Jane Winslow Eliot

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In 1963 Jane Winslow Eliot and her husband, Alexander Eliot, took their seven- and eight-year-old children on a freighter voyage from Yugoslavia to Japan. Their purpose was to inspire their children to regard the world as their home, and people from every country their friends.

What happened on that journey was not what they expected, not at first.

Writer, traveler, educator, Jane Winslow Eliot’s articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Smithsonian, Horticulture, Travel & Leisure, Newsday, The Los Angeles Reader, and Chicken Soup for the Traveler’s Soul.

Her books range from seminal essays for parents and teachers such as Let’s Talk, Let’s Play (AWSNA Publications 1997) and The Soul of Color (Spiral Press 1984) to The History of the Western Railroads (Bison Books 1985), and Fisher’s Annotated Guide to Greece 1984 -1988. She is also a contributor to the Almanac of American History. A film she made with her husband, Alexander Eliot, called The Secret of Michelangelo – Every Man’s Dream appeared on ABC primetime television in 1967-68.

Santa Claus really does exist!

In this guessing-game book to be read aloud and played together, parents and children will find out who Santa Claus really is. And the answer is NOT who you might think!

When Jane Winslow Eliot’s children were little she had to face the moment of truth when they came to her with the accusing words: “We just found out that Santa Claus doesn’t exist!”

Her heart sank as she faced this critical moment. Would cynicism set in at such a young age? Would parental betrayal be the overarching memory they would have of Christmas for the rest of their lives?

She knew she could back peddle, or she could apologize, or try to turn the lesson into a metaphor for holiday spirit.

Instead she replied, “You’re wrong. Santa does exist. And I’ll prove it to you.”

And she told them the simple but mysterious guessing-game story of Santa Claus’s Secret Name. Her hope was that her children would remember Santa Claus’s secret name for the rest of their lives, and that the insight they gained from this moment of truth would carry them through years of cynicism, inevitable betrayals, disappointments, and struggles.

In this exquisite read-aloud tale, parents can respond to their children’s initial disillusionment with a gift of extraordinary wisdom.

Most amazing of all, even grown-ups can try to guess the secret name, and if they discover it on their own, will discover a truth they can never forget. The answer is practical, healing, and,above all, true.

Read this book aloud with your children,and play the guessing game, and you are guaranteed to understand Santa Claus and the mystery of the holiday season in a whole new way. You’ll be redeemed as a parent, and your child will enter into the deeply meaningful aspect of the holiday season with a clearer way of seeing – no matter how old they get!

Purchase this book.