A Boy Called Christmas Movie Tie-In Edition

There are many myths about the youth of Santa Claus, alias Father Christmas (who also goes by, according to author Matt Haig, “Santa or Saint Nick or Santa Claus or Sinterklaas or Kris Kringle or Pelznickel or Papa Noel or Strange Man with a Big Belly Who Talks to Reindeer and Gives Me Presents”).

Haig also says in A Boy Called Christmas that Santa, I mean, Father Christmas, was born in Finland, where he lived with his friendly mouse Miika. His first present was a wooden sleigh (which explains the sleigh and Santa Claus) and a turnip doll. His name when he was born (on Christmas Day) was Nikolas, and his nickname was Christmas.

When his father goes missing, Nikolas goes to the North Pole, where he meets the reindeer Blitzen and the elves Little Noosh and Father Topo, who live in the village of Elfhelm. Then, he teaches Blitzen to fly. And the elves don’t have any Christmas spirit, so Nikolas helps them. This is how Santa Claus, the reindeer, the elves, and the “ho ho ho” came to be.

My favorite part is when one of the elves shows the others a spinning top. I think this book is a great choice for tweens who want to dive deeper into a holiday story, but it might be scary for younger kids. I haven’t seen the Netflix movie of this book, but I enjoyed the book even without the movie.