Before there was Santa Claus, there was a young boy who believed in the impossible. . . . Lemony Snicket meets Klaus in this cheeky, Christmas classic-in-the-making that sparkles with wit and warmth! Now a Netflix movie starring Kristen Wiig, Maggie Smith and Henry Lawfull! Eleven-year-old Nikolas–nicknamed "Christmas"–has received only one toy in his life: a doll carved out of a turnip. But he's happy with his turnip doll, because it came from his parents, who love him. Then one day his father goes missing, and Nikolas must travel to the North Pole to save him. Along the way, Nikolas befriends a surly reindeer, bests a troublesome troll, and discovers a hidden world of enchantment in the frozen village of Elfhelm. But the elves of Elfhelm have troubles of their own: Christmas spirit and goodwill are at an all-time low, and Nikolas may be the only person who can fix things-if only he can reach his father before it's too late. . . . "Irresistibly readable. Destined to become a Christmas and anytime-before-or-after-Christmas classic!" – Chris Grabenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library "The definitive (and funny) history of ho, ho, ho! My children loved it." – Yann Martel, bestselling author of Life of Pi "Irresistibly readable. Destined to become a Christmas and anytime-before-or-after-Christmas classic!" --Chris Grabenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library "Like stockings hung by the fire, this spellbinding opus may well become a yuletide tradition." — Kirkus , Starred review "Award-winning British author Matt Haig ( To Be a Cat ) writes with warmth, wit and irreverence." — Shelf Awareness , Starred review "The definitive (and funny) history of Ho, ho, ho! My children loved it." —Yann Martel, bestselling author of Life of Pi "Humorous and heartfelt, A Boy Called Christmas will grow your heart three sizes and make you believe in magic." --Liesl Shurtliff, New York Times bestselling author of Rump "The most evergreen, immortal Christmas story to be published for decades. Future generations will receive the same comfort and joy from A Boy Called Christmas that they derive from mince pies, snowmen and creamy liqueurs." --Stephen Fry "Matt Haig puts the Happy back into Christmas." --Jeanette Winterson "A new festive classic. Funny, sad and brilliant. It turns out we only knew half the story." --Simon Mayo, BBC "An instant Christmas classic... Nikolas is a terrific character, clearly the offspring of Gerda from The Snow Queen and Roald Dahl's Charlie Bucket." -- The Guardian "Like enjoying the warmth of a good fire on a cold day . . . perfect for Christmas is every way." -- The Independent Matt Haig is an internationally bestselling author whose novels for children and adults have been translated into twenty-six languages. His children’s books have won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, the Alex Award, and the Blue Peter Book Award, and been nominated several times for the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. He lives in Brighton, England, with his wife and two children. Visit him at matthaig.com and follow @matthaig1 on Twitter.   Chris Mould began studying art at the age of sixteen and has gone on to become an acclaimed illustrator of children’s books. He lives with his wife and two children in Yorkshire. Visit him at chrismould.blogspot.com and follow @chrismouldink on Twitter. You are about to read the true story of Father Christmas.   Yes. Father Christmas.   You may wonder how I know the true story of Father Christmas, and I will tell you that you shouldn’t really question such things. Not right at the start of a book. It’s rude, for one thing. All you need to understand is that I do know the story of Father Christmas, or else why would I be writing it?   Maybe you don’t call him Father Christmas.   Maybe you call him something else.   Santa or Saint Nick or Santa Claus or Sinterklaas or Kris Kringle or Pelznickel or Papa Noel or Strange Man with a Big Belly Who Talks to Reindeer and Gives Me Presents. Or maybe you have a name you’ve come up with yourself, just for fun. If you were an elf, though, you would always call him Father Christmas. It was the pixies who started calling him Santa Claus, and spread the word, just to confuse things, in their mischievous way.   But whatever you happen to call him, you know about him, and that’s the main thing.   Can you believe there was a time when no one in the world knew about him? A time when he was just an ordinary boy called Nikolas, living in the middle of nowhere, or the middle of Finland, doing nothing with magic except believing in it? A boy who knew very little about the world except the taste of mushroom soup, the feel of a cold north wind, and the stories he was told. And who only had a doll made out of a turnip to play with.   But life was going to change for Nikolas, in ways he could never have imagined. Things