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About Father Christmas (Santa Claus)...
As you might know, Father Christmas has a good many names, including Santa Claus, St Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Kris Kringle, Sir Christmas and Old Winter. We asked him if he had a favourite out of these, but he simply said, “No, I like them all and more besides. Ho ho ho!” He also assured us that it really doesn’t matter which one you use at home with your family, because he knows them all.
You may have heard that Father Christmas has not always been dressed in red and indeed, when we asked him about this, he told us that “there was a time when I used to wear a green suit on Christmas Eve because it was the warmest. After a few centuries I replaced it with this red one with an extra thick lining to keep me warm on my sleigh when we’re high up in the sky. I’ve had it for well over a hundred years now, but you never know, I might change it again one day. I wouldn’t mind a blue one – it would go with my eyes!”
Father Christmas lives in a snow covered house, way up in the North Pole. It is surrounded by frozen lakes and icy forests and behind it the magical Tricksydrift Mountains stretch away into the dark. Of course, come sceptical older children like point out that the North Pole is right in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, but the magical piece of land where Father Christmas's house sits is right at the doorstep of Fairyland - and like all deeply enchanted places, cannot been seen. (You may also have heard that he lives in Lapland, and indeed, he does have another house there, where he often goes for a little winter break. Sometimes, children even go to visit him in Lapland - which he is very pleased about because it would be far too dangerous for them to travel all the way up to the middle of the Arctic Circle! However, once rested he always returns to his home in the North Pole.)
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Christmas House is nearly as old as Father Christmas himself and it is much bigger than it looks, with so many magical rooms inside that no one has ever been able to count them all. One of Father Christmas's favourite bits of his home is the vast and cavernous kitchen, where all the fairies and elves who like cooking live - and where they never run out of mince pies!
At the moment, Father Christmas has nine reindeer and they are named Rudolph, Prancer, Dancer, Dasher, Vixen, Cupid, Donner, Comet and Blitzen. If you've heard of other reindeer names, such as "Glossie and Flossie", it might be as well to remember that there have been others in the past, but some have now retired. Also, every now and again, one of the usual reindeer can't fly on Christmas Eve and Father Christmas asks a new reindeer to help out, just for one year. However, life for Father Christmas isn't simply about delivering presents...
As the seasons roll by there's all sorts going on and as well as making toys, Santa and his helpers have many magical adventures, which he writes down in his letters! If you're ordering letters, you might like to know that lots of parents like their children to find theirs under the Christmas tree - but of course Santa says you should do whatever suits your house the best. More about our letters
Child misbehaving? Don't forget you can always visit our print out our Fairyland freebies and print out a free Father Christmas note to remind your child to make a special effort to be good until Christmas!
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