How Santa Got His Job
I struggled on whether this book belongs in the read it once or the skip it category. There is nothing wrong with this book. The story isn’t very creative, it basically describes various days and times in life for Santa, but there’s nothing wrong with the writing. The illustrations are not very imaginative, they are more descriptive of real life, but they are perfectly fine and match the story well. That usually lands a book for me in the read it once category. But I settled on the skip it category because of the story itself. The story puts Santa, before he becomes Santa, in everyday life.
When I was a little one, on Christmas Eve we would go to church and be a part of the play and program for the night. We’d get a little paper bag with an orange and some in-the-shell peanuts and a few pieces of candy. Earlier in the night, when we left home for church, there’d be no presents. When we got back, there’d be the handful of presents (we didn’t have much growing up) under the tree and shortly after we got home my aunt (who never had kids herself) would gleefully show up fully dressed as Santa. It was so much fun. It was magical. The reason I settled on skipping this one is that it takes away the magic of Santa and Christmas and contradicts some of the classic Santa stories. Parents might not want to do that to their little ones this early in life.
Cautions: The only caution I have for this story is the loss of the magic of Santa and Christmas!
