Duration: 1st December – 31st December
Number of books: 7
Hosted by:Crazy Challenge Connection
One of my favorite holiday movies is Santa Claus is Coming to Town, a cute little animated movie that explains the story of Santa Claus. I make a point of watching it every year. So I thought it would be a nice base for a holiday challenge. Below is a summary of the movie with associated challenges. I obtained the plot summary from Wikipedia.
The story begins in the gloomy city of Sombertown, ruled by the ill-tempered Burgermeister Meisterburger. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a name tag reading “Claus” and note requesting that Burgermeister raise the child. He instead orders his lawkeeper Grimsley to take the baby to the “Orphan Asylum”.
*Read a book in which a character has a title (eg Burgermeister, Duke, King, Colonel; tell us the title) OR in which the MC is an orphan. – A Christmas Carol and Other Holiday Treasures by Charles Dickens
On the way there, a gust of wind blows both sled and baby to the Mountain of the Whispering Winds, where the animals hide him from the evil Winter Warlock and convey him to an Elvish family by the name of Kringle in Rainbow River Valley. Led by Tanta Kringle, the elf queen, she and the five Kringle elf brothers (Ringle, Dingle, Zingle, Tingle and Wingle) adopt the baby and name him “Kris”. A few years later, Kris hopes to restore the Kringle family as “The First Toymakers to the King”.
*Read a book in which a character is an Elf (tell us the character) OR in which the title has rhyming words.
When Kris is old enough, he volunteers to deliver the elves’ toys to Sombertown. Unfortunately, the Burgermeister has banned all toys from the town after tripping on a toy duck left on the steps, and declares that anyone found possessing a toy will be imprisoned. On his way to Sombertown, Kris meets a lost penguin whom he names Topper as they evade the Winter Warlock who vows to catch him the next time he passes.
*Read a book with a toy on the cover (post the cover) OR in which the author’s initials can be found in SOMBERTOWN (first and last initials only). – Reckless by Maggie Shayne
In the town, he offers toys to two children washing their stockings by a water fountain. He is stopped by Miss Jessica, their lovely schoolteacher, but she softens toward Kris when he offers her a china doll as a “peace offering”. As Kris gives more toys, the Burgermeister arrives to arrest the children, but Kris gives him a yo-yo. He at first happily plays with it, but Grimsley reminds him he’s breaking his own law, leading to Burgermeister ordering Kris’ arrest.
*Read a book with a character named Jessica OR in which the first letter of the title can be found in the word STOCKING (ignore A, An and The). – Shifter by Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day & Virginia Kantra
As Kris and Topper return to the Kringles, the Winter Warlock captures them. But when Kris gives him a toy locomotive as a present in exchange, the Warlock befriends Kris as his appearance changes. To repay him, he teaches Kris how to use magic snowballs to see anywhere in the world. This re-unites Kris with Jessica who informs him that the Burgermeister has banished all the toys and the children now want new ones. Kris promises to do so if the children behave themselves, promising to watch them through his magic snowball. When the Burgermeister hears that Kris means to bring more toys, he orders all doors and windows to be locked before their houses are searched. But Kris enters by the chimneys where the children hung their stockings to dry by the fire where Kris hid the toys.
*Read a book in which either the MC or the author has a name that starts with the same letter (eg Winter Warlock, Dannika Dark; tell us the name) OR in which there is a chimney on the cover (post the cover). – The Magical Christmas Cat by Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy,Nalini Singh & Linda Winstead Jones
Thereafter the Burgermeister sets a trap for Kris as he makes another delivery, and thus captures the Kringles, Topper, and Winter. Jessica pleads to release her friends, but he refuses. Jessica then asks Winter to break everyone out, but he refuses since he has no magic left except some magic feed corn to make reindeer able to fly. With the reindeer’s help, the Kringles, Kris, Topper, and Winter escape. After months as an outlaw, Kris returns to the woods, where he grows a beard as a disguise. After Tanta suggests that he return to his birth name “Claus” for safety, Kris marries Jessica and the group travels to the North Pole to build their own castle and workshop.
*Read a book in which the title of the book ends in a letter in REINDEER OR in which a character in the book wears a beard (tell us the character). – Atlantis Unleashed by Alyssa Day
As the years pass, Kris still has to travel by night because he’s still an outlaw. Eventually, the Burgermeisters died off and fell out of power and their laws were abolished. The townspeople then look up to Kris and eventually canonize him as a saint, becoming Santa Claus while Jessica becomes Mrs. Claus. Santa then decides to limit his journeys to one night a year and chooses the right night. Christmas Eve, “the night of profound love.” Just as Santa is getting ready to leave, Winter tells him that he has his magic powers back to guarantee the world a white Christmas.
*Read a book in which Santa Claus is mentioned (quote passage and location) OR which has a white cover (post the cover). – Holidays Are Hell by Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M. Liu & Vicki Pettersson
Title: My Soul to Lose
