I actually only read the first story in this book so far. "The Autobiography of Santa Claus" was cute and interesting to read. Santa tells his own story from the beginning in 3rd century Turkey to the present day North Pole. It's great for those of us who love Christmas. ( )

I've got to admit that I was disappointed with this. It's not horrible, but directed more towards 6th graders. A semi-interesting history lesson as St. Nick intersperses his legend with actual historical events and characters. The book is 24 chapters long in order to function as a sort of Advent Calendar. ( )

I had to stop reading this book for a while because it's just too much for one sitting. Every character from history is aparently alive and well and h...more I had to stop reading this book for a while because it's just too much for one sitting. Every character from history is aparently alive and well and helping Santa. From Genghis Khan and his lovely wife to Arthur (just Arthur because he never was king). It is a good read but taken in small doses. ( )

Introduced the absurd genre "Christian Santa Apologetics".
The motivation seems to be a Christian family man trying to create a history for Santa that glorifies Christ and keeps that faith's tenants central to Christmas. The fact of the matter is that Santa's folkloric/mythological history is far more interesting than this shoddy Forrest Gump meets Wizard of Oz nonsense.
Santa is easily as much based on Bacchus and Odin as he is on Saint Nick - and the religious assertions throughout the book are equally biased and fallacious.
I feel badly for the readers who are being led to believe this author's interpretations of the history of the western world, because they are despairingly lacking in objectivity or context.

I can see how a Christian family could turn to this book to marry the secular/pagan festivities of the holiday season to the belief that Christ's birthday is the 'reason for the season'. What is sadly lacking is the much more rich and interesting depth of the season's history, which is entirely non-Christian.
In fact, this book and its sequels make an adventure out of fighting to keep this square peg firmly in place in its circular hole - - actually taking to task the Christians who rightly sought to separate the church from it's participation in the non-Christian, non-Biblical celebration of Christmas.

I look forward to someday reading a work of this sort that actually addresses the origins, history and folklore of Santa Claus. ( )

This publication is three book-lenght novels bound in one two inch thick hardbound publication.

Each novel is a seperate story by itself and can be read on its own. Guinn has written them so that they are suitable for all ages. Because each story is over a half inch of pages, it would be necessary for a good reader to read the stories to very young children in several sittings. Each story is divided into chapters so reading the story in several sittings is easily done. The stories are pleasant reading on an adult level also.

Guinn does a good job presenting the joy of giving. He also does a very good job including the historical facts of people and places we recognize by name such as Jesus, Constantinoble in the 4th century, Oliver Cronwell and Canterbury England in 1648, Teddy Roosevelt in the early 1900s and so on, and how the Christmas traditions changed through time and how all these places and people played a part.

The first story, the autobiography of Santa Claus, covers the widest time span. It begins with the traditions that were common at near what was supposed as Christ's birth in the year 280AD in the area of what is now Turkey. It follows the developments and changes in Christmas traditions around the world through World War 2, focusing first on early traditions in the mid-east, then Europe, finally concentrating more on American traditions after World War 1. Africa and the far east are left out. South America, which has a lot of christians is also left out except for a few lines about the Spanish efforts to claim parts of central America.

The interaction of Santa Claus and just about all known historical events and characters is pleasant reading but is maybe a little over-done by the time Amelia Earhart helps cordinate Santa overflight permission in some countries.

The second story, How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, is my favorite of this series. It is fashioned by Guinn around the 1648 rebellion in Canterbury England of the common people against the Puritan leaders who barred Christmas celebration in all of England. Guinn has made this story both suspensefull and heartwarming with both well developed characters and an exciting plot based mostly on true history. This story covers events that occurred in England over perhaps a century of time, but concentrates on about six years when the desire to overturn the ban on celebrating Crist's birth was reaching its peak.

The third story is titled, The Great Santa Search. Again, Guinn inserts his characters into real history, this time America around 1890. The plot is built around the over-commercialism devoloping around the event of Christ's birth, and around commercializing the idea of giving in general. When a retail business holds a contest for the best "Santa" in order to increase its merchandise sales, the real Santa feels he must enter the contest, win, and explain that Christ's birthday, and the act of giving are the element of Christmas, not merchandise purchasing. The story is fun to read, with a little humor and a little suspense here and there. The story comes to a fairly dramatic end and I thought it was an exciting way to end the story.

In summary, all three storys are pleasant to read and their text and message is suiable even for the very young. Chapters provide convenient stopping places to read the stories in parts. I rate the second story, Mrs. Claus saving Christmas, the highest rating I can give, 5 out of five stars. I rate the Great Search for Santa as 4 out of 5 stars. I rate the autobiography as three and a half stars out of 5, simply because it is not quite as exciting as the other two stories and is a chronology rather than a well defined plot. ( )