About this item
It's not easy being Welcome Comfort-a foster child always moving from home to home and getting picked on by the kids at school. Even Christmas, the most wondrous time of the year, isn't so wonderful for Welcome, who has no family, no presents, and no Santa Claus. "Santa! He's not even real!" But when Mr. Hamp, the school custodian, becomes his closest friend, Welcome's life changes forever. Now he has someone to visit and a family to be a part of. Yet Christmas is still a lonely time for Welcome since the Hamps go away every year and there's still no sign of Santa. "Child, he'll find you" says Mr. Hamp. "Maybe he hasn't come because you haven't believe hard enough." Accompanied by art that radiates the brilliance of the season, Patricia Polacco's heartwarming journey through the generations of a boy's life proves that "believing is seeing" and ask if perhaps there isn't a Santa Claus inside every one of us.
About the Author
Born Patricia Ann Barber in Lansing, Michigan, to parents of Russian and Ukrainian descent on one side and Irish on the other, Patricia Polacco grew up in both California and Michigan. Her school year was spent in Oakland, California, and summers in her beloved Michigan. She describes her family members as marvelous storytellers. "My fondest memories are of sitting around a stove or open fire, eating apples and popping corn while listening to the old ones tell glorious stories about their homeland and the past. We are tenacious traditionalists and sentimentalists.... With each retelling our stories gain a little more Umph!"Studying in the United States and Australia, Patricia Polacco has earned an M.F.A. and a Ph. D. in art history, specializing in Russian and Greek painting, and iconographic history. She is a museum consultant on the restoration of icons. As a participant in many citizen exchange programs for writers and illustrators, Patricia Polacco has traveled extensively in Russia as well as other former Soviet republics. She continues to support programs that encourage Russo-American friendships and understanding. She is also deeply involved in inner-city projects here in the U.S. that promote the peaceful resolution of conflict and encourage art and literacy programs.The mother of a grown son and a daughter, Patricia Polacco currently resides in Michigan, where she has a glorious old farm that was built during the time of Lincoln.
