Welcome! *December Celebrations by Helen H. Moore Every year at just this time, In cold and dark December, Families around the world All gather to remember. With presents and with parties, With feasting and with fun, Customs and traditions For people old and young. So every year around the world In all lands and nations, People of all ages love December celebrations! *The Reindeer The reindeer has antlers On his head. At Christmas time He pulls a sled. He lives at the North Pole Where it snows the most, But his brown fur coat Keeps him warm as toast. *A-B-CDE The Gingerbread Man is running from me. F-G-HIJ The Gingerbread Man is running away. K-L-MNO I said stop. He said NO! P-Q-RST Across the river’s where he wants to be. U-V-WXY I can’t catch him even if I try Z-Z-ZZZ The Gingerbread Man is running from me. *Santa Claus by W.S.C. S stands for stockings we hang up so high. A is for all we get if we don't cry. N is for nobody he will pass by. T is for to-morrow, the day we eat pie. A stands for at last old Santa is nigh. C for the children who love him so well. L for the little girl, his name she can spell. A stands for apples so rosy and red. U is for us as we wait for his sled. S stands for Santa Claus, who comes in the night when we are tucked up in bed with our eyes closed so tight *Santa Santa Claus is big and fat He wears black boots And a bright red hat. His nose is red Just like a rose And he "ho ho ho's" *Christmas Christmas, A time for wishes. A time for all The girls and boys To fill their hearts With Christmas joys. BOOKS How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett First Grade Elves by Joanne Ryder Santa's Christmas Surprise by Jamie McIntire The Christmas Promise by Lee G. Smith The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear by Stan & Jan Berenstain Clifford's Christmas by Norman Bridwell The First Night by B. G. Hennessy Santa's Secret Helper by Andrew Clements Laura's Christmas Star by Klaus Baumgart The Christmas Pageant by Jacqueline Rogers The Jolly Christmas Postman The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson The Gingerbread man by Brenda Parkes The Gingerbread man by Jim Aylesworth The Gingerbread baby by Jan Brett The Polar Express by Robert Zemeckis Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897 We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing the same time our great gratification that faithful author is numbered amoung the friends of the Sun: at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered; I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be <>men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant,  In his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.  There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. <><>Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa  to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but<>even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real <>things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies  dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can  conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseable in the world. <>You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, cane push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.<> Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all thisNo Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. <> <> Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!! From The People's Almanac, pp. 1358-9. Francis P. Church's editorial, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" was an immediate sensation, and became one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first appeared in the The New York Sun in 1897, almost a hundred years ago, and was reprinted annually until 1949 when the paperwent out of business. Thirty-six years after her letter was printed, Virginia O'Hanlon recalled the events that prompted her letter: "Quite naturally I believed in Santa Claus, for he had never disappointed me. But when less fortunate little boys and girls said there wasn't any Santa Claus, I was filled with doubts. I asked my father, and he was a little evasive on the subject. "It was a habit in our family that whenever any doubts came up as to how to pronounce a word or some question of historical fact was in doubt, we wrote to the Question and Answer column in The Sun. Father would always say, 'If you see it in the The Sun, it's so,' and that settled the matter. " 'Well, I'm just going to write The Sun and find out the real truth,' I said to father. "He said, 'Go ahead, Virginia. I'm sure The Sun will give you the right answer, as it always does.' " And so Virginia sat down and wrote her parents' favorite newspaper. Her letter found its way into the hands of a veteran editor, Francis P. Church. Son of a Baptist minister, Church had covered the Civil War for The New York Times and had worked on the The New York Sun for 20 years, more recently as an anonymous editorial writer. Church, a sardonic man, had for his personal motto, "Endeavor to clear your mind of cant." When controversial subjects had to be tackled on the editorial page, especially those dealing with theology, the assignments were usually given to Church. Now, he had in his hands a little girl's letter on a most controversial matter, and he was burdened with the responsibility of answering it. "Is there a Santa Claus?" the childish scrawl in the letter asked. At once, Church knew that there was no avoiding the question. He must answer, and he must answer truthfully. And so he turned to his desk, and he began his reply which was to become one of the most memorable editorials in newspaper history. Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in April, 1906, leaving no children. Virginia O'Hanlon went on to graduate from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts degree at age 21. The following year she received her Master's from Columbia, and in 1912 she began teaching in the New York City school system, later becoming a principal. After 47 years, she retired as an educator. Throughout her life she received a steady stream of mail about her Santa Claus letter, and to each reply she attached an attractive printed copy of the Church editorial. Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971, at the age of 81, in a nursing home in Valatie, N.Y. Christmas Links 1.Arctic Antics 2.Around the World Advent Calenda 3.Build Your Own Snowman 4.Christmas Alphabet 5.Cranberry Christmas Fudge 6Christmas Jokes 7.Christmas Memory 8.Decorate a Gingerbread House 9Reindeer Orchestra 10.Santa's Village Thanks for visiting my website! Home