Advent 2019 Day 6: Santa Claus and his reindeer

Santa Claus, Santa Claus

Santa Claus, Santa Claus

We all love you

Santa Claus

With your bright red suit and your long white beard

Your floppy hat that covers your ears

Santa Claus you’re the best

You carry your presents in a sack

And you put them under the tree

Hope you bring one for me

You fly through the sky on a shiny sleigh

Your reindeer pull you all the way

Santa Claus, you’re a magic man

You can crawl through keyholes

Walk through walls

Go up and down chimneys

But that’s not all

Santa Claus you can disappear

We’re gonna leave you a glass of milk

And a cookie on a plate

Santa Claus please don’t be late

’Cos all the little boys

And all the little girls

In every little place all around the world

They’re waiting for you

Santa Claus

Santa Claus, Santa Claus

Santa Claus, Santa Claus

We all love you

Santa Claus

Fun facts about Santa’s reindeer

– Santa Claus’s sleigh is led by eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (Donner), and Blixem (Blitzen), joined by Rudolph in the 20th century.

– Santa’s reindeer made their first official appearance in 1823, when Clement C. Moore published the poem “The Night Before Christmas,” where he says that “eight tiny rein-deer” led Santa’s sleigh through the night.

 – The names Donder and Blitzen translate from German as thunder and lightning.

– Some people like to leave carrots for Santa’s reindeer as a special treat on Christmas Eve, but think about leaving moss instead – that’s a real reindeer’s favourite food!

– Rudolph wasn’t an original member of Santa’s reindeer. The little red-nosed reindeer didn’t appear until 1939, when department store Montgomery Ward hired writer Robert L. May to write a book starring a brand new Christmas character.

– Rudolph’s story was adapted into the famous song, still sung today, in 1949.

– To celebrate Rudolph’s 75th birthday, the United States Postal Service issued a set of Rudolph stamps in November 2014.

Can you answer the questions?

1. Which reindeer joined the others only later?

2. What’s a real reindeer’s favourite food?

3. What does the name of Donder mean in German?

4. What’s the title of the poem the eight reindeer first appeared in?

5. Since when has the famous Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer song been sung?

Key

1.Rudolph.

2. moss

3. thunder

4. The Night Before Christmas

5. Since 1949.