The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus in Into the Forest

Dec 29, 2015 mark monday rated it it was ok

Shelves: kidworld, fantasy-classic

in his wonderful Oz series, Baum usually does a good job at keeping his more precious & cutesy-poo tendencies in check. his bracingly no-nonsense little heroines and often delightfully bizarre imagination help to keep things treacle-free. unfortunately no such barriers have been put in place for this story of the early life of Santa Claus; the result is much strained mawkishness and, egads, baby talk. sugar overload! however I did enjoy the entirely pagan origins of Jolly Saint Nick - a foundlin ...more

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Nov 24, 2016 Katy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Absolutely delightful. A very fun take on the life of Santa Claus. Baum has an answer for many of the questions that one might ask about Santa. Highly recommended if you enjoy the imagination of Baum.

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Dec 21, 2016 Melanti rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, classics, audiobook, group-reads, 2016, children, whispersync

Not a bad book but a little too cute and sentimental for my current mood...

But Christmas is just a couple days away at this point so it was now or never.

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Dec 14, 2016 Christine rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-american, christmas, childrens-fairy-tales, kindle-freebie

So this was the basis for one of my favorite Christmas specials, which they don't show often enough (I am referring to the 1985 version). Baum's story of Santa Claus does take out the religious aspect and focuses more on the fantasy and fairy aspect. At times, there is a feeling of how long is this going to go on, but there is a certain charm to the story. ...more

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Dec 21, 2018 Giselle rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

DNF'd This was so boring. I couldn't get into it. ...more

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Nov 28, 2018 Mariah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale, american-literature, holidays, 1990s, middle-grade, fairies

This is a lovely mythic imagining of the origins and backstory of Santa Claus. I read this back in junior high or upper elementary (grades 4-6) so I don't remember it that well, but it really *felt right* it had the quirky whimsical style of Baum without being overly schmaltzy. Great story if you want an antidote to the overdose on cliché Coca-Cola commercialized Santa and want to reconnect with his mythic folkloric roots- more magic, less Turkish bishop. If you like the idea of a origin/backsto ...more

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Dec 25, 2016 Lacey Louwagie rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, fantasy, classics, children-s, into-the-forest-2017-challenge

3.5/5

When I was young, the toy-mation movie adaptation of this book was one of my favorite Christmas movies ever. It still is, although I don't watch it with the regularity of, say Muppet Christmas Carol. It was always a bit obscure -- it was not played every year like Rudolph or Frosty, and a lot of people had never seen it. I was thrilled to finally find it on VHS and later on DVD so that I can enjoy it for every Christmas and share it with my own kid(s) someday.

All of that preamble is to say ...more

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Oct 08, 2008 Pamela Lloyd rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, classics, childrens

I owned a copy of this book when I was a child and I still, many, many years later, mourn its loss. This was one of my favorite books and I can't begin to say how beautiful a story I find it. I love the way that Baum mingled fairies and animal wonder tales with the Santa Claus mythology to create a new version of the story.

The version I owned as a child was a very early edition and had beautiful illustrations, but I don't know if it was a first edition; that edition was illustrated by Mary Cowle ...more

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