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I loved this book when I was a child, and was thrilled to come across the same 1976 edition in the window of a used bookstore. Of course, I had to take it home, and it made for a cozy read by the Christmas tree. Tolkien wrote and illustrated letters from Father Christmas to his own children each year for many years, full of delightful details of life at the North Pole, with an accident-prone Polar Bear companion (who is rather Paddington-like in his hijinks), dastardly Goblin invaders, and assorted other characters. What a wonderful thing for Tolkien to do for his children, who must have eagerly anticipated each installment. The drawings are a particular delight. The last letter is from 1939, when war had begun, and he expects the children will be too old to hand stockings for him the next year: it strikes a somber but hopeful note.