Dear Santa: Children's Letters to the North Pole

Kelly L. Green is the co-editor of the Children’s Literature edition
of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

This collection of more than 60 letters from Canadian children to Santa
Claus is everything one would expect from such a book. Some of the
letters are hilarious (e.g., “I have a question, did you really kiss
my mom?” and “For this Christmas all I want is to have a interview
with you. And I also want a interview with Rudolph one day before
Christmas please.”). Others are poignant (“I want you to help [my
mother] find her real mother.”). All were carefully selected from the
millions of letters Canada Post has received in its Santa Letter-Writing
Program.

Some of the letters are just amusingly written requests for items like
Rollerblade Barbie and F–14 Tomcats. Others reflect the innermost
thoughts of children expressed freely to a magical person whom they
believe to have tremendous powers for good. All are illuminating.

Slightly fewer than 20 percent of the letters are from francophone
children, but they are not translated. Rather than enhancing the
book’s appeal to an audience across Canada, this comes across as a
crown corporation’s sop to federal government bilingualism policies.
Anglophones will skip these letters, and there are too few to encourage
a francophone readership. I have no doubt that there were enough letters
to Santa from francophone children to create a separate book. This would
have made far more sense than simply sprinkling a few French letters
throughout a book clearly aimed at anglophones. Nevertheless, this book
will entertain and touch everyone who loves Santa. Recommended.