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How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas (2006)

How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas (2006)

Book Info

Author
Rating
3.8 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
1585425354 (ISBN13: 9781585425358)
Language
English
Publisher
tarcher

About book How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas (2006)

Sequel to the Autobiography of Santa Claus. This tells the story of how Nicholas and his wife met and married from her point of view (he tells his side of the story in his book) and outlines some of their early adventures.The main focus of the story is in England during the 1640's. Like Santa's book this tells us real history. I had known that the Puritans came to the "New World" to persue religious freedom, I had not known though that many Puritans actually stayed in England and with the help of men like Oliver Cromwell removed the king from having actual power and tried to impose their religious beliefs on the entire country (I know it's ironic huh?). One of the strong beliefs these men held was that to celebrate Christmas with it's Catholic undertones such as the name originating from Christ's Mass a Catholic based service not to mention a Catholic priest/bishop as a primary gift giver was wrong and that it was demeaning to celebrate the birth of Jesus as though he were just a common man. The holiday was deemed sinful and subsequently made illegal.The working class on poor of 17th century England lived such a life of drudgery that often their only source of hope was their simple Christmas celebrations. Mrs. Claus realized this and with the love she has for Christmas along with the realization that it brings the spirit of love and hope to life she helps save the beloved holiday.Like her husband the real history and the purpose of giving gifts to show love of fellow men in the tradition of the Savior is emphasised.

I bought this book a few years ago at a clearance sale. I finally got around to reading it for the Winter Holidays Reading Challenge.By the author of The Autobiography of Santa Claus, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to at first. The book is a fictionalized account of the events surrounding the outlawing of Christmas celebrations under the Puritan government in England in the mid-1600's.I thought the history was interesting, and as I said I enjoyed the story. The characters were very two-dimensional though and even the narrator (Mrs. Claus) seemed like a cardboard cut-out. This didn't affect my enjoyment of the story, but it was a constant reminder of the fiction of it. I was never really able to suspend disbelief and immerse myself in the story.On the whole, this was a good read and I may try other books in Jeff Guin's Christmas Chronicles.

Do You like book How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas (2006)?

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this book. I liked, more than I expected, the historical facts about Christmas, English Puritan religion, and various other facts scattered throughout the book. I expected a more fanciful book. The pacing is slow and I didn't really like any of the characters. The characters with the most depth were the bad guys. It did had a few fanciful-over the top in my opinion-ideas about Santa and his friends. I won't be recomending this to anyone, but I can't say I didn't get anything out of it either.
—Jenifer

First of all, you have to read The Autobiography of Santa Claus before this book. I think this book may be better. Autobiography sets the stage for this second book in the trilogy of Christmas. The first part of How Mrs. Claus starts off recapping things so I guess you could technically not read Autobiography first, but I suggest you don't. Layla Claus is left alone in England during a turbulent time of British history. King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell play a huge part in this book. I love how Jeff Guinn takes factual history and makes it another character in his story. He weaves the Puritians take over of England into them trying to cancel Christmas. The only bad things about this book is the fact that it drags in spots which would bore some children and the fact that he takes historical people such as King Arthur and Leonardo da Vinci and keeps them alive to help Santa out. I didn't enjoy that. I always thought that Santa used normal everyday people. However I'm willing to overlook this part. ;-) I would highly recommend this trilogy so far to parents to read to their children. It will instill Christmas in their hearts while teaching them some history at the same time.
—Samantha

A great sequel. Loved it. We learn more about Mrs. Claus, Layla, as she tells her story.Where she was born, her personal history and meeting Nicholas from her point of view. Very fun. The story of the Puritans trying to ban Christmas in 1647 is the main focus of the majority of the story. Learned a lot and it was painless:). The Autobiography of Santa Claus and this book have just oozed the Christmas spirit. The have both left me with such a good feeling. True Christmas cheer. I am excited to start the third book in the Christmas Chronicles series.
—Teri

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