Brooks West – illustratör

Long ago, during each Christmas season, children worried for weeks whether they would get special gifts, treats, and treasures in their stockings or be stuck with nothing but coal. Parents claimed coal was for children who annoyed brothers and sisters or disobeyed parents, but sometimes even those who behaved the best would get nothing but a stocking full of black disappointment. There was no Santa to deliver gifts to all, and when the Christmas elf visited their home, children never knew what to expect.

The plight of two little girls, Grace and Harmony, inspires Will, their friend and neighborhood blacksmith, to do something about this problem. He begins making special toys in his blacksmith shop for his two favorite girls. Soon, this caring and enterprising blacksmith sets out to solve the stocking mystery and make Christmas a time of happiness for all children.

A picture book for people of all ages, A Blacksmith Christmas tells the story of how Santa got his start and how the elves and reindeer came to be his helpers.