Audiobook · read by volunteers
Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919)
Read by Kristin LeMoine · 12 chapters · 3 h 27
About the book
What if Santa Claus had a beginning? L. Frank Baum, the creator of Oz, imagines one. A baby is found alone in the Forest of Burzee and carried to the nymph Necile, who persuades the great Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World, to let her bring up the child. As Claus grows, he meets people and discovers how little attention children receive, and slowly he begins to carve toys. The result is a warm, inventive fantasy in which immortals, reindeer, fairies and wicked Awgwas all play their part, and in which the old saint is a patient craftsman rather than a figure of legend. Twelve parts and about three and a half hours, read by one voice, make this an ideal story for the weeks before the holidays or, indeed, any evening when you need a little gentle magic.
Introduction
L. Frank Baum, who lived from 1856 to 1919, is best known as the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. Two years later, in 1902, he turned his imagination to another figure of universal legend and wrote The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. It is a book of fantasy rather than folklore: Baum invents a whole world of immortals, fairy folk and forest spirits to explain how a human foundling might become the person who brings gifts to children.
The tale departs a little from the traditional stories about Santa’s origins, and that is part of its charm. Baum builds a mythology of his own, with its own rulers and its own rules, while keeping the generous heart of the legend. The tone is gentle and the writing clear, in the manner of a bedtime story, yet it has some real adventure and a few moments of danger. It is closer to a fable than to a seasonal sentimental tale.
This LibriVox recording is divided into twelve parts, with titles such as Childhood and Manhood and the number of chapters indicated for each. It lasts about three and a half hours and is read by a single volunteer, Kristin LeMoine.
It makes a fine family listen around the holidays, but it also stands well on its own as an early example of American fantasy for children, written by one of its pioneers. Its mix of woodland fantasy and moral warmth explains why the book has stayed in print for more than a century and continues to find new young listeners every December.
Public domain
L. Frank Baum died in 1919: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text