Walt Disney's Santa's Toy Shop: Walt Disney Classic Edition

by Al Dempster, Walt Disney Company

Children can experience for the first time the story of Santa and his elves in the toy shop with this classic holiday tale, which adults will remember as a Little Golden Book first published in 1950.

Genres: Christmas, Childrens, Picture Books, Holiday, Classics, Fiction, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's another one of those Little Golden Books I surely must have encountered in childhood, though I don't remember this one. In this adventure, our favorite jolly old elf is too busy to play with any of the wonderful toys he and the elves spend all year creating.

Dempster's art work is just adorable, and sweetly nostalgic.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved, still love, the illustrations in this simple storybook.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, Goodreads is awesome if it has this book on it! This is one of my all-time favorite picture books. My copy was so well-loved that I had to buy a back-up copy for whenever I have kids. :) The old-fashioned illustrations have a quality that no one now could duplicate. I absolutely love it.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Golden Books here bring you, in gay color, delightful stories and illustrations adapted from the world-famous Walt Disney Motion Pictures. In them you will find Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs, Bambi, Dumbo, Uncle Remus, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and many other well-loved Disney characters.

- Walt Disney Books Introduction

In this classic Little Golden Book, Santa shows us how important it is to find balance in life. It's not selfish to take care of oneself, while helping others. Santa's Toy Shop was originally published in 1950. My grandma gave the book to my cousin in the 1980s and I ended up having it with me some years later.

Favorite Passage:

"I'll take a day off soon," says Santa Claus, "and play!"
But letters keep coming from boys and girls, wanting talking dolls and cowboy boots, rocking horses and fireman suits.
"I'm just too busy!" Santa Claus sometimes says. "I never have time to play with the toys."
And most of those children have been so good, Santa has to do his best to please them.
So the days whiz by in Santa's toy shop. And soon it is Christmas Eve again. And Santa Claus has still not played with a single toy!

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that I had read this book as a child and yet I am still not quite sure as a Disney child where this fits into actual Disney. Was it ever a short that Disney came up with such as with their "Wintery Wonderland" or was this just an authorized book as they needed more Christmassy events in the profile? Don't know if I will get an answer on this.

The other thing is that this book is quite interesting if the way that it reads. First of all the reader is given a chance to follow the story and then afterwards is required to become interactive. The book says this is the doll room but doesn't describe what each of the elves is doing thus allowing for parents to discuss the various activities and then onto the next page where you repeat it with another department.

Something else that caught my eye with this book is the combination of art illustrations. Some of the pieces such as the toys, the reindeers and other such items are realistically drawn that although maybe a bit out of proportion they could still have come from real life and then you have the opposites with the Clauses and the elves where there are elements that make them look a bit cartoonish. Although the result is a bit on the strange side it fits the book.

All in all it is a quick and entertaining read that will allow you to get your children ready for the Christmas traditions that you may post as a family.

[Cody Maciosek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jumping jacks, Santa! What a bore!
Poor story structure. Childish grammar. Poor conclusion.

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister and I didn't just read the Christmas themed Little Golden Books at Christmas, we read them all year. Did we have some kind of book or reading addiction?

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this fondly from my childhood, so I was excited to find it. The illustrations are lovely.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had this book when we were little and I recently bought a copy and read it again. I think I only like it so much for the good memories.

[MelMon Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas time books always put a smile on my face. Walt Disney always did it best.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember this book when I was little.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a simple, yet cute story about Santa, who never gets to play with the toys he creates because he is too busy. So one Christmas Eve his wife suggests something and at the last house, Santa decides to play with the toys he's going to leave for the children. When he gets home he thanks his wife for her wonderful suggestion and in the end, the book asks its readers if they think Santa will choose their house to play at next year. My rating - 3/5

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Do you think he might pick your house to stop at this year?”

I love this idea. I think it is nice to give gifts 🎁 and get gifts. Maybe though Santa 🎅🏽 does not have to come every year. Maybe he just visits when we really need him. I know the book was not meaning to evoke a deep discussion but I appreciated the end and felt it led to the discussion.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Christmas book as a child, and my mom told me her favorite when she was a child. It holds up really well and has a great Disney Christmasy feel. It's not Christmas without this book.
Featured on the No Extra Words podcast Special #21.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book to my kids….they were always sure Santa would stop at our house to play with the toys because they had their Santa toys set up and ready to play. Reading this to my granddaughter this year was so fun to recall the past with her mom and uncle.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite childhood Christmas books, both for the story and the illustrations. Brings back memories of sitting on my mom's lap when I was young, having her read to me.

[Michele Hermansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorites.

[Olga Tsvetkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with the illustrations to this book! Elves of all sorts doing all kinds of things. Used them as a reference for my watercolor elves.

[Kurtbg · Rating 3 out of 5]

All work and no play makes Santa a dull boy.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute. Like the artwork

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Mrs. Santa Claus "keeps house for Santa and all the elves," but she also has the idea that solves the central dilemma of the book, so 3 stars.

[heather smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

another classic

[Kelly Kosinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved Christmas as a child!

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story about Santa's workshop & delivering toys

[Porter Sprigg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reminder that even Santa Claus struggles with work-life balance. Always making toys. Never playing with toys.

It’s good to see our jolly Sisyphus relax a bit.

[Danielle T · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Mom's basket of Christmas books, 89 cents on the front so possibly a 1950 original! Santa wants to play with the toys but is so busy.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with good classic. I love reading this every year.

[Justin Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy to read

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an old Disney cartoon (sometimes split in two parts) showing Santa at the North Pole and then delivering to one house where he sets everything up and has a really good time.

This book seems to be based on that, but instead of reproducing it, it gives a plot where Santa keeps wanting to try the toys but is too busy, so Mrs. Claus suggest playing at the last house, thus giving the cartoon an interesting context.

The art style is also different, though still very retro (the book is from 1950). There are still some reminders via ethnic dolls how casual racism was back then, but that was worse in the cartoon.

[Kimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember this book growing up and was excited to read it to my kids. I wasn't as impressed the second time around. I thought it was kind of wordy and didn't really flow very well. The illustrations are the best part. However, the kids enjoyed it, so I liked it. On another note, I remember the Disney short cartoon and loved that, it's a classic.