Rating: 
Summary: Cute but inaccurate
Review: The author has taken the traditional Dutch and written a heart-warmng but revisionist version of it. Pete is actually a younbg boy named Pieter Baas, whom St. Nicholas, in his traditional bishop's garb, used to scare bad little children in Holland. Moore has used poetic licensure of his last name to put some of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" into this story which portrays the good saint as a bumbling old man and an americanized Pete as the hero. Cute, but culturally untrue and biased.
Rating:
Summary: An unauthentic adaptation
Review: The Santa and Pete story is set in New Amsterdam. The sub-story centers on an African-American widowed grandfather retelling a traditional tale that had been handed down to him through generations. This tale evolved around St. Nicholas, a bishop who actually would have lived in Russia during the 4th century--the year 310, and an African sidekick, a Moor slave legend called Black Peter. When they meet in Spain (as the 1998 story claims) and come to New Amsterdam they are met by African-Americans and WHite settlers who are living by equal standards and the biggest concern St. Nicholas has is for the mistreatment of the Native Americans (Indians--as they are called) All of this makes for a commercial product, masquerading as a newly rediscovered Biracial/African-American fairy tale written as a book in 1998 and QUICKLY made into a CBS TV Christmas special.I would not be as troubled if the narrator and grandchild were WHite and there were no African-Americans in the New Amsterdam community. By using Afr-Am's as central characters throughout--it pushes this story into an offensive re-creation that appears to be validated by the African-American community and justified because we are using a beloved American classic character (Santa) as the messenger. Unlike the story's inaccurate view of New Amsterdam---the Dutch first settled into the colony in 1623. Three years later the first of many "Negro" slaves arrived. This number grew to approximately 700 slaves by the time Peter Stuyvesant (who supported the slave trade and enforced cruel slave labor policies) surrendered to England in 1664---when the name was changed to New York. There was no harmony in either New Amsterdam or the latter, New York, between the "Negro" slaves and the White settlers. The African-American Grandfather narrator tries to tie in his Harlem roots and community into this New Amsterdam tale--but African-Americans did not inhabit Harlem until the early 1900s. Saint Nicholas was created out of pure legend and later made into a Christian figure. In Holland, Sinter Klaas is said to ride through the sky---sometimes with an elf by the name of Black Peter whose "only" job was to spank the bad children. This folklore was brought to America (New Amsterdam/New York) by the Dutch in the 17th century. In 1809, popular author Washington Irving wrote the first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas in, History of New York. By 1823, Dr. Clement Moore Americanized this folk hero in his poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. In fact, Moore copied many of Washington's descriptions, specifically a phrase, "lays his finger aside his nose." In this, Santa and Pete story---Pete is said to have been responsible for the red and white costume we have grown to know as, Santa Claus. Actually, an artist by the name of Conrad Nast drew the familiar character, as we know him---back in 1863 in "Harper's Weekly." He was inspired by Dr. Clement Moore's famous poem written in 1823. Unfortunately, this story will not benefit any child. And even more troubling, respectable reviewers are touting this story, Santa and Pete, as a Black story that is supposed to begin to mend the racial rift and influence racial harmony. I wonder is its real purpose to ease the consciousness of America's often painful past instead. Tragically the publisher, author, and CBS network abused the term, artistic license--and will--in the end--be the only real profiteers of this venture--selling, once again, to an uninformed public who --really wants to believe---even at the cost of rewriting an already misunderstood history. I see this story's setting no less offensive than a person fictionalizing the Nazi concentration camps as a bed and breakfast community and asking, "So what's the harm? We just tweaked it here and there to make it less offensive and to go better with the storyline." For further reading about New Amsterdam and NYC: Negro Mecca, by Seth Scheiner.
Rating: 
Summary: A lovely meditation on the bonds of family
Review: This book by Pamela Johnson and Christopher Moore is beautifully done. It retells the Christmas story of St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, reinstating his Black sidekick, Pete. The age-old story is told in a fresh, contemporary way, through a modern-day African-American clan, particularly the grandfather, a bus driver, and his grandson, who learns a powerful lesson about family and the importance of traditions. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The best new tradition since Rudolph!
Review: This book has touched me. Not since "Tuesdays with Morrie" have I been so moved. "Santa & Pete" is the perfect book for anyone raising children and also anyone wanting to get the Christmas spirit back. It teaches and inspires us to transcend race, cultural issues, religion, age and any other prejudice we may knowingly or unknowingly harbor. It teaches us to value our family and friends. It teaches giving and charity. And it does it all in the very very entertaining story format involving a grandfather and grandson. This book could be the start of a better world! It should be required reading. Thank you Christopher Moore and Pamela Johnson!
Rating:
Summary: The best new tradition since Rudolph!
Review: This book has touched me. Not since "Tuesdays with Morrie" have I been so moved. "Santa & Pete" is the perfect book for anyone raising children and also anyone wanting to get the Christmas spirit back. It teaches and inspires us to transcend race, cultural issues, religion, age and any other prejudice we may knowingly or unknowingly harbor. It teaches us to value our family and friends. It teaches giving and charity. And it does it all in the very very entertaining story format involving a grandfather and grandson. This book could be the start of a better world! It should be required reading. Thank you Christopher Moore and Pamela Johnson!
Rating:
Summary: The best new tradition since Rudolph!
Review: This book has touched me. Not since "Tuesdays with Morrie" have I been so moved. "Santa & Pete" is the perfect book for anyone raising children and also anyone wanting to get the Christmas spirit back. It teaches and inspires us to transcend race, cultural issues, religion, age and any other prejudice we may knowingly or unknowingly harbor. It teaches us to value our family and friends. It teaches giving and charity. And it does it all in the very very entertaining story format involving a grandfather and grandson. This book could be the start of a better world! It should be required reading. Thank you Christopher Moore and Pamela Johnson!
Rating: 
Summary: PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY Sept. 14, 1998 review:
Review: This heartwarming holiday story ... delivered with humor and easily assimilated historical details, is inspirational in the best sense, grounded in truths of human nature and ethical conduct. In a genre where a blatant tug on the heartstrings often takes the place of substance, this affecting and illuminating story is a standout.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and didactic
Review: This is an excellent book to share with children. Even people, like me, who want the holiday season to pass as quickly as possible, will enjoy the story. It imbues Santa's giving of gifts with spiritual and philosophical meaning that, one hopes, will encourage children to see the holiday as more than a once-a-year opportunity to indulge in unabashed greed. It will also help children to understand the magic and the miracles in our families, in giving and sharing, in survival under adversity, and in love. The story expresses and illustrates concepts that can begin many wonderful and important conversations that will be of more lasting value to many children than the latest Barbie doll or Playstation video game. The writing is the wonderful and rare kind that stimulates the imagination through all five senses. The only reason that I have given it less than five stars is because I wanted it to be longer and more detailed.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Christmas Story!
Review: What a treasure! Finally, there is a book that tells the "true" story of Saint Nicholas. I had long known that St. Nick was a real person, born in Turkey and who lived at the time of the 4th century Nicene Council, which decreed the Divinity of Christ through the Holy Trinity. St. Nick also lived at the time the Christian church first established December 25th as the annual celebration of the Festival of the Nativity. Reportedly seen even after his death, St. Nick became the universal symbol of the Advent of the Christmas season. That he was joined a few hundred years later by Pete the Moor to spread the message of Christ's birth and coming resurrection, is a wonderful story that circulated throughout Holland, Belgium and many other European countries. Though even in Europe the meaningful story of the St. Nick, Pete, and the Nativity have been commercialized beyond recognition. It is truly marvelous that in 1999 we have rediscovered this dynamic duo. Congratulations to Moore and Johnson! The television movie, based on the book, which aired December 5th on CBS was also delightful, but I look forward to reading the book every Christmas season. Telling the Christmas story with a brilliant and historic American spin that includes Dutch, Africans and Native Americans makes this book a Christmas treasure for all Americans. How proud can all of our children be to know we are all part of a great celebration.
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