Title: I Am Santa!
Author: Kristy Haile
Publisher: Happy Bean Publishing
ISBN: 9780982704325
Pages: 343, Paperback & e-book
Genre: Young Adult
Reviewed by: Beth Adams, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
I Am Santa! by Kristy Haile is inspired by the true story of her 4 year old son, Ty, referred to as Nicholas in the book, whom after meeting a Santa-for-Hire at a shopping mall, is bequeathed the honorable status of becoming the new Santa. You may or may not believe in Santa, and you certainly may not believe this young boy is the “new Santa,” but to Nicholas, he is Santa, and you can’t shake his belief. Based on true events occurring to Nicholas, his sister Holly, the parents, grandparents, friends and classmates, I Am Santa! unfolds a clever storyline for children and captures the imagination of all that read this book.Just as Superman is only “super” when wearing his caped outfit, Nicholas wears his Santa costume each and every day, even sleeping in it at night. During his dreams he’s busy working with the elves, keeping current the “naughty or nice” list of all other people — a formidable task indeed. At first his desire to wear the Santa outfit was appropriate, but as the Christmas season dwindled to an end, the outfit was still a part of Nicholas’ daily dress code. This lead to some whimsically comical situations, such as the comment by an adult, “Hey kid, who do you think you are? Santa Claus?” Nicholas would always answer in the affirmative, then warn, “You better watch out or else you’ll wind up on the naughty list,” totally disarming the adult and leaving him speechless.
The Santa outfit, months after Christmas, became an issue for the parents at times. In order to squelch comments, Kristy wrote she would defend her son by saying, “Well, I didn’t know there was a dress code for tonight. Besides he is getting ready for next year. And actually it’s been shown that parents should never impinge on their child’s imagination. A big imagination is actually a sign of an above average intelligence.”
I Am Santa! is ideal for a stocking stuffer for all children this Christmas season. The book has a light and loving flow to the maternal narration, as you can tell just how much Kristy Haile enjoyed keeping track of her son’s antidotes and writing the book. Adaptation into a holiday movie would certainly be a fun evolution for this creative book, and given the true life story and theatrical accolades of her son, he might even be able to play “himself” – that is Santa, of course.
