Mommy, Was Santa Claus Born on Christmas Too?

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful way for Christian parents to explain Santa Claus
Review: After searching for a way to explain to our children why, as a part of celebrating Jesus' birthday, there's a large fat man flying around giving "good" children presents, I finally I found this treasure of a book. The book is very simple with nice black and white drawings, detailed enough to hold the attention of younger children, but not so catchy as to detract from the important message.

The premise of the book is a little girl is making sugar cookies with her mother, when she notices the Santa cookie cutter. Thus begins a discussion between mother and daughter about why Santa is a part of Christmas.

The book does an excellent job of simply and intelligently explaining to children about Saint Nicholas. The mother explains, in a way likely acceptable to both Protestants and Roman Catholics, the snippets we "know" about Saint Nicholas, a man who served God. She tells the stories about Nicholas being caught in a boat in a terrible storm, how he became the Bishop and how he provided the dowry for the three sisters.

The book ends with an explanation of how Saint Nicholas changed into Santa Claus and, more importantly, how a "generous stranger...who brings gifts" reminds us of God's even better gift of Jesus.

This book is easily used by families who choose to include Santa in their celebrations, as well as those who chose to exclude him. Although I wasn't able to use it this year, I believe my 2 1/2 year old son would have been able to grasp the concepts. It will definitely be part of our celebration next year.