United States Post Office believes in the guy, who can refute that? Reading about Doris's thawing from her divorce, which is alluded to being quite damaging to her, was heartwarming. The patience and love Fred has for her is sweet. But ultimately, the point Valentine Davies was trying to make in 1947, is the Christmas is getting too commercialized. We need to stop and reflect what it is all about. It isn't about the shopping, trying to one up each other, racing around to find that perfect present. It is about having faith, enjoying each other, peace and good will towards all.
My copy is a 1947 edition I found in a used bookstore. It is pencilled up from the prior reader and I loved it. This was a well loved copy belonging to someone who loved the message. I think the note I loved the best and I am inferring it; is at the end of a chapter where Fred is left anxiously wondering what "competent source" he can produce for the Judge to prove the existence of Santa Claus. The former book owner writes "See pg 104". I turned to page 104 and see boxed in with READ in capital letters next to the message that Susan writes to Kris Kringle professing her belief in Santa Claus. Doris has a postscript that acknowledges her belief. Sometimes faith is all you need to have as a competent source to support belief.
Happy Holidays, Goodreads Friends!!
December 31, 2018
"Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to."
Doris is straight-forward and frank in her style of parenting and as such Doris tells Susan, her young daughter, that Santa Claus is not real. When Kris Kringle begins to work as Macy's Santa and tells everyone that he is the real Santa, Doris worries as he winds up living with her and Susan. Doris is a skeptic and Susan is starting to become one as well. When Santa goes to trial to prove his identity, its not just these two that Mr. Kringle needs to convince.
Based on the screenplay of the movie by the same name, 'Miracle on 34th Street' is a Christmas classic. Valentine Davies wrote this story somewhat in reverse: the movie came first (though the movie and book were released simultaneously in 1947). Kris Kringle lives in a home and quite resembles jolly saint Nick. He gets work as Macy's Santa Claus and is a hit. He tells everyone that he is indeed the real Santa Claus. Besides the children, no one takes him seriously, chucking up his behaviour to old age and possibly insanity. When Mr. Kringle lands in court, he has to prove who he really is to the world. If I saw the movie, I do not recall. Based on other reviews, this was good for I was not comparing the screeplay to the book. I love the overall feeling of this book, it is warm and uplifting. It certainly carries a sense of wonder. Short but with lots of heart, this is one good book to close 2018.
Doris is straight-forward and frank in her style of parenting and as such Doris tells Susan, her young daughter, that Santa Claus is not real. When Kris Kringle begins to work as Macy's Santa and tells everyone that he is the real Santa, Doris worries as he winds up living with her and Susan. Doris is a skeptic and Susan is starting to become one as well. When Santa goes to trial to prove his identity, its not just these two that Mr. Kringle needs to convince.
Based on the screenplay of the movie by the same name, 'Miracle on 34th Street' is a Christmas classic. Valentine Davies wrote this story somewhat in reverse: the movie came first (though the movie and book were released simultaneously in 1947). Kris Kringle lives in a home and quite resembles jolly saint Nick. He gets work as Macy's Santa Claus and is a hit. He tells everyone that he is indeed the real Santa Claus. Besides the children, no one takes him seriously, chucking up his behaviour to old age and possibly insanity. When Mr. Kringle lands in court, he has to prove who he really is to the world. If I saw the movie, I do not recall. Based on other reviews, this was good for I was not comparing the screeplay to the book. I love the overall feeling of this book, it is warm and uplifting. It certainly carries a sense of wonder. Short but with lots of heart, this is one good book to close 2018.
December 25, 2014
I can't do anything really crafty, but I can fill in the cross-stitches if you give me a counted-cross-stitch kit. (I like the looks of those better than the printed ones.) I've been working on and off for years on a tree skirt kit. It has dark blue fabric, and the picture is of some beautiful animals and a seriously awesome St. Nicholas, wearing pale blue and looking rather fierce.
I chose this pattern because I've never really liked the traditional Santa Claus – all omni-benevolent and generically sweet. I like the idea of a volatile elemental spirit, a guardian of children who doesn't have any illusions about them.
So I enjoyed Miracle, because this Kris Kringle isn't sweet. Or rather, he isn't just sweet. He's capricious and irritable as well as open-handed, mischievous, and (of course) generous. He can have fits of stubbornness, anger, and despair. He's human, only more so.
This novel was written by a screenwriter named Valentine Davies who came up with the idea and pitched it first to his harshest critic: his wife. Rather to his surprise, she thought it sounded terrific. So he pitched it to Twentieth Century-Fox. They liked it, too.
Interestingly, Davies wrote the novel but not the screenplay – which probably accounts for some differences between the two. The book and the movie were released at the same time, and Davies won an Academy Award for best original story.
I haven't seen the movie in quite a while, because I strongly disagree with the premise. I'm a fiction writer, and I've lived in a constantly shifting world of my own creation for as long as I can remember. (It would probably be more accurate to say "worlds," since this place in my head is as multileveled as Norse mythology, but has more laser weapons.)
This imaginary place is far more precious and interesting to me than the rock-solid real one everyone can see. I don't need to claim that my fantasies are "true" to grant them the significance in my life that they deserve. Some of my most important relationships are with people who don't technically exist.
So I don't understand or agree with the idea that the way to give children imagination is to tell them a story and then insist the characters in that story really exist. How does that teach them creativity? They don't have to use their imaginations. You've already told them everything.
I'm not arguing against playing Santa with kids, although as a parent I treated Santa Claus as just one more fairy-tale character and never gave him credit for the Christmas-morning wonders I worked my butt off to make happen. But I have no quarrel with people who tell their kids Santa is real. After all, most Americans grow up with that story, and they grow up just – well, okay, most Americans grow up to be total fruitcakes. But I don't blame Santa for that.
I'm just saying, I don't see any connection between developing the imagination and being told Santa Claus exists.
But if there were a Santa Claus, I'd like to imagine him as someone just like Valentine Davies' character: kind, impatient, humorous, animal-loving, imperious, and compassionate.
I chose this pattern because I've never really liked the traditional Santa Claus – all omni-benevolent and generically sweet. I like the idea of a volatile elemental spirit, a guardian of children who doesn't have any illusions about them.
So I enjoyed Miracle, because this Kris Kringle isn't sweet. Or rather, he isn't just sweet. He's capricious and irritable as well as open-handed, mischievous, and (of course) generous. He can have fits of stubbornness, anger, and despair. He's human, only more so.
This novel was written by a screenwriter named Valentine Davies who came up with the idea and pitched it first to his harshest critic: his wife. Rather to his surprise, she thought it sounded terrific. So he pitched it to Twentieth Century-Fox. They liked it, too.
Interestingly, Davies wrote the novel but not the screenplay – which probably accounts for some differences between the two. The book and the movie were released at the same time, and Davies won an Academy Award for best original story.
I haven't seen the movie in quite a while, because I strongly disagree with the premise. I'm a fiction writer, and I've lived in a constantly shifting world of my own creation for as long as I can remember. (It would probably be more accurate to say "worlds," since this place in my head is as multileveled as Norse mythology, but has more laser weapons.)
This imaginary place is far more precious and interesting to me than the rock-solid real one everyone can see. I don't need to claim that my fantasies are "true" to grant them the significance in my life that they deserve. Some of my most important relationships are with people who don't technically exist.
So I don't understand or agree with the idea that the way to give children imagination is to tell them a story and then insist the characters in that story really exist. How does that teach them creativity? They don't have to use their imaginations. You've already told them everything.
I'm not arguing against playing Santa with kids, although as a parent I treated Santa Claus as just one more fairy-tale character and never gave him credit for the Christmas-morning wonders I worked my butt off to make happen. But I have no quarrel with people who tell their kids Santa is real. After all, most Americans grow up with that story, and they grow up just – well, okay, most Americans grow up to be total fruitcakes. But I don't blame Santa for that.
I'm just saying, I don't see any connection between developing the imagination and being told Santa Claus exists.
But if there were a Santa Claus, I'd like to imagine him as someone just like Valentine Davies' character: kind, impatient, humorous, animal-loving, imperious, and compassionate.
December 29, 2016
This is the most charming story about Santa that I know of. Reading Miracle on 34th Street will put you in a Christmas mood like no other -- I know it did for me!
The book closely follows the old black and white film of the same name, and the book also has a true vintage quality to it, making it seem timeless. It's enjoyable for any age, I believe.
Finally, I found a book that is worthy of rivaling A Christmas Carol of taking the title of "THE CHRISTMAS BOOK" (for me, anyways). It's a book that puts holiday warmth into your heart, and adds a dash of humor for good measure.
It's a perfectly jolly read.
*Book completed for A Literary Christmas reading challenge at inthebookcase.blogspot.com.
The book closely follows the old black and white film of the same name, and the book also has a true vintage quality to it, making it seem timeless. It's enjoyable for any age, I believe.
Finally, I found a book that is worthy of rivaling A Christmas Carol of taking the title of "THE CHRISTMAS BOOK" (for me, anyways). It's a book that puts holiday warmth into your heart, and adds a dash of humor for good measure.
It's a perfectly jolly read.
*Book completed for A Literary Christmas reading challenge at inthebookcase.blogspot.com.
January 1, 2016
The 1940s Christmas classic moves from the big screen to between covers in this beautifully written story. Miracle on 34th Street reminds us "Christmas is not just a day, it's a state of mind" of wonder and joy. The perfect book to read with a steaming mug under your Christmas tree. For more on Miracle on 34th Street, we discussed it as a community towards the end of our November Book Club meeting.
January 4, 2025
A very enjoyable read and very similar to the charming 1947 classic film. It’s an ingenious little story and the book does a good job expanding on the idea of the spirit of Santa Claus and Christmas cheer where the movie tends to lack. My only complaint was the writing style; the text is fast paced and dialogue was sparse at times. It seemed to be a lot of narrative where there could have been dialogue or description. Other than that, a perfect little read for the holiday season.
January 27, 2019
MIRACLE ON 34th Street
Written by Valentine Davies
1947 (reissue: 2018); Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (136 pages)
Genre: holiday, Christmas, classic
(Review Not on Blog)
RATING: 4.5 stars
I wasn't expecting to like this book, as the movie is not one of my favourites, but I really enjoyed it! I liked the characters, plot and writing. It is a quick read that I will definitely read again.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
Written by Valentine Davies
1947 (reissue: 2018); Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (136 pages)
Genre: holiday, Christmas, classic
(Review Not on Blog)
RATING: 4.5 stars
I wasn't expecting to like this book, as the movie is not one of my favourites, but I really enjoyed it! I liked the characters, plot and writing. It is a quick read that I will definitely read again.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
Want to read
January 13, 2013I am currently reading a book called Miracle on 34th Street, by Valentine Davies. I really like it because it is a great book for this coming up holiday, Christmas! I like it because the author does a really good job describing the characters, for example, Kris Kringle. "If you searched every old folks' home in the country, you couldn't find anyone who looks more like Santa Clause," Davies mentions. "He was a living, breathing incarnation of the old gent-white beard, pink cheeks, fat tummy and all," Davies describes. His white whiskers made him look a good seventy-five, and yet when he laughed or walked you would swear he wasn't a day over fifty," Davies writes, that line is my favorite because it makes him sound old and young.
December 4, 2019
This is basically a novelization of the 1990's version of the movie. It was fine. It loses some of the magic that the movies have (the original one is the best). The audiobook is only 1 1/2 hours long so it made my commute go by quickly.
December 18, 2024
Fantastical, but a cute story! Especially for Christmas. 🙂
December 23, 2024
A nice short Christmas read! I was surprised to find that the movie came first then the book.
December 24, 2020
Well, that was disappointing.
Miracle on 34th Street is one of my favourite Christmas stories. I'm familiar with it through its two popular film versions (with the more recent one being my favourite). This picture book is based on the original novella and has been adapted into a picture-book format. Does it work? In a word: no.
There's far too much that's glossed over, leading to a choppy plot and flat characterization. Here, Susan is a cardboard little girl, without the lively skepticism that both Natalie Wood and Mara Wilson brought to the role. The narrative suffers from some questionable style choices, and some of the plot points don't make much sense when they're ripped out of context by the shortened format. (For example, Mr. Sawyer's actions against Kris don't make much sense, given that the old man was bringing customers into the store.)
The illustrations don't help bring the characters to life, either. While they're adequate, there's a flatness to everyone that makes the whole book look like it was cast with lifeless dolls.
This is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I would not recommend this particular picture book. Go check out one of the film versions instead, either the 1947 version with Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn or the 1994 version with Mara Wilson and Richard Attenborough. This story really does require more than 32 pages to do it justice.
Miracle on 34th Street is one of my favourite Christmas stories. I'm familiar with it through its two popular film versions (with the more recent one being my favourite). This picture book is based on the original novella and has been adapted into a picture-book format. Does it work? In a word: no.
There's far too much that's glossed over, leading to a choppy plot and flat characterization. Here, Susan is a cardboard little girl, without the lively skepticism that both Natalie Wood and Mara Wilson brought to the role. The narrative suffers from some questionable style choices, and some of the plot points don't make much sense when they're ripped out of context by the shortened format. (For example, Mr. Sawyer's actions against Kris don't make much sense, given that the old man was bringing customers into the store.)
The illustrations don't help bring the characters to life, either. While they're adequate, there's a flatness to everyone that makes the whole book look like it was cast with lifeless dolls.
This is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I would not recommend this particular picture book. Go check out one of the film versions instead, either the 1947 version with Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn or the 1994 version with Mara Wilson and Richard Attenborough. This story really does require more than 32 pages to do it justice.
December 11, 2009
I usually watch this movie every year, but really enjoyed reading it this year. The book was written after the movie, and it obviously follows the movie exactly. A very quick read.
I liked the historical background at the end about Valentine Davies life, and some info on the movie. It was interesting to read the Valentine Davies died at 55 "in the midst of a hearty laugh!"
My favorite quote from the book: 'Anyone could have faith when everything was fine. But real faith meant believing, rain or shine.'
I liked the historical background at the end about Valentine Davies life, and some info on the movie. It was interesting to read the Valentine Davies died at 55 "in the midst of a hearty laugh!"
My favorite quote from the book: 'Anyone could have faith when everything was fine. But real faith meant believing, rain or shine.'
June 28, 2009
This is my favorite Christmas movie and until I ran across this book in a used book store, I did not know there was a book version. It's a very quick read and mirrors the movie. Still loved it even though I knew the plot by heart! A true heartwarming classic. The introduction was very interesting as it discussed the author and how the book and movie came to be. Definitely recommend to any lover of the movie!
December 12, 2016
Even after watching both movie versions over & over again, the B&W version when I was still a child, I had never read the book.
I loved every little bit of it!!
I loved every little bit of it!!
December 14, 2023
I found this at a thrift store so why not? I grew up watching the 1947 version of the film which is the same year the book came out. I'm not sure if I have ever seen a newer version or not, but I don't think so. So Valentine Davies wrote an outline of this story and sold it to be made into a movie. A publishing house also heard about the story and movie and so they wanted Davies to write the book so it could come out with the movie. The book had to be rushed and it was a miracle it was finished in time. The book is cute and short. I definitely pictured the 1947 cast as I read it. This may be one where I like the movie better but I'm not sure yet. It has been a while since I have seen the movie.
December 18, 2024
I love the movie and had no idea it was based on a book! Then I read the author's note and it sounds like the author came up with the idea, it was made into a movie, and then he wrote the book. The movie is nearly identical to the book. This is probably one of the few instances where watching the movie without reading the book is totally fine. Since I love the story, I still rated this book 4 stars but it doesn't really add anything beyond the movie.
January 1, 2016
On a library visit just before Christmas, I checked out several books from the Christmas display. On Christmas Eve I decided to read Miracle on 34th Street to the kids, and we finished it on Christmas day. Previously I didn't even know there was a book of this story; I'd thought it was just a movie. I picked up the book because it's illustrated by Tomie DePaola. I remembered seeing illustrations by him for Oz, and I like good illustrations for children's books.
The short novel is written by Valentine Davies, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. Davies published the novel the same year that the movie was released (1947). My kids are not familiar with the movie--and even I have only seen it once (and I can't even recall if it was the original black and white film or the 1994 color remake, which shows what small effect it had on me)--so the story in novel form was new and fresh. Now we're looking forward to finding a copy of the original film and watching it.
The story is pretty good, though not one of my favorite Christmas stories (probably largely because I lack the nostalgic feeling for it, since it wasn't a part of my growing-up years). DePaola's illustrations are good, though not especially memorable. My kids most enjoyed his pictures of the nasty psychiatrist Mr. Sawyer.
Update: Last night we watched the original 1947 film, and loved it (reviewed here: http://letterboxd.com/ethnosax/film/miracle-on-34th-street/). The book and the film each contain some scenes that aren't found in the other, which makes it a good pairing to read and watch both. I now believe that the film I saw years ago was the 1994 remake, which is terrible (after watching the original movie, we put in the disc with the newer version and watched a few selected scenes; it was painful). The original is wonderful.
February 9, 2014
This may be the first ever novelization of a film. It was written by the screenwriter and published just before the film was released. I loved the story - and as I read the film (the original) played in my mind - which wasn't so bad because it's one of my favorites of the season. "Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to" is the famous quote from the story/film.
November 19, 2016
What an awesome way to start off the holiday season!! There were, of course, no surprises in this book as I've seen the movie several times, but what a joy to read. This book will have to be a tradition at my house around Christmas to be followed by the movie of course. Highly recommend.
December 8, 2023
This is the children's storybook edition of Miracle on 34th Street. Kris Kringle claims he's Santa, but not everyone is a believer, and his claim is being tested in the courtroom. Based on the movie of the same name, this story is a cute story about the magic of Christmas.
December 27, 2016
LOVE LOVE LOVE! Brings back the magic of Christmas.
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