MobileRead Forums - Children Baum, L. Frank: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (Illustrated). v1. 25 December

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS
by L. Frank Baum (1856 – 1919)
Illustrations by Mary Cowles Clarke (1871 – 1950)
First published 1902

This edition also includes the 1904 short story A Kidnapped Santa Claus (unillustrated version)

The text of this book is in the public domain in countries with copyright of Life+90 or less, and in the USA. The illustrations are in the public domain in countries with copyright of Life+60 or less, and in the USA.

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Noted children’s author Lyman Frank Baum, writer of 55 novels and 83 short stories, is best known for his creation of the Oz universe, beginning with the most famous book of them all, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

A non-traditional explanation of Christmas traditions, this fantasy is a biography of Santa Claus, beginning from his origins as an orphaned infant adopted by a wood nymph, and describes how he grew up and became the toymaker and friend to all children.

The short story, A Kidnapped Santa Claus, appeared in The Delineator magazine in 1904. The story deals with Santa Claus's kidnapping by the Daemons of the caves, in an effort to thwart his yearly delivery of toys.

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An excerpt, from the chapter “The First Journey with the Reindeer":

Quote:

The deer leaned forward, lifted their slender limbs, and the next moment away flew the sledge over the frozen snow. The swiftness of the motion surprised Claus, for in a few strides they were across the Valley and gliding over the broad plain beyond.

The day had melted into evening by the time they started; for, swiftly as Claus had worked, many hours had been consumed in making his preparations. But the moon shone brightly to light their way, and Claus soon decided it was just as pleasant to travel by night as by day.

The deer liked it better; for, although they wished to see something of the world, they were timid about meeting men, and now all the dwellers in the towns and farmhouses were sound asleep and could not see them. Away and away they sped, on and on over the hills and through the valleys and across the plains until they reached a village where Claus had never been before.

Here he called on them to stop, and they immediately obeyed. But a new difficulty now presented itself, for the people had locked their doors when they went to bed, and Claus found he could not enter the houses to leave his toys.

“I am afraid, my friends, we have made our journey for nothing,” said he, “for I shall be obliged to carry my playthings back home again without giving them to the children of this village.”

“What’s the matter?” asked Flossie.

“The doors are locked,” answered Claus, “and I can not get in.”

Glossie looked around at the houses. The snow was quite deep in that village, and just before them was a roof only a few feet above the sledge. A broad chimney, which seemed to Glossie big enough to admit Claus, was at the peak of the roof.

“Why don’t you climb down that chimney?” asked Glossie.

Claus looked at it.

“That would be easy enough if I were on top of the roof,” he answered.
“Then hold fast and we will take you there,” said the deer, and they gave one bound to the roof and landed beside the big chimney.

“Good!” cried Claus, well pleased, and he slung the pack of toys over his shoulder and got into the chimney. There was plenty of soot on the bricks, but he did not mind that, and by placing his hands and knees against the sides he crept downward until he had reached the fireplace. Leaping lightly over the smoldering coals he found himself in a large sitting-room, where a dim light was burning.

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165 illustrations (full-page and small sketches). Formatted punctuation (curly quotes, endashes). Embedded decorative font for titling and drop caps. Chapters and color illustrations cross-linked to inline table of contents (use the bracketed double bullets at the bottom right corners). Several full-page black-and-white section inserts are not listed, you must page through the text to see them.

I am sorry this is so tardy, it was a spur-of-the-moment project that took far longer than expected. You could save it for next year, or read it now and keep the holiday spirit alive for a bit longer.

:xmas: