Last year, I thought a long time about something we might read together in Advent and Christmas that would be enjoyable for everyone, for my senior, freshman, seventh grader, and fifth grader. I wanted this last season before my oldest went off to college to be a time of renewed joyfulness. My plans were thwarted dramatically by life events, but this book was a resounding success, even if it did take until March to finish it.
I decided to buy this book for all the kids for St. Nicholas's feast day, so it was standing on our mantle on the morning of December 6th. My kids were drawn to it immediately. When I caught my youngest reading it, I encouraged him to study the illustrations but to try to avoid the text, so we could all appreciate it together.
Tolkien wrote letters to his children every year, signed by Father Christmas, richly illustrated. Reflecting somewhat their own lives and their growth over the years, the letters range from the absurd to the serious.
It was perfect for us. We all delighted in the stories and illustrations, but I also felt poignantly the sense of time passing and children aging. Tolkien as a father was made more present to me than to my children, but that didn't matter. I hesitated for far too long to buy this book, perhaps a little daunted by the price, but it was worth every penny.
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