Maria Ciampi
About the Book
This is the tale of
Kris Kringle
an awfully sloppy toymaker
who dreams of a tattered toy sketch
and loves a Claus
named Evelyn.
It is also the tale of
a devilish
Mr. D
who has a vendetta against a Claus
named Santa.
And it is also the tale of
Santa
who won’t let go of his Rulebook
even in face of a karate-chopping Claus
named Mrs. C.
All of these characters are knotted together
by a magical curse and an ancient contract
which can only be unraveled
with the help of a lawyer
named Daniel Webster.
Reader, A Read-Aloud Movie for You Awaits . . . .
About the Author
A noted legal author, law school professor, and legal practitioner, Ms. Ciampi has written fiction as a release from the analytical world of the law. While writing a legal text later used at Harvard Law School, she imagined what it would be like to write a screenplay. Herself born on Christmas Day, Ms. Ciampi chose to write a Christmas story. To her amazement, her legal work has inspired her fiction writing. It’s not coincidental, then, that Kris Kringle involves a magical curse, an ancient contract, and one of the world’s most famous lawyers, Daniel Webster.
In the first book of its genre, A Read-Aloud Movie for Kids Young & Old, Ms. Ciampi invites the reader to actively participate in the celebration of universal themes of love, forgiveness, and finding one’s place in the world. She welcomes the reader to Kris’s world and bids those who enter to remain a “Kringle Kid” all year ‘round.
Reedy stomps about as Kris cringes in his chair.
REEDY
FIRE YOU, that’s what I should do! I’ve kept you on even though your supervisors call you “grossly sloppy,” all because you convinced me that you had great ideas for my Tiffany.
(leaning close)
But you’ve come up with nothing!
KRIS
Actually, I’ve given you a number of sketches. I even have a sketch for a new doll. I call it the Living Memories doll --
REEDY
Sketches for a new doll?! We make one doll, and just change the packaging!
KRIS
But they all look the same. Little girls see through that you know.
REEDY
Anything else?!
KRIS
Yes. They’re cheaply made and lifeless.
Reedy grabs Kris by the collar.
REEDY
You’ll never work in the toy business again, Kringle!
