When Santa Fell to Earth - Cornelia Funke

Santa fights commercialization, kids help, ho hum.

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Common Sense rates it
2
Read the book?
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Book details
  • Author:Cornelia Funke
  • # of pages: 176
  • Publisher:Scholastic Inc.
  • Original Publication Date: 11/12/2006
  • Genre: Fiction - Holiday
  • Hardcover: $15.99
  • Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 9-12
  • Read Aloud: 7
  • Read Alone: 8

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that the author has a very strange approach to Santa Claus, and younger children may find it disturbing to their belief system. Also, the book seems to condone cheating on school tests.

Families can talk about how this concept of Santa compares with the more traditional one. How is it similar? How does it differ? Which is more appealing or realistic?

Message

Social Behavior:

Ben repeatedly cheats on tests, with no guilt, author disapproval, or consequences -- except praise.

Consumerism:

Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:

Violence

A bad Santa is turned into chocolate; giant nutcrackers attack and threaten.

Sex

Language

None, but the author repeatedly says that the elves are swearing.

Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Matt Berman

While flying through the sky in his gypsy caravan during a thunderstorm a couple of weeks before Christmas, Niklas Goodfellow finds himself crashing to earth when his reindeer, Twinklestar, bolts in fear. The caravan ends up on the side of a suburban street, where Niklas and his accompanying angels and elves meet Ben (and later Charlotte).

Niklas explains that the North Pole has been taken over by Gerold Geronimus Goblynch, who is only interested in money and who has brought in modern technology, outsourced the toymaking, turned the Santas into chocolate and the reindeer into salami, employed giant nutcrackers as enforcers, and driven out the elves. Niklas himself is the last real Santa. Now it is, of course, up to the children to help him take Christmas back.

Is it any good?

2
Christmas taken over by greedy corporate interests -- have we heard this before? The only thing new that bestselling German author Cornelia Funke brings to this hackneyed, trite tale is a complete lack of any kind of logic. Main character Ben is sort of bullied, of course -- but not really. His parents are rather unfeeling -- until they suddenly become warm and caring.

Apparently Santas (and there are hundreds of them, or were) can never take off their boots (must get a bit whiffy in the caravan) -- if they do, they turn into chocolate, but only after a 24-second delay. Why? Who knows? Apparently the Santas travel around in gypsy caravans, not sleighs, which contain complete toy workshops. So what do they need the North Pole for? Elf-made presents are better than those made by companies because ... well, they just are, that's all.

And so on. Bright children will have guessed the whole story by page 37, and the way it unfolds isn't particularly exciting. Funke's name has become a famous brand, and so this book will certainly sell. But it's a disappointment.

Other choices

Other Books by Cornelia Funke
The Thief Lord
Inkheart
Dragon Rider
Inkspell

Related Web Sites
Author's site

Parents and kids say

All Reviews

There are 1 reviews.

4


Posted on 10/01/07 by brownie94 Kid contributor, age 13

it was a really great book!

so... there's a santa who is running away from the santa police, (or whatever ya want to call it) and his reindeer got detached right in the middle of the part where people don't believe in santa(i wonder why that happened), and there all tryin' to fix it!!!!

Adult Reviews

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Kids Reviews

There are 1 reviews.

4


Posted on 10/01/07 by brownie94 Kid contributor, age 13

it was a really great book!

so... there's a santa who is running away from the santa police, (or whatever ya want to call it) and his reindeer got detached right in the middle of the part where people don't believe in santa(i wonder why that happened), and there all tryin' to fix it!!!!
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