In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote to The Sun newspaper in New York to ask a very important question that had been weighing on her young mind. On September 21, editor Francis Pharcellus Church replied in what may be the most famous – and certainly still applicable – letter in the world.
Is There a Santa Claus?
by Francis Pharcellus Church
as published in The Sun, September 21, 1897
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Church's letter
This is just one chapter of L. Frank Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
How Claus Made the First Toy
by L. Frank Baum
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The entire chapter recording was five and a half minutes long, and AudioBoo has a five-minute limit (as you’ve probably realized from some of my multi-boo readings). I didn’t think it was worth it to do “parts”, so I found a bit that wasn’t strictly necessary to the excerpt and deleted it. But I’d gone to such trouble to re-record it on the first go and provide a distinct voice for Jack Frost (why he came out vaguely Australian is anybody’s guess, and I do apologize for the mangled accent) that I couldn’t just toss it into the Recycle Bin. So, like any good DVD Bonus Features section, the Refuge presents this deleted scene:
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What I wouldn’t give to hear Hal Holbrook read this. I’m sure I don’t do it justice.
A Letter from Santa
by Mark Twain, to his daughter Susy
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I think this is going to be the last tree-related one. Tomorrow starts Christmas Week, and I’ve found several Santa-related stories!
The Christmas Fairy of Strasburg:
A German Folk-Tale
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Understandably, there are a lot of tree-related stories for this time of year. This one reminds me of a Native American story about a birch tree (with a much different personality than this one!) I learned from my dad and keep meaning to record… This one also sees me trying ten different voices. Apologies.
Why the Evergreen Trees Never Lose Their Leaves
by Florence Holbrook
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Keeping on a plant theme…
The Christmas Thorn of Glastonbury:
A Legend of Ancient Britain
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How the Fir Tree Became the Christmas Tree
by Aunt Hede, in Kindergarten Magazine
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This one took three AudioBoos, but it was a special request from Twitter friend @AvenSarah.
A Child’s Christmas in Wales
by Dylan Thomas
Part 1: Or click here.
Part 2: Or click here.
Part 3: Or click here.
This classic tale from the Brothers Grimm speaks to helping those in need and being thankful to those who helped you.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
by The Brothers Grimm
http://audioboo.fm/boos/233584-the-elves-and-the-shoemaker-by-the-brothers-grimm Or click here.
Obviously, A Christmas Carol is far too long to read in its entirety for this project, but let’s peek in at the warehouse windows and see what young Scrooge’s holiday office party was like.
Two sections again, due to the bracketing narration I wanted to include. And apologies for the character voices – I couldn’t seem to stay consistent for Scrooge or Fezziwig. I quite like my Ghost of Christmas Past voice, though.
Part 1:
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Part 2:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/232835-christmas-at-fezziwig-s-warehouse-part-2 Or click here.
BLOOPER! I get a bit agitated over “agitation”:
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The Refuge from Reality 