Ukrainian Heritage · St. Nicholas · Ages 8-12
Before Santa Claus
Long before the sleigh and the reindeer, there was Nicholas.
Available editions
- English Buy →
About the book
In Ukraine, St. Nicholas comes first. On the morning of December 6, children reach under their pillows and find the small gift Sviatyi Mykolai left while they slept. He never stays to be thanked.
Before Santa Claus gathers eighteen stories about him, written to be read aloud: one a night through the weeks before Christmas, or several at once on a long winter evening. A bishop leaves three bags of gold at a poor family's door in the middle of the night. An old man in muddy boots helps a farmer drag his cart out of the mud. Thieves end up giving the money back, and a fiddle makes the whole village dance. The last stories follow Nicholas across the sea, to Bari, the Netherlands and New York, where he became Santa Claus.
Short "Did You Know?" boxes explain the customs behind the stories, so grown-ups have answers ready when the questions start. For ages 8 to 12, and for reading aloud to younger listeners.
Inside the book
Eighteen stories in four parts, with a prologue and an epilogue.
The Bishop of Myra
Three bags of gold in the night, grain for a hungry city and the boy with the golden cup: the oldest stories of Nicholas.
Stories that traveled far
Nicholas the Wet and the baby saved from the Dnipro in Kyiv, Greek sailors and three lost children in France.
In the Ukrainian villages
The saint in muddy boots, the animals on a snowy night, the thieves, the fiddle that makes everyone dance and Nicholas in the carols.
From St. Nicholas to Santa Claus
Sailors carry him to Bari, Sinterklaas crosses the ocean, and the sleigh, the reindeer and the red suit appear.
Did You Know?
Short boxes on the customs behind the stories, so grown-ups have answers ready.
Made to read aloud
One story a night through the weeks before Christmas, or several on a long winter evening.
- Publisher
- Mountain Mill Editorial
- Series
- Ukrainian Heritage
- Languages
- English