Thank You, Santa

by Margaret Wild, Kerry Argent (Illustrator)

A little girl becomes Santa's pen pal throughout the course of one year and learns some interesting facts about polar animals

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Australia, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Margaret Wild is one of Australia's most highly respected picture-book creators whose award-winning children's books are loved by children all over the world. Margaret has published over seventy picture books for young children and she has been the recipient of the Nan Chauncy Award and the Lady Cutler Award for her contributions to Australian children's literature.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story about a little girl who writes Santa a "Thank you" letter after Christmas. Santa writes back and says he was so pleased to hear from her; he hears from many, many children *before* Christmas, but not very many after. They strike up a correspondence that continues throughout the year. I happen to love correspondence, and loved writing letters as a child, so I think I would have loved this book back then and been especially thrilled at the idea of SANTA being my pen-pal! ;-) Also neat is that the little girl lives in Australia, and I think it's the first Christmas picture book I've found (here in the US) that portrays their warm, sunny Christmas. A sweet book, and I appreciated the girl's caring spirit.

If any of my GoodReads librarian friends are reading this, here is the link that shows the cover of the book if you'd care to upload the image:
http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Santa...

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samantha, a girl from Australia, writes Santa throughout the year. She thanks him for gifts, inquires about polar bears, and writes about her knitting. Santa answers each letter. Their pen pal exchange is insightful and Samantha sincerely cares about Santa, she's not concerned about getting presents.

The illustrations expand beyond the letters and add meaning to this story.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was about my second year teaching and I needed a book to read. A colleague of mine handed me this book and said I would enjoy it. It was from this book I learned never to read something cold to my students; always read beforehand. Sometimes the book stinks, and sometimes it makes you cry like a baby. That's what this did to me.

Holy smokes! A little girl in Australia corresponds with Santa after Christmas. The letters back and forth are highly interesting. The littlest reindeer is ill. The girl knits him an outfit so he can participate on Christmas evening. The girl expresses disappointment regarding the local polar bear at the zoo. Since it is summer in Australia at Christmastime, the polar bear is miserable. Santa makes the bear's dream come true. Yeah, it's touching.

Interestingly enough, I lose this book frequently and rarely have it at Christmas to read to my students. It's been like this for 15 years.
****

I love this book!

I know this is always a tear jerker for me, so I took precautions today. I read this rather matter-of-factly as we went along. I did tell the students it's one of my favorites. As we neared the end I knew I was going to get emotional. I did pretty well . . . meaning I did not bawl as I have done before. ;) I did get a little choked up. How can one not? The reindeer's dream came true. How awesome!

The students loved this one too!

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl in Australia sends a thank you note to Santa, which begins a monthly correspondence. Very sweet, and I love the tone of gratitude rather than greed so common this time of year. The Australian setting lends an exotic local, and the story brings in lots of animals which will interest kids. A nice addition to a Christmas collection.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a letter exchange between a young girl named Samantha and Santa. The artwork is beautiful.

[Gena Lott · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best holiday stories! Teaches children about Polar animals, Australia, gratitude and caring for others. A wonderful read-aloud!

[TCNS]

For older children; Samantha writes to Santa each month for an entire year leading up to Christmas.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet story about a girl and Santa as they write letters back and forth, throughout the year. Wouldn’t it be fun to be pen pals with Santa?

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Samantha who becomes a pen-pal to Santa Claus. She learns about the different animals in the North Pole.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha writes a sweet letter to Santa “after” Christmas, to thank him for the gifts. She’s not bored, but has a bad cold, and tells Santa she’s knitting squares, but maybe soon something will change? Thus begins a delightful correspondence between Samantha and Santa, for Santa gets many letters from children “before” Christmas, but never “after”. The relationship progresses and they continue to exchange notes and little gifts month after month. This is so cute, certainly a wonderful book for young children whose families celebrate Christmas.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a children's book about a little girl named Samantha who wrote a thank you letter to Santa. Santa doesn't get many thank you letters so he wrote her back. They continued to correspon for a whole year until the next Christmas. The Illustrations are darling but the book itself was just average. Kids will like it.

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite cute. I like the idea of a child writing Santa a thank you letter and them becoming penpals. I like how they share information about different animals in their letters so you learn something as well.

The illustrations are more realistic than childlike or cartoony.

My favorite illustrations are of the littlest reindeer in a sweater. So cute and makes me smile.

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such an adorable little book. It's a letter each month of the year between Santa and a girl from Australia about what goes on the 364 days that aren't Christmas. The illustrations are cute and the letters are short. Really great for kids.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An opportunity to utilize my TERRIBLE attempt at an Australian accent. Good thing my kids bought it.

[Deborah Harris]

RL 3.9

AR Quiz No. 141123 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 3.9 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful idea for a book. Thank you notes and letters to Santa. Cute!

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet book with an important message about gratitude.