Letters From Father Christmas: Great for Holiday and Christmas Reading or Gifting

by J.R.R. Tolkien, Baillie Tolkien

Genres: Fiction

Kindle Edition

Published February 15, 2012

About the author

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.

Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.

Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you’d expect from Tolkien and more - so magical, beautifully written and imaginative.

“My dear Priscilla
A very happy Christmas! I suppose you will be
hanging up your stocking just once more: I hope so for I have still a few little things for you. After this I shall have to say "goodbye", more or less: I mean, I shall not forget you. We always keep the old numbers of our old friends, and their letters; and later on we hope to come back when they are grown up and have houses of their own and children.”

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would call this one ..charming. It's a sweet tradition...the letters from Father Christmas, the North Polar Bear, and friends each year. But it's also kinda sad...getting to the end and even throughout as you see different kids receiving the letters as the older ones outgrow the tradition. Loved the illustrations. This isn't something I see myself ever reading again but I'm glad a I read it. If I were to recommend it to someone else I would suggest maybe reading a letter a day leading up to Christmas or even just one letter a time and maybe skipping days between. Reading several back to back was a bit of a slog at times for me...but generally the individual letters and pictures were charming.

[✧~grey~✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

so cute and an amazing holiday read...i love the different fonts of father christmas, the north polar bear, the elf :)

[Robin Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a new favorite book. It is a perfect addition to my Christmas book collection. I have nothing to wish was different about this book. I DO wish I had written to our daughter like this. Tolkien is wonderfully consistent in making sure his children had this celebration of letters over the years. Please take that as inspiration if you can.

[Sam Crossland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook but there wasn't a pdf attached so haven't seen the drawings which played a part in the letters. The voices were excellent and helped to create a magical Christmas feeling but let down without reference to the drawings.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely read. If you're not familiar, it is letters from Father Christmas (and friends) to the Tolkien kids. I admit, it made me feel a teensy bad I do nothing of the kind for my children, but it was sweet nonetheless.

[KathKehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a gift book. Beautiful illustrations of the original letters and envelopes. A poignant family Christmas history.

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet collection of letters from “Father Christmas” to the Tolkien children.