A Kidnapped Santa Claus – a Classic Christmas Story by L. Frank Baum
Season's Readings – Christmas Stories and Holiday TalesShow Notes
On Christmas Eve, four mischievous imps decide the world has grown far too cheerful. The source of all that bothersome joy, of course, is Santa Claus himself. So they sneak into his cozy workshop in the Valley of the Laughing Bells and whisk him away. What follows is a struggle between gloom and gladness as Santa’s friends rally to rescue him and restore Christmas. It’s a fantastical little tale filled with whimsy, gentle suspense, and a reminder that delight often needs defending.
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919) is best remembered as the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its many sequels, but he was also a prolific writer of fairy tales, fantasy stories, and imaginative seasonal fables. He believed that stories should nourish “the child-heart,” wherever it lives, in both children and adults. A Kidnapped Santa Claus reflects Baum’s signature mix of gentle humor, mythmaking, and moral warmth.
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More from Season's Readings – Christmas Stories and Holiday Tales
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This is a special Christmas bonus episode for Season's Readings listeners.
On Christmas Day in the Morning is a story about family—not as it is imagined, but as it is lived—and the gifts that arrive without wrapping. It was written with music already echoing between its lines. The traditional song of the same name appears directly in the story, assumed to be familiar to its original readers.
BE AWARE: This is a family-friendly work of speculative fiction that asks: what if Santa Claus were something far stranger, and more wonderful, than we ever imagined? THose looking for a traditional Santa story may be disappointed.