Title: The Real Santa Claus
Author: Marianna Meyer
Age Suitability: Age 7 or 8 up
As today was the feast of St.Nicholas we read The Real Santa Claus by Marianna Meyer. Unfortunately it was one of those books that I expected to be a success but the girls took a dislike to. Despite some grumbling I ploughed on to the end, but it was a damp squib. I loved the wonderful art used to illustrate the book, and I also thought it was a good retelling of the known facts about St.Nicholas and the various legends attached to him. Angel and Star decided it was boring and that was that. Why? Because the style is a little heavy. The author does tend to use a long word where a shorter might be better. I think this is more than outweighed by the positives, but the girls thought otherwise.
Oh well. Can't win 'em all!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Book Review: The Real Santa Claus
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4 comments:
We're reading this book as part of our study of St. Nicholas this month and I too was surprised to see how meaty it is. I've been reading just a bit at a time and having the kids narrate. Your little ones are very patient to sit through it all at once.
The art is wonderful, isn't it?
My 8 year old and I read it today. We enjoyed it. I did the reading, so I sometimes substitute for a difficult word when I'm reading to him.
In the introduction, the author does reveal the "truth" about Santa Claus, so skip that page if your little ones believe.
Katherine, they weren't patient! It would have worked much better split into shorter chunks over a week, but I did't realise that until too late, and by that time they had taken against it. I made the same mistake with Mother Teresa by Demi - another book that is more substantial than it looks at first sight.
It's interesting how kids express their own preferences. I like the way you write out their reactions as well as what you think of the book.
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