I recently started reading a book that I’ve had in my collection for quite a while but had never gotten around to. I don’t have a good reason, except maybe I forgot I had it.

It’s not what you’d expect if you’re only familiar with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. It started as him writing a letter from Santa to his then 3 year old son as a way of explaining why Santa might not always bring him everything he asks for. It progresses with some additional characters showing up to make things more unpredictable and interesting. It’s basically a book for kids.

But I like it. It stirs up my sometimes dormant childlike imagination. It reminds me of how I saw Christmas when I was very little, and how Santa just had to be real to bring me all those wonderful presents. It takes me back to those Christmas Eve nights when I was so excited for the next morning that I could hardly bring myself to sleep.

I recommend the centenary edition that came out in 2020. It has reproductions of Tolkien’s original handwritten letters, along with the envelopes. It might be something to read to your young children (I’d read it to my cat, but I don’t think she has the attention span for it just yet).

As much as I love ebooks and audiobooks, there’s just something about holding a physical book in your hands that you can see and feel and smell all at once. But I digress.

Letters From Father Christmas, Centenary Edition https://a.co/d/0x9nisq