Every December, J. R. R. Tolkien’s children received a stamped envelope from the North Pole. Inside was a letter written in strange handwriting and a beautiful colored drawing or picture. The letters were from Santa Claus.

They told wonderful stories about life at the North Pole: how the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone North Polar Bear climbed up the North Pole and fell through the roof of Santa’s house into the dining room; how he broke the moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how wars were fought with a troublesome horde of goblins who lived in caves under the house, and much more.

For 23 years the writer created these letters for his own children: each year he drew pictures and stamps, made up stories and presented them to the children. The book was published after the writer’s death and contains illustrations drawn by the author himself.

«If you find that not many of the things you asked for have come, and not perhaps quite so many as sometimes, remember that this Christmas all over the world there are a terrible number of poor and starving people.»