A Letter from Santa Claus

by Mark Twain

"A Letter from Santa Claus" is a short piece of humorous fantasy fiction by the American author Mark Twain. It was written in 1875 for Twain's then 2-year-old daughter Susy Clemens. It takes the form of a letter written on Christmas morning to Susy Clemens by Santa Claus.Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist this country has produced", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature". His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), the latter often called "The Great American Novel". 

Genres: Christmas, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Childrens, Humor, Fantasy

6 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Santa has lots to do, so kept his letter to little Susy Clemens brief! A very quick read, where we learn that even Santa can’t escape supply chain issues.

Made me nostalgic for the good-old days, when Santa knew whether we were naughty or nice, and gifted us accordingly!

Read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Lett...

[Lesle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The letter starts out with a letter explaining he received their letters and than unfortunately Santa ran out of stock for some of the toys requested!
Not being able to use the chimney for a gift Santa gives instructions about him leaving footprints behind for poor George who must so it correctly or some day he will die!
Not sure how loving this letter is :( from Santa.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple glimpse of Twain interacting with his children. I think he was an excellent father, always having time and love to spare.

[A B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, that was shorter than I thought, but it did the trick of getting me into the Christmas spirit on an otherwise dreary Wednesday morning as I was rushing to work, trying to get a stupid pot of corn into the car (tis the season for work potlucks and food poisoning).

It's a cute letter from Mr. Twain writing as Santa Claus to his little daughter, Suzy. He wants clarification on an item from her wish list and sets up an elaborate scheme for the two to communicate. A servant named George may or may not be in on the scheme, and if not he's the victim of an adorable prank, but it's all in good fun.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've arranged my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:

"Secreting the rules,
Inane requests to follow,
Or George'll die someday."

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

YouTube audiobook 4 minutes Narrated and produced by Elliot Fitzpatrick (5)

A letter written by Mark Twain to his three-year old daughter Susie. With an explanation for some missing present due to supply chain issues, the need for clarification on a particular doll trunk and the problem of fitting such a large gift down the nursery chimney, and final instructions for cleaning up his snow tracks.
Signed Santa Claus or the Man in the Moon.
Delightful! Penned just like one would invision a brief note by the great writer himself

[Sharone Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing short story by Mark Twain.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a humorous note from Santa Claus to a young lady who awaits a gift. It is fun how he mentions his magic and the blessings of luck and health he will arrange for members of the household.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so sweet.

[Carole888 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute! I loved this little glimpse into Twain’s interaction with his daughter.

(Read for the 2024 Advent Calendar short-story Challenge on StoryGraph)

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. Hate to give a classic 2.5 stars, but I had to do it....sorry Sam. :(

[Paula Mota · Rating 4 out of 5]

#Natal até quando uma mulher não quer

Palace of Saint Nicholas in the Moon Christmas Morning

My Dear Susy Clemens,

I have received and read all the letters which you and your little sister have written me . . . . I can read your and your baby sister's jagged and fantastic marks without any trouble at all. But I had trouble with those letters which you dictated through your mother and the nurses, for I am a foreigner and cannot read English writing well. You will find that I made no mistakes about the things which you and the baby ordered in your own letters--I went down your chimney at midnight when you were asleep and delivered them all myself--and kissed both of you, too . . . . But . . . there were . . . one or two small orders which I could not fill because we ran out of stock . . .

É impossível falar de tradições de Natal sem referir a típica carta ao Pai Natal, mas Mark Twain subverte-a de uma maneira airosa, escrevendo antes uma missiva do Pai Natal a Susy Clemens, a filha dilecta do escritor, que viria a morrer com apenas 24 anos de meningite.
Neste texto encantador, explica-lhe, entre outras coisas, que não pode trazer a mobília de bonecas pedida porque a ofereceu ao Pequeno Floco de Neve, uma menina pobre que vive na Estrela Polar, a quem Susy deve escrever uma carta para a felicitar pela prenda. Além do mais, recorrendo ao seu habitual humor, adverte-a que, se encontrar alguma pegada sua, não a deve limpar para se lembrar sempre de ser boa menina.

If I should leave any snow in the hall, you must tell George to sweep it into the fireplace, for I haven't time to do such things. George must not use a broom, but a rag--else he will die someday.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting historically, but little use Today

I was looking for classic Christmas short stories. Can’t recommend this except as an interesting example of S Clements personal writing.

[Cynthia Rodrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a sweet letter. Mark Twain wrote this as Santa Claus to his little daughter, Susie Clemens, who was then all of 3 years old. It is so nice to see the lengths that parents sometimes go to keep their children's childish notions alive.

[April Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sweet (although I'm curious whether there's a story within a story here with who I think was the servant?) Twain pens a letter to his little girl, pretending it is from Santa Claus. I'm thinking it may have been used as a means to explain a tardy gift, but it was charming, regardless.

[Michelle]

A sweet and very short letter that Mark Twain wrote to his daughter, from Santa Claus.

A cute little read. It definitely feels very personal and that we are just reading a letter we found rather than something that was published for the public.

[Cris Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and funny story that can induce the Christmas spirit instantly. Ha ha

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never tire reading Christmas stories. Imagine the wonder the three year old felt.

[Miruna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An actual letter from Mark Twain to his children - a glimpse of how Christmas was like in the past, giving us also an idea of how he was like as a father (hint: he likes to make creepy jokes?)

[Carrie Kirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars but just barely. Maybe just because it's Mark Twain. I actually didn't like it very much and I would not ever read it to a kid. I guess a main point would be that it was creative.

[liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is so cute 🥰

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 4 out of 5]

CraftLit

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading letters that these famous authors wrote to their children in the voice of Santa. They are probably my favorite stories to read at Christmas.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny!

[Charissa Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a perfect story for uplifting your spirit at this time of the year.

[Lydia Underhill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, Santa's got jokes

[Rhys Causon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet with similar feelings to Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien… well the early letters in that book anyway… just an author who clearly loves his children.

[Ocean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've decided to read 12 christmas books to celebrate the season (one every other day). I suspect the number might be bigger as I'm already about to get to something else than this letter. It's very short afterall and obviously not written by the real Father Christmas, who would never send death threats to children!

Wishing you a magical Holiday season my dear goodreads friends!