Yes Virginia

Gr all levels—In 1897, an eight-year-old girl wrote to The New York Sun newspaper asking if there really was a Santa Claus. The result was one of the most famous editorials of all time. Based on that true story, this classic Christmas tale has a new and updated telling. Virginia believes in Santa, but begins to doubt when a wealthy girl calls her belief "infantile." Virginia tries to find out if Santa is real by doing research at the library, consulting with a volunteer Santa, and talking with her parents. Finally she writes to the editor of The Sun. After some soul searching, he replies that Santa is real and will continue to be real as long as there are children who believe. The story is richly animated with detailed computer generated images and features the voices of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Neil Patrick Harris, Alfred Molina, and Beatrice Miller as Virginia. Especially impressive are the backgrounds based on turn-of-the-century New York. Both the voice actors and the animators do a good job of portraying the characters' personalities through voice inflection and simple gestures. The movement of the characters is reminiscent of old stop-motion clay animation—even their hair and clothes look like they might be made of clay. The warm and fuzzy holiday message and the animation style make this a good companion to Christmas classics like Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer (Videocraft International, 1964) and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (Rankin Bass, 1970). If you haven't purchased this charming production already, buy it now and save it for next Christmas.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT