Book Review: Santa Claus from A to Z

6 year old Debbie says: "I like the holly berries. I like the ram. I like toys. I like the bowl of wassail. I like his white beard."

3 year old Barbara says: "I like the ram. I like the holly berries. I like the holly leaves. I like the toys. I like the bell."

This is an image from a book called Santa Claus from A to Z, by Bobbie Kalman and illustrated by Barbara Bedell. It's one of those books for learning the alphabet, where the first letter of various Santa-related items are used to help teach the alphabet.

 

It's an okay book, but my favorite part are the illustrations. Many of them are just wonderful, like this image of Santa riding a ram (or is it a goat?). I'm not sure which tradition of Santa Claus depicts Santa riding a ram, but the fact that he is also holding a bowl of Wassail, a Christmas drink given freely as a way to spread good holiday cheer, locates this Santa within the typical Northwestern European tradition.

At any rate, it's a great picture of an old style Santa that inspires our imaginations and makes us wonder about all the many different Santa Claus stories out there to discover, learn and hopefully pass on!