The Adventures of Santa Claus (Abridged) Audiobook

" Delightful Santa Claus myth from the author of The Wizard of OZ. The original text was published in 1902! This edition is accompanied by the illustrations of Michael Hague. Enjoy the fantasy. "

" Actually it was Charles Santore's illustrations that caught my eye. I loved the pictures! "

" As far as a traditional Christmas story, this one will probably not get you in the mood for decking the halls, but it is a interesting take on the mysterious life of Santa Claus. My girls HATED it. They actually refused to listen to the last 5 chapters!! They thought it was weird and resorted to laughing constantly at various names in the book (Flossie and Glossie were big hits) I finished it on my own and thought it was nice book, glad I read it, but won't be making it a Christmas tradition! "

" The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Frank L. Baum (most widely known for his Oz books) gives us the story of Santa Claus from his earliest days with the fairies and nymphs of the forest through his transformation into the yearly Christmas Eve visitor who brings toys for the children. It tells how the human baby was discovered by Ak, the Master Woodsman, and given his protection and then he was adopted by Necile, the nymph. The boy was named Claus ("little one") and grew up enjoying the protection of the immortals (Nymphs, Ryls, Knooks, and Fairies--those who care for the forests, waters, plants and animals). Once he is old enough to be told that there are others like him, he realizes that he would like to spend his life making other children as happy as he has been with his guardians. He learns to make toys and gives them to the children who have nothing, but soon decides that all children (even those that are rich and seem to be well-cared for) should benefit from his goodness. We also learn how he came to use chimneys and reindeer and finally, why he now makes one trip a year on Christmas Eve. What struck me about this very interesting story of Santa Claus is how much the movie Santa Claus Is Coming to Town must have built on Baum's work (without, as far as I can tell crediting him). The parallels are quite striking: Forest animals protect him; Elves rather than a nymph take in the orphaned child; the scenes showing him learning to make toys; there is the Burgermeister who doesn't want the children to receive toys (in the book it's just a few nobles who won't allow Claus to give toys to their children); the Burgermeister takes the toys and burns them=the Awgwas in the book who steal the toys and hide them in the mountains; in the book the reindeer grow strong on special food so they can run swiftly and leap to the rooftops and in the movie they eat magic corn that allows them to fly; and so on. I'm sure the movie rearranged things as they did to play down the very pagan connections in Baum's work. This is a quite lovely history of Santa Claus. And the illustrations are wonderful. If I had read it as child, I'm sure I would have rated it higher. As it is--three stars. "

" I read this book aloud to my kids in December and although the writing prose is an older, more formal style, they enjoyed hearing how different fairies raised and assisted Claus. "

" I enjoyed this story of the baby who grows up to become Santa. "

" Do you like adventures? Do you like Santa? Then you'll love this book! "

" I would give it a five if it had less about fairies and more about his cat. "

" The December choice for the Children's Library Book Club. The kids really liked it. It's quite a period piece, adoring the man who supposedly became a saint. "

" So magical! I wish I had discovered this book when I was a child, but it is now a holiday favorite. "

" I took exception to this fantasy about Santa Claus because it flew in the face of the conventional history of Santa Claus. How's that for irony? The illustrations by Michael Hague in the edition I read were beautiful. "

" We read this over the winter solstice break - the kids loved it. I will read it again and again to them, I'm sure! "

" this is a really cool book "

" This is definitely a book for the young. I am sure I would have given this a higher rating if I had read this as a child. "

" I read this as a kid and found it delightful then, and it's still a lovely little story now. I would love to make this a part of my future children's youthful Christmases. "

" What a delight! This should be up there with "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as a must read every season. "

" Loved it! The Rankin & Bass adaptation of this was my absolute favorite Christmas special when I was a kid, and I've always meant to read the book. . . It did not disappoint me one bit! :) "

" Interseting to have a view of the life of Santa, especially through the mind of L. Frank Baum. "

" There are a lot of "origin stories" about Santa Claus out there. This is not one of the better ones. I think I will stick to the Oz books. "

" Fantastic. This is the legend of Santa Claus. ^_^ It takes about 3 hours to read. "

" My favorite christmas book and by a fantastic author to boot. Not even close to the story you would expect unless you have been watching old children's christmas movies. "

" A fun read about the origins of Santa Claus. Quite different from the old TV specials. "

" Very original book. "

" Illustrated "

" I wasn't going to read this book next, but found it looking for something else. I started reading and couldn't stop. Read it in 2 days. It is a GREAT read aloud book. "

" We read this in December as a family. Charming story of Claus from birth through old age, and how our Christmas traditions and the jolly servant of children came to be. My kids all loved it, and so did I. "

" Highly recommend this book by L. Frank Baum, author of the The Wonderful World of Oz, for the holidays - young and old. It's a great fantasy interpretation of how Santa Claus came to be - from his childhood, early years, to what he is today. "

" Very interesting take on the origins of Santa Claus - by the author of the Wizard of Oz, no less. "

" There are a lot of "origin stories" about Santa Claus out there. This is not one of the better ones. I think I will stick to the Oz books. "

" I read this book aloud to my kids in December and although the writing prose is an older, more formal style, they enjoyed hearing how different fairies raised and assisted Claus. "

" what a cute and imaginative tome on Santa's life! A whole new world sprung to life through lively description and amazing creativity. "

" I just love L. Frank Baum. He has such a wonderful imagination! "

" Delightful Santa Claus myth from the author of The Wizard of OZ. The original text was published in 1902! This edition is accompanied by the illustrations of Michael Hague. Enjoy the fantasy. "

" The man who created Oz writes this brilliant and fantastical biography of Santa Claus, mixing fairy tale elements with bits from various Santa legends. Amazing book. Was the first non-Oz book of Baum's I ever read. Great, imaginative stuff. "

" I liked this fun tale of how Santa Claus came to be--very creative and makes it easier now for me to answer my children's questions about the jolly man. (-: "

" I wasn't going to read this book next, but found it looking for something else. I started reading and couldn't stop. Read it in 2 days. It is a GREAT read aloud book. "

" Weird but kind of awesome. Baum's historical tone is oddly out of place in whole sections of the book. I'd recommend this book, but I think I'd recommend the Rankin and Bass clay-mation TV special from 1985. "

" I didn't realize this was a book, but I was familiar with two animated versions I loved. The book is a very interesting take on the (fictitious) origins of Santa Claus. "

" Needed something light to read for Christmas. "