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Santa Who?
In telling the rich history of the Christmas gift-giver, Gail Gibbons draws upon many cultures. From the legend of Saint Nicholas to the Dutch Sinter Cleas, from "The Night before Christmas" to Thomas Nast's famous cartoons, her lively, well-researched text and sparkling illustrations show how the changing image of Santa became the beloved symbol of Christmas we know today.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 1999
About the author
Gail Gibbons
187 books170 followersFrom gailgibbons.com: I was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1944. Even as a little child, I was always busy putting books together. Sometimes I would bind them with yarn to hold the pages together. I've always loved drawing and painting. I was also a very curious child. My parents tell me that I was always asking lots and lots of questions.
Later, I went on to the University of Illinois, where I studied graphic design. Then I moved to New York City, where I got a job doing artwork for television shows. Eventually I was asked to do the artwork for a children's show. While doing that show, some of the children asked me if I had ever thought of doing children's books. My mind immediately recalled how much I enjoyed doing that type of thing when I was a child. So I put an idea for a book together and right away a publisher bought it. That book was called Willy and His Wheel Wagon. Since then, over 170 books that I have written and illustrated have been published. The type of books I write are non-fiction books. This is because I love researching so much. I get to ask lots of questions, just like when I was a kid. I also get to travel and meet lots of interesting people. While doing research for my book Nature's Green Umbrella: Tropical Rain Forests, I traveled to two islands where there are tropical rain forests, Saba and Dominica. I also had a great time writing and illustrating the book. I get a lot of pleasure from doing the type of work I do.
Later, I went on to the University of Illinois, where I studied graphic design. Then I moved to New York City, where I got a job doing artwork for television shows. Eventually I was asked to do the artwork for a children's show. While doing that show, some of the children asked me if I had ever thought of doing children's books. My mind immediately recalled how much I enjoyed doing that type of thing when I was a child. So I put an idea for a book together and right away a publisher bought it. That book was called Willy and His Wheel Wagon. Since then, over 170 books that I have written and illustrated have been published. The type of books I write are non-fiction books. This is because I love researching so much. I get to ask lots of questions, just like when I was a kid. I also get to travel and meet lots of interesting people. While doing research for my book Nature's Green Umbrella: Tropical Rain Forests, I traveled to two islands where there are tropical rain forests, Saba and Dominica. I also had a great time writing and illustrating the book. I get a lot of pleasure from doing the type of work I do.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 8, 2022
Good book, but be prepared to answer questions if your kids don’t know the Santa mystery.
December 11, 2019
A fun story with a little bit of history of Santa and a little bit of traditions from other countries. Fun and colorful. It talks about Santa as an idea and tradition, less like a real “person”, but not in a way that ruins the magic. I liked the way it addresses him. I don’t love making up lots of details that I have to remember about how Santa does all he does. I tell my kids he exists and uses magic and all that, but also that he represents the magic of Christmas and teaches us to love others and be more like Jesus. He’s an idea as well as a magical figure. This goes with that and has Ofer fun facts with it.
December 30, 2008
This is the book I wanted to write! The art isn't as good as the one I want to write, though. Maybe someday!
I give this four stars for the treatment of the subject and two stars for the art. The coverage of the subject is too deep for my kids (3 and 5), so I didn't even bother to read it to them. But I found it very interesting. (Although I was disappointed that the Coca Cola Santa was left out, considering that he is the epitome of the American Santa. That's okay-- I'll cover it in my book.)
I give this four stars for the treatment of the subject and two stars for the art. The coverage of the subject is too deep for my kids (3 and 5), so I didn't even bother to read it to them. But I found it very interesting. (Although I was disappointed that the Coca Cola Santa was left out, considering that he is the epitome of the American Santa. That's okay-- I'll cover it in my book.)
January 7, 2021
It was just okay. A very diplomatic, sanitized, surface-level “history” of this artificial character that was fabricated by amalgamating the ancient mythologies of numerous cultures and pagan faiths and codified by fiction writers.
Some of the info doesn’t go very deep and other sections contain misinformation based on current customs rather than historical research and understanding. Might be an okay jumping off point to further research each of the various threads attributed to the “evolution” of Santa Claus, but shouldn’t be treated as anything more than the most cursory introduction.
Some of the info doesn’t go very deep and other sections contain misinformation based on current customs rather than historical research and understanding. Might be an okay jumping off point to further research each of the various threads attributed to the “evolution” of Santa Claus, but shouldn’t be treated as anything more than the most cursory introduction.
January 11, 2010
What a great book! This is a great book to read to children to help them understand where Santa Claus comes from. Add to it the article printed yearly of the Letter to Victoria who wanted to know if there really is a Santa Claus and you can keep the story of Santa alive for a child for a long time to come.
September 13, 2015
This was my little one's storytime book tonight, one he checked out from the library. I was surprised when we started reading it that it was actually a history of the Santa Claus legend, beginning with the real Saint Nicholas. It was a little lengthy for a child's story and I know my LO didn't really understand the full history, but it was very educational.
December 3, 2008
Very interesting book and informative. Gail Gibbons traces the origin of Saint Nicholas on how it started and how he is viewed in each culture.
December 23, 2009
Great for the purpose it serves---sharing the origin and evolution of the Santa myth. doesn't quite blow the myth but borders.
December 27, 2010
good synopsis of the evolution of santa
December 8, 2013
Really enjoyed the facts throughout the book. Enjoyable book for my children and I.
December 9, 2013
I actually learned a lot reading this book about the origins and history of Santa Claus.
December 9, 2014
Great book for information on the history of Santa. I even learned a thing or two.
December 24, 2015
Excellent explanation of the development of Santa.
December 17, 2019
An informative story about the evolution of St Nicholas and the origin of the Santa myth. My child found parts of the story interesting, but it did drag at times.
January 19, 2021
This book gives me the feels of childhood Christmas coloring books. I highly recommend, full of fun and interesting facts about Christmas traditions and history.
January 4, 2022
This picture book traces the roots of the contemporary Christmas gift-giver Santa Claus.
Author-Illustrator Gail Gibbons is known for her children’s informational books, and this one is a very sound exploration of the origin of Santa Claus, which hits all the main points. It begins in late 3rd / early 4th Century in Asia Minor with Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia, whose legend traveled across the centuries to Europe. In the Netherlands, he was called Sinter Cleas, and the celebration of his feast day was imported to the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam in North America in the early 17th Century.
Similarly, the Roman god Saturn was brought to Britain in the 1st Century where he combined with local pagan winter tradition, evolved into Father Christmas, and then traveled to North America with the English settlers in the 17th and 18th Centuries.
These two traditions coalesced into Santa Claus in New York, the former New Amsterdam colony that was annexed by the British in 1664, thanks to first author Washington Irving writing in 1809 and then poet Clement Clark Moore writing in 1822. It was the popularity of Moore’s poem The Night Before Christmas that exported the figure of Santa Claus to the rest of the country and ultimately transformed him into the American cultural icon that we know today.
Illustrator Thomas Nast established the modern image of Santa Claus through his artwork in the 1860s. The author does neglect to mention that the contemporary depiction of Santa Claus was then heavily influenced by Coca-Cola advertisements from the 1930s through the 1960s. Perhaps this is because she didn’t want to give Coke any free advertising or because the importance of Coca-Cola advertisements to the Santa Claus mythos has been downplayed and outright contested by some.
Other Christmas gift-givers not directly related to Santa Claus are also touched upon in this book. These are those based on the Christ child in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy and those featuring elves in Scandinavia and old women in Italy and Russia. The Slavic figure Father Frost is not mentioned.
The retellings of St. Nicholas’s supplying the dowry for the three sisters is much better than in Demi’s book The Legend of Saint Nicholas. This work also includes the interesting fact that it was Jesus’s resurrection and not his birth that was important to early Christians, so the exact date was not recorded and then later designated as December 25.
Upper elementary age readers will probably get the most out of this book as it is too long and in-depth for younger readers.
Author-Illustrator Gail Gibbons is known for her children’s informational books, and this one is a very sound exploration of the origin of Santa Claus, which hits all the main points. It begins in late 3rd / early 4th Century in Asia Minor with Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia, whose legend traveled across the centuries to Europe. In the Netherlands, he was called Sinter Cleas, and the celebration of his feast day was imported to the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam in North America in the early 17th Century.
Similarly, the Roman god Saturn was brought to Britain in the 1st Century where he combined with local pagan winter tradition, evolved into Father Christmas, and then traveled to North America with the English settlers in the 17th and 18th Centuries.
These two traditions coalesced into Santa Claus in New York, the former New Amsterdam colony that was annexed by the British in 1664, thanks to first author Washington Irving writing in 1809 and then poet Clement Clark Moore writing in 1822. It was the popularity of Moore’s poem The Night Before Christmas that exported the figure of Santa Claus to the rest of the country and ultimately transformed him into the American cultural icon that we know today.
Illustrator Thomas Nast established the modern image of Santa Claus through his artwork in the 1860s. The author does neglect to mention that the contemporary depiction of Santa Claus was then heavily influenced by Coca-Cola advertisements from the 1930s through the 1960s. Perhaps this is because she didn’t want to give Coke any free advertising or because the importance of Coca-Cola advertisements to the Santa Claus mythos has been downplayed and outright contested by some.
Other Christmas gift-givers not directly related to Santa Claus are also touched upon in this book. These are those based on the Christ child in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy and those featuring elves in Scandinavia and old women in Italy and Russia. The Slavic figure Father Frost is not mentioned.
The retellings of St. Nicholas’s supplying the dowry for the three sisters is much better than in Demi’s book The Legend of Saint Nicholas. This work also includes the interesting fact that it was Jesus’s resurrection and not his birth that was important to early Christians, so the exact date was not recorded and then later designated as December 25.
Upper elementary age readers will probably get the most out of this book as it is too long and in-depth for younger readers.
January 4, 2022
Love the history this book gives.
December 4, 2024
I found this super fascinating, though Maddie still says she believes, so this must have been an odd history to hear!
2025 - they scored an early opening gift because we read it in Saint Nicolas’s Day this year and Kait pointed out that it was a gift giving day. Perhaps next year we will even do the shoe thing.
2025 - they scored an early opening gift because we read it in Saint Nicolas’s Day this year and Kait pointed out that it was a gift giving day. Perhaps next year we will even do the shoe thing.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews