From the Bureau’s files
Three letters, and the details that made them.
Each letter below was written by the Bureau, start to finish, from the details shown beside it. Nothing has been tidied up for this page. Read one and you will see exactly which of a parent’s own words came back in Santa’s.
The children here are invented, so that no real child’s letter is ever put on display. Everything else is the real thing.
Maya, age 7
Two details, a dog and a bicycle. This is the smallest amount a parent needs to give.
What the parent typed
- First name
- Maya
- Age
- 7
- Brothers and sisters
- Theo
- Pet
- Biscuit, the beagle
- Something they achieved
- learned to ride her bicycle without training wheels
- A kind thing they did
- shared her birthday cake with a new girl at school
- A family tradition
- we leave out gingerbread instead of cookies
7 fields. Two of them were required. The rest took under a minute.
A Letter from the North Pole
Dear Maya,
Under a sky so full of stars tonight that even I lose count, I sat down at my old desk to write to you. The workshop is loud with hammering and humming, but I always find a quiet corner for letters like this one.
The Bureau's notes mention that you learned to ride your bicycle this year, all on your own, without those training wheels holding you steady. I imagine there were a few wobbly starts before it clicked, and that kind of steady trying is exactly the sort of thing that makes an old man smile over his cocoa.
There was also a note about a new girl at your school, and a birthday cake you chose to share with her instead of keeping every slice to yourself. That is the kind of thing that echoes further than you might think, Maya, further than the workshop's rafters even.
I hear gingerbread will be left out for me this year instead of cookies. I do love a change of tradition now and then, and I shall look forward to it as I make my rounds under the winter sky.
With warmth from the workshop and beyond,
Santa Claus
Written by the Bureau, 198 words, checked against the details above and measured to fit one page of Bureau stationery. An invented child, not a customer.
Arlo, age 4
A younger child, shorter sentences, and a tone that reads aloud well.
What the parent typed
- First name
- Arlo
- Age
- 4
- What they love doing
- diggers and anything with wheels
- Something they are proud of
- sleeping in a big bed
- What they are hoping for
- a toy dump truck
5 fields. Two of them were required. The rest took under a minute.
A Letter from the North Pole
Dear Arlo,
The snow is piled up soft and deep here, and I paused my work by the fire tonight to write to a fine young fellow I have heard good things about.
Word has reached us at the Bureau that you have been sleeping in your very own big bed now, all on your own. That is no small thing, Arlo. Growing brave enough for a big bed takes real courage, and I am proud of you for it.
I also hear you have quite the fondness for diggers and anything that rolls along on wheels. There is something wonderful about a child who loves machines that dig and haul and rumble about. Keep watching how things work; the world is full of clever engineers who started out just like you.
Whatever the season brings, I hope it finds you happy, curious, and still enjoying that comfortable big bed of yours.
With warm wishes from the snow and the fire,
Santa Claus
Written by the Bureau, 161 words, checked against the details above and measured to fit one page of Bureau stationery. An invented child, not a customer.
Priya, age 10
The age where belief wobbles. Written for a child who is starting to test it.
What the parent typed
- First name
- Priya
- Age
- 10
- Brothers and sisters
- Rohan, Anika
- Something they achieved
- swam a whole length of the pool on her own
- What they love doing
- drawing comics about a cat detective
- A kind thing they did
- walked a neighbour's dog every day while he was unwell
6 fields. Two of them were required. The rest took under a minute.
A Letter from the North Pole Bureau
Dear Priya,
The lamps in my study were burning low when your letter's word reached us, carried along the same frosty currents the reindeer test each autumn before we trust them with the long journey. Even here, tucked far north where the snow never quite stops falling, news of a girl swimming a whole length of the pool by herself travels fast. I understand you did it entirely on your own, no hand held out to steady you, just determination and a good deal of splashing courage.
Word has also reached the workshop about your comics, the ones starring a rather sharp-eyed cat detective solving mysteries panel by panel. I'll admit a few of the elves gathered round when they heard, wondering if this clever cat might ever crack a case involving a missing mitten or a suspiciously empty cookie plate. Keep drawing, Priya; a good detective, like a good artist, is made through practice and patience.
But it was the walking of your neighbour's dog, every single day while he was unwell, that made its way into the Bureau's notes with particular warmth. That is not the sort of kindness anyone asks for applause over, and yet it is exactly the sort we treasure most up here, tucked between the frost and the fir trees. Please give my regards to Rohan and Anika as well; a house with three children in it is rarely quiet, and rarely dull.
With great fondness from the workshop and all its cold, bright chimneys,
Santa Claus
Written by the Bureau, 251 words, checked against the details above and measured to fit one page of Bureau stationery. An invented child, not a customer.
Now do it with your own child.
You will see the whole letter on screen, exactly like the ones above, before you pay anything. No card and no email address until you decide you want it.
Create their letterDigital $6.95 · Printed and mailed $16.95 · North Pole Deluxe $24.95