The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Before I jump into my review of L. Frank Baum's book, I just wanted to say thanks for the response to last week's post! I got some feedback on the blog and on Facebook, and mostly I'm really pleased that multiple people agreed with me on Stardust. You guys had some good ones too! I'll admit, I didn't even know one of them was a book (but now that you've said the movie is way better perhaps I won't bother with the book...)! Here are some of the titles that you guys said had a better movie rendition:

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

I can concur that those are all good movies. I've only read one of those books and few pages of a couple of the other ones. The Prestige is the one I didn't know was based off of a book. So, feel free to take a read and watch the movies and let us know what one you think is better. Also, if there are any other movies you think were better than their book counterparts, please share! I feel like there may need to be a "Times the Movie was Better than the Book Part 2" post! I've already thought of another movie I enjoyed much more than the book.

But, for now, let's put that on the shelf and talk about this great story about good ol' Santa Claus (which, as you may recall, was also turned into an animated holiday special).

Title: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Rating: 4/5
Author: L. Frank Baum
Pages: 166
Genre: Children's Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis:

Do you really need a synopsis? The title seems pretty self explanatory. Basically, this is a story of how Santa Claus became Santa Claus. There are other such stories, but I don't know if any others having Santa being adopted by a wood nymph when he was a baby. Perhaps I ought to just skip to my reaction.

My Reaction:

I actually found this to be quite an enjoyable story. I've never had the chance to read Baum's books about Oz, but after reading this story, I imagine they must be an enjoyable read also. I liked his style of writing for one thing.

As mentioned above, this story does include creatures like wood nymphs and fairies, and other immortal beings, but it also includes creatures of Baum's own design. So there are definitely elements to this version of the Santa Claus story that are quite different and a bit in the realm of fantasy. If you're thinking, "Blech! I can't stand fantasy books!" you should still give it a go if you're interested. It's not what I would call heavy fantasy but works well as children's fantasy.

The thing I liked most about this book is the love that Santa Claus has for the children of the world. He is filled with so much joy and happiness because he spends so much time thinking of the welfare of others. The way that Baum presents it, it warmed my heart and made me want to do something nice for someone else.

"In all this world there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child," says good old Santa Claus; and if he had his way the children would all be beautiful, for all would be happy.

Doesn't that just kind of make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

There are also elements of good triumphing over evil and this idea of the power of happily doing good for others. Santa Claus is described as conquering the hearts of all "through very goodness." There were just parts of this story that rang true to me, and then there were just the fun, imaginative portions of it that made it such a good story for readers of all ages (Amazon says this book is for ages 2-99).

This was a winner in my book, so if you need another book for the Christmas season, you may consider adding this one to your collection.

Reader Guidance:

Nothing to fear as far as I'm concerned.

Similar Books:

You know, I haven't read many holiday related books, so I can't really think of something. The only well know Christmastime book I've read is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Go read that one. It's small :)

Next Book:

I daresay this has been the last book review of 2017. At this point, I haven't picked the next book. Feel free to give me any suggestions! I'll be sure to write a quick post next week to let you know what the next book will be! If I can get my hands on another Liesl Shurtliff book, it may just be one of those!

Until next time, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

First and foremost, I have to give a shout out to one of the biggest supporters of my reading habits. That’s you, Mom. She is the sweetest, and she sent me Rump on my kindle just for the heck of it, because she thought I would like it! What made that so fateful was the fact that someone had told me about this book months ago, and I had added it to my “To Read” shelf on Good Reads which my Mom knew nothing about. Thanks to my mom, I had the opportunity to read a truly wonderful story. Thanks, Mom. You always have supported my love of reading!

Now let’s talk about Rumpelstiltskin!

Title: Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

Rating: 5/5

Author: LieslShurtliff

Pages: 274

Genre: Children’s fiction/Fantasy/Fairy Tale

 Synopsis:

Most of us are familiar with the story of Rumpelstiltskin—little guy, spins straw into gold, likes babies—but we only ever hear about the story from the miller’s daughter’s perspective. Have any of you stopped to wonder just where Rumpelstiltskin came from, why he wanted to help the miller’s daughter, or why he wanted her unborn child in the first place?

Well, look no further! All of the answers to those questions and more are contained in Liesl Shurtliff’s book. It turns out that Rump (as most people know him) is just an average guy. Almost…

All he wants is to have enough food for him and his gran and for those pesky bullies at the mine to give him a break. But more than all of that, he longs to discover the secret of his name and fulfill his destiny, whatever that is. Names have power, so why would his mother have given him one like Rump?

The answer to all his problems comes one night as he discovers his magical ability to spin straw into gold! But as we know from another version of Rumpelstiltskin (Once Upon a Time), all magic comes with a price. Instead of solving all of his problems, the number of problems increases until he’s buried so deep that no amount of gold will ever fix it.

My Reaction:

May I point out that another book has earned a 5/5 in my eyes? It’s not an easy thing to do, and I always hesitate a little because I don’t want to be throwing out 5’s willy nilly, but this was a truly great story that I’ll definitely read again at some future point.

One of the things that made me want to read this book is the pure fact that it’s a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. I’ve never heard of someone doing a retelling of that story, and I was intrigued. What could Liesl Shurtliff have come up with?

It started out good and only got better from there. The story has characters or references to other stories we may know, but it is so completely its own thing. I am amazed that Shurtliff was able to take a short, to the point fairy tale and fill it out to create a whole book from Rump’s perspective. It was quite clever, and had some powerful messages at the end (not just the message to not be a dummy and promise your unborn child…)

This book has heart, humor, and adventure. As mentioned above, it has good lessons about overcoming trials, that being mean is a choice that we don’t have to choose, and what it really means to find your destiny. This is one of those books that is great for both young and old, especially lovers of fairy tales. If you’re one of those parents that likes to read books with your kids, this one is a sure bet!

Reader Guidance:

I’d say this book is safe for all audiences. It does have some bullying—they call Rump “Butt” or once threw poop in his face, etc. It also deals briefly with the death of loved ones. Food is hard to come by in Rump’s village, so there is also talk of being extremely hungry. Overall, the way it’s presented is suitable for readers of all ages.

Similar Books:

Liesl Shurtliff has two other books that seem to be similar in nature:

Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk

Next Book:

Being December and getting very close to Christmas, I thought the next book should be something Christmas themed. You may have never heard of my next choice, but here’s what gave me the idea.

Probably sparked by our watching of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, my husband asked me about the company that made all those well known, stop motion Christmas specials, and then proceeded to look up youtube videos on Rankin/Bass. One video that came up was someone’s list of what they considered to be some of the weirdest or worst Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. (I don’t know how Cricket on the Hearth wasn’t on his list except for maybe the fact that it’s traditional animation and not stop motion. Just saying.) One of the ones he mentioned was a story based off of an L. Frank Baum book (for those of you who don’t know, that is the author of The Wonderful Wizard of O). The book is called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and you better believe I’m going to read it! According to the cover, it's a Christmas classic! We'll shall see!

I actually have seen the stop motion version of this story, and I’m curious to see how it compares to the book. My favorite part of it is the scene a song the children sing after Santa has made his first toy. I’m sure my mom didn’t love it quite so much because for days after watching the show I inevitably go around singing, “I want to wake up to a big surprise! A wooden cat with yellow-green eyes!” Now that I’ve just watched this video, it’s my poor husband who gets to suffer with my random singing this year! Ha ha!

Check out the scene below! And get your own copy of the book to read along with me!

Summerlost

Rating: 4/5

I absolutely love this cover!

Author: Ally Condie

Pages: 249

Genre: Children’s Fiction

May I point out that this book earned higher than a 3.5? See, I can be more generous when I want to be!

Synopsis:

It’s been a year since the tragic accident that killed Cedar’s father and brother. Now with just her mother and other brother, Miles, they are doing their best to pick up the pieces and cope with their loss. They are spending the summer in their mother’s hometown, fixing up a small home they intend use as a summer getaway while renting it out to college kids during the rest of the year. It is here that Cedar first sees Leo, riding his bike past their home wearing what appears to be some medieval costume.

Intrigued, and more than willing to take her mind off things, Cedar decides to follow him not knowing how it will dramatically affect the rest of her summer.

My Reaction:

This was a very sweet book and one that I feel is great for addressing some of the harder issues that some children have to face, like death. It addresses bullying to some degree, children with special needs, and there’s even a moment where an assumption is made based on someone’s racial background that hurts a character’s feelings. I really appreciated the way that Ally Condie brought these issues into her story, but at the same time, none of the instances were preachy, in-your-face, you’re-a-terrible-human-being sort of way. And the whole story isn’t based on those issues necessarily. It’s more about dealing with loss.

Cedar’s brother who died had special needs, so part of Cedar’s healing process is thinking about how hard it was sometimes and how in the moment she didn’t always want to deal with her brother, but ultimately she loved him very much. And I would say that she had a special bond with her brother because she had learned how to understand him where others couldn’t because of his situation.

Overall, I think this book is fantastic, and I have tender feelings towards it. It illustrates how mourning isn’t a onetime event. Sometimes, even years and years later, we can look back at certain moments in our lives and still feel a portion of that grief. However, we learn through the help of multiple characters that with the pain there also come love and joy in the remembrance of good memories. Sometimes life is just hard, and it can take time to get through those tough stages of our lives.

I think this book could be a good tool to help children become aware or introduced to difficult topics as well as show support to them if they’ve had to deal with similar things. Plus there are great themes of friendship and going for your dreams and the importance of family. I would recommend this book and not just to children.

In my notes to myself as I read this book, I wrote, "A sweet book with heart." It's worth a read. Plus, I forgot to mention, a lot of the plot is surrounded by this town's annual Shakespeare festival which just appeals to my English nerd.

Reader Guidance:

Just be aware that a huge topic of this book is death and coping with the death of a family member at a young age. As mentioned above, there’s a few instances of bullying—more specifically, there’s a scene in a lunchroom where kids are throwing little things or food at a special needs student; there’s a group of kids who like to pick on Leo by shouting at him as they ride by on bike or knock his hat off; and one of the bullies that picks on Leo later tattles on him and Cedar, getting them into trouble.

Similar Books:

A few different books crossed my mind as I read Summerlost, each of them for different reasons.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall -- This came to mind because it's another summer tale about family, friendship, and a little bit of loss (although it's not as heavily focused on the loss bit in comparison with Summerlost, if I remember correctly). There are actually a few books in The Penderwicks series.

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie C. Tolan -- It's been a while since I've read this one. This one is a little more on the comedic side in that the Applewhites are quite an eccentric group of characters. They are a very creative, artistic family that run a sort of home school. I thought of it mostly because the whole family ends up trying to put on their own production of The Sound of Music. This is almost more a self-discovery book as on of the Applewhite children struggles to see how she fits into her family while at the same time dealing with a new home school student named Jake, who up until this point has been on the fast track to becoming a juevenile delinquent.

Up from Jericho Tel by E. L. Konigsburg -- I thought of this book because of the similarities in dealing with the history and death of a famous actress. This book has a bit of a supernatural element to it in that the two kids who are our main characters come face to face with the spirit of a dead actress. It's not in a creepy, haunted sort of way. More like it's just like they came to a person house for a spot of tea and some biscuits!  

Next Book:

The next book up was recommended to me by one of my neighbors who I went on a walk with one 

day some weeks back. This is the first of two books, and it looks like it fits into the realm of dystopian novels. Let's jump right in with Starters by Lissa Price!

The Sandman and the War of Dreams

Okay guys, I have made a huge and somewhat devastating discovery. I was horribly misled. All this time I’ve been thinking I just needed to read four books to discover how the evil Pitch is defeated and how The Guardians books compare to the movie.

Alas! ‘Tis not so!

As I was getting closer and closer to the final pages of the book, I was starting to get worried. There were so few pages left and there was no clear, full resolution in sight. What was happening! And then, to top it all off, I get some cryptic message at the end of the book placed there specifically to tease me, telling me all about the magnificent climax that is clearly out of my reach—AND THEY DON’T EVEN TELL ME THE NAME OF THE CLIMATIC BOOK! I mean really. The audacity!!!!

Most likely, the final book was not completed and therefore didn’t have a name. After some expert Google searching, I’ve discovered that the final book is called Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning. The saddest part of this whole ordeal is that the final book doesn’t come out until October 2018!

*exaggerated sigh*

So, I guess that means a whole year of waiting before I can finish my final remarks on this book series.

*even bigger exaggerated sigh*

Well, this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened or the first time I’ve been forced to wait for a long time to find out the next portion of a story (Here’s looking at you BBC and the creators of Kingdom Hearts III. Why do you make me wait so long? I’ll get over it. And yes I realize those aren’t books, but they’re just different storytelling techniques. It counts!).

No more use in whining. Let’s get on with talking about the fourth (but certainly not last) book of The Guardians

The Sandman and the War of Dreams

Sequel to: Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core, and Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies

Rating: 3.5/5

Author: William Joyce

Pages: 222

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis:

 

When we last saw the guardians, things weren’t quite so hunky dory. Another faceoff against Pitch proved less than satisfactory as Pitch along with their beloved Katherine were mysteriously swept away by none other than Mother Nature!

Now the guardians are in a race to find Katherine before Pitch or Mother Nature does something dreadful and they lose her forever! At the same time, they have no idea where to look or what to expect. It will take another guardian to help them understand more of Pitch’s past and to help them rescue Katherine. Enter Sanderson Mansnoozie, or as you and I know him, the sandman!

But will his added power be enough to defeat Pitch once and for all, or will they once again be thwarted?

My Reaction:

Besides my reaction of utter betrayal as so obviously stated above, William Joyce continues to craft a brilliant, original, adventurous tale. In his defense, I'm pretty sure he never said anywhere that book four was the last book. Just from what I’d seen and heard, I was under the impression that it was the last book. So really the only person I have to blame is myself. Moving on.

I really enjoy that we keep getting more and more little insights to Pitch’s character. I am really curious to see how his part of the story will eventually wrap up. At the end of the last book, Katherine showed a bit of mercy towards this dark character as she saw him not just how he was at the moment, but also as the good man he had once been. This maybe was a bad move as she ended up in a not very nice predicament. However, I’m wondering if this will be one of those cases where a little bit of mercy or helping someone see the better version of themselves will be enough to make the bad guy see the error of his ways. There could still be a shred of good in him…possibly…even though he was consumed by darkness and nightmares and such…

Or, you know, he could always have a Darth Vader moment of clarity where he tosses The Emperor into a giant pit and redeems himself with his few remaining breaths (all metaphorically of course since this isn’t in fact Star Wars).

Or maybe he just stays evil and is simply defeated after one epic, final battle.

I’ll let you know in October 2018.

The other character who is possibly my favorite and who I really want to see how his character continues to develop is Nightlight. Because of things that happen in the story that I will not reveal, we’re pretty much told that Nightlight cannot remain the same.

Overall, this book remains true to the themes of the series. It keeps up the same pace and action, and North is finally starting to seem more like Santa Claus. I’m satisfied.

P.S. I’m super stoked that come the next book we finally get to meet Jack Frost. He was my favorite in the movie, and I’ve been hoping this whole time that he would show up!

Reader Guidance:

The biggest thing of concern in this book is a moment when we learn more about Pitch back in the days before he became the Nightmare King, and in his anger and sorrow he beheads a group of dream pirates one by one with his sword. This is described in simple terms that aren’t super graphic—“...he drew his sword and cut the captain’s head from its body.”

Similar Books:

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Orbert Skye

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Next Book:

After my last post about fairy tales (specifically Beauty and the Beast), I received a surprise package on my doorstep. I was confused at first because I hadn't ordered anything. Suddenly I knew it could only have come from one source--my mom. Being the sweet and supportive mother that she is, she send me a copy of Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly, which is basically a story within the Beauty and the Beast story. It's a fairly new book, having been published in January of this year. So, this next book reading is dedicated to my lovely mother. Join me on this exciting adventure!

E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core

Sequel to: Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

Rating: 3.5/5

Author: William Joyce

Pages: 251

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis:

The last time we saw our heroes (or should I say guardians?), Pitch and his monstrous band of fearlings were successfully defeated and everything seemed on the mend. But the guardians’ success was only temporary. Pitch won’t be defeated so easily. Now he’s back with an even more dastardly plan, he’s stronger than ever!

With a seemingly unbeatable foe, the guardians have no other option than to seek help from E. Aster Bunnymund, the last of an ancient race of large rabbits who also happens to be a master in martial arts and chocolate making. With their combined efforts be enough to defeat Pitch once again? Or is it possible that they have met their match?

My Reaction:

This book is very much like the previous book in style and theme. So if you enjoyed the first book, you’ll definitely enjoy the sequel. Again, we have a story packed full of adventure and fantasy. The fight against Pitch becomes more complicated as he throws new threats into the mix.

Our main characters of the book are still very much Ombric, Katherine, and North with Bunnymund taking a larger role about halfway through the book. Bunnymund fits well into the mixture of already established characters. Perhaps what I liked about him most is that I heard Hugh Jackman’s voice in my head every time I read his dialogue. Ha!

This story is still heavy on the friendship theme and actually emphasizes it more so as we are presented with the idea that friendship grants its own sort of power—it connects and strengthens us.

It’s still not really anything like the movie, which is fine by me. It’s really a completely different story and world.

I feel like I could say pretty much the same things about this book that I said about the first one. I enjoy the adventure, and I liked that there was even more of a sense of danger—more complex problems to solve because there are more elements to the danger. I also really enjoyed that we get a little bit more background information about Pitch and why he became what he became. It almost makes him more understandable and in this case it almost makes you a little more sympathetic towards him, which you may think is a bad thing, considering he’s the bad guy. You’ll just have to read it to understand what I mean.

Overall, I gave it the same score as the first, and I’m ready to head onto book three! I’m looking forward to see how Bunnymund continues to add to our group of heroes!

Reader Guidance:

There is one moment during a confrontation that a character is stabbed clean through with a sword. It’s basically described as the character feeling pain, looking down and seeing the handle of the sword, and then realizing the rest of the blade went all the way through his back.

Similar Books:

Here are some other fantastical adventure series you may enjoy!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Orbert Skye

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Next Book:

Join me in reading the next and third book of the series: Toothiana Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies!