J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters was published in 1976.
The book collects illustrated letters Tolkien wrote to his children in the voice of Father Christmas between 1920 and 1943. The letters combine seasonal storytelling, invented characters, humorous mishaps, and pictures that imitate handwritten correspondence from the North Pole.
Tolkien created the letters as a private family tradition rather than as a commercial fantasy series. They reveal his ability to adjust voice and detail for young readers, and they show that his imaginative work extended beyond Middle-earth. The collection was edited and published after his death.
The book is sometimes dated incorrectly because the letters themselves span more than two decades and began in 1920. The publication date refers to the collected volume, not to the earliest letter. Baillie Tolkien edited the collection for publication.