When Santa Fell To Earth

Cornelia Funke writes the perfect holiday book for both children and adults! The storyline is clever and makes you smile practically the entire way through! The story is centered on Ben, a child that appears to be an underachiever, and Niklas Goodfellow, the last real Santa Clause. The evil Gerold Geronimus Goblynch is in charge of the Great Christmas Council and has outlawed the old ways magic was once used for children. Niklas Goodfellow's remaining friends, which consists of elves, angels, and a reindeer, have been banned and/or exterminated. Instead of utilizing these magical creatures, snowmobiles are replacing them forever. Any Santa who disagrees with the new rules is turned into Chocolate. While Niklas was supposed to be in hiding, his reindeer escapes while flying one night; thus, Santa falls to Earth! Now, it's up to Ben and his new friend Charlotte to help the last Santa. While this is an excellent story, Funke concludes with almost a bittersweet ending. Funke's character, Ben, doesn't seem to develop as the story progresses. Readers will assume Ben is maturing, but as the story continues, he seems to fall into old habits that classify him as the underachiever. It's quite unfortunate that Funke portrays almost every adult as being neglectful of their children yet somehow keeps the spirit of Christmas anticipatory for children! It's a wonderfully hilarious book but be warned that some characters never change (even with the spirit of Christmas).

My son’s class read this before Christmas break, and he enjoyed it so much, he asked me to buy it. After reading it again, he loved it even more. I can see this being one of our family Christmas classics for years to come. Reading level is probably 4th-6th grade, but I would say it’s a suitable story for kids 7+. Niklas Goodfellow is the last of the real Santas. The rest have been turned into chocolate by the nefarious, fake Santa Mr. Goblynch, who rides around in a shiny silver limousine and who wants to eliminate Christmas magic in order to get parents to buy more things rather than have Santas and their elves make Christmas gifts and Christmas magic. Ben and Charlotte have to help Niklas when his caravan crashes to earth on their street. They help find Niklas’ missing (invisible) reindeer, stop Goblynch, and recreate the magic of Christmas (and some snow).

I am a middle school librarian and bought this to supplement our Christmas books, and to have maybe a fun book for the students. Well judging by the number of kids who read it this past Christmas, I'd say it must be a pretty good book.

THIS BOOK IS NOT SO MUCH FUN TO READ IT'S A CHAPTER BOOK FIRST OF ALL WHICH ONCE YOU PUT IT DOWN YOU DON'T REALLY FEEL LIKE PICKING BACK UP... I HAVE SO LITTLE TIME ABOUT CHRISTMAS & SO MUCH TO DO LIKE ALL OF YOU THAT I CAN'T SEEM TO GET INTO THIS STORY EVEN THOUGH AT TIMES IT DOES SEEM I N T E R E S T I N G .... NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. THE SANTAKID IS TRUELY MUCH MUCH BETTER.

This is a lovely little Christmas fable, which my daughters added happily to their library of favorite Christmas books. It was a bit scary for my then six-year-old, but even my 13-year-old enjoyed hearing it read aloud. Cornelia Funke never disappoints, and her willingness to depict both the main characters and their parents with all their shortcomings, coupled with her ability to give them a credible happy ending, keeps bringing us back for more.

My daughter, who is 7, loves to hear my husband read to her, even though she can read it herself. She calls it "Daddy's book", and insists that he be the only one to read it to her. They bonded over the book. We borrowed it from a library initially but loved it so much that we ordered one from Amazon.

I read this book with my two children, 6 and 8, and while overall we were happy with the characters and the exciting differences in the traditional Santa stories, I was very upset that Ben's reward for besting his bully was to be able to copy off of his tests. The issue was never addressed in any constructive way, even when there were multiple opportunities to do so. It was even rewarded in the end with the father being happy that Ben got a good grade due to his cheating. This didn't seem a very good message for anyone and also didn't seem consistent with the other Funke books we've read. A disappointing thread in the story as well as an unnecessary one that added nothing to the plot.

This story is really fun! I bought a used book when I couldn't find it at the library anymore. It puts the entire Santa idea into a new light.

FANTASTIC. A really wonderful front cover. Can't wait to start reading. I would definitely recommend this seller and item. Very happy.😀😀😀😀😀

Il volume mi è arrivato in condizioni non ottime, ma accettabili, e la storia è davvero deliziosa, anche se indirizzata in modo evidente a un pubblico che predilige letture per l'infanzia. Consiglio decisamente questo libro!

This book is just fantastic and perfect for reading allowed at bedtime to my 9 year old. A proper story that i am looking forward to reading again to her this evening.