Day 6 of the 12 Books of the Holiday Season...guest blog by author Jen Frankel

The Father Christmas Letters -- J.R.R. Tolkien

Probably my favourite memory from Christmas is reading the most adorable and amusing series of letters a dad ever wrote his kids. And when that father is J.R.R. Tolkien, you can bet there were some great illustrations to go along with the stories, as well as personalized envelopes.

Tolkien wrote these charming and funny stories to his children in letter form from 1920 until 1942. Can you imagine the excitement on Christmas when the new missive from the North Pole arrived? Populated with memorable characters like the accident-prone North Polar Bear and his cubs, and narrated by Father Christmas himself, Tolkien wrote in a distinctive spidery hand and accompanied his tales with colourful drawings.

For fans of his later Lords of the Rings and other of his works, discovering Father Christmas for the first time or reacquainting yourself with him will lend an extra air of magic to the holiday season.

Buy the new edition, called -- in what I think is a totally unnecessary update of the title -- Letters from Father Christmas at the official site from HarperCollins: https://www.tolkien.co.uk/products/letters-from-father-christmas-j-r-r-tolkien-9780007463374/

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters

You can read my story "A Christmas in Arabia" for free on Wattpad at https://www.wattpad.com/story/10770813-a-christmas-in-arabia and buy the collection it appears in (Feral Tales) on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Feral-Tales-Jen-Frankel/dp/1988393035.