quoththegirl 's review for:

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

2.0

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I read this mainly because I want to read everything that L. Frank Baum wrote, and we happened to have a copy. I sympathized most with the afterword written by some random Jewish guy who was like, "Eh, I'm not a fan of Christmas, but since Baum removes it from any religious context, I guess that's okay." I'm the entirely wrong demographic for the book (I'm not a kid, and I don't celebrate Christmas), so it's no surprise I wasn't that interested, but I did enjoy Baum's creativity in coming up with a backstory for Claus. Since the book was written in 1902, long before Coca-Cola decided for America what Santa Claus looked like and created much of the mythos around him, Claus' story differs wildly from the typical modern tale. No red suit, no north pole, no Mrs. Claus. Fans of the Oz series may remember that Santa Claus makes an appearance in The Road to Oz, and Baum has no problem incorporating Claus into his fictional universe.