They become the hero of an illustrated Christmas story. Santa knows their dog’s name, the tooth they lost and what they’ve been wondering about.
Begin their book · $29 PDF + EPUB. Order by December 15 and it’s there on the morning you choose.Here’s our sample book, starring Theo, who’s six. One photo of them is all it takes, and it’s up to you whether to send one.
Tell us three or four true things: the dog who snores, the tooth, the bike. Santa knows them all. That’s the part that makes them gasp, and it’s why nobody else’s book can be theirs.
The first thing they see inside is your letter, beside a real photo. Try it: type here and watch the sample change.
He asks, he guesses, he follows the clues, and then he stumps his family at breakfast. And yes, the reindeer facts are real.
Theo Asks Santa How do your reindeer see in the dark? Made for Theo, age six
This book was made for Theo with love from Nana Christmas 2026 One of one.
Dear Theo, You asked me how reindeer see in the dark and I said “carefully.” That wasn’t good enough for you, and it shouldn’t be. So I asked someone who knows. With love, Nana
On the first of December, Theo posted a letter. It wasn’t a list. It had one line on it. “Dear Santa, how do your reindeer see in the dark?”
At the North Pole, Santa read it twice. “Theo,” he said. “Six years old. Lost a top tooth in October. Has a dog called Pepper, who snores.” Pip looked down from the ladder. “Nobody has asked me that in a hundred years,” said Santa. “Fetch him.”
It was very cold, and very dark. This far north, the winter sun doesn’t come up for weeks. “So,” said Santa at the barn door. “How do they see?” Theo thought hard. What’s your guess, Theo?
Clue one: their eyes shine blue. Pip lifted his lantern, and two deep blue lights looked back at Theo. Not black. Not brown. Blue, like the sky just after the sun has gone.
Clue two: in summer, they shine gold. Santa pointed to a painting of the very same reindeer under the midnight sun. “Same deer,” he said. “Same eyes. So what changed?”
A reindeer has a mirror in each eye. It sits right at the back. Light that slips past on the way in hits the mirror and gets a second chance to be seen. That’s why the eyes shine in a lantern beam. Pepper has one too.
In winter, the mirror changes. Gold suits the bright summer. In the long blue dark, it turns blue and catches more of the dim light. Scientists worked this out in 2013. Your eyes can’t do it. Neither can Santa’s.
Even Pip didn’t know this one. Reindeer can see ultraviolet light, which we can’t. Snow bounces it back. Lichen and wolf fur soak it up. So to a reindeer, dinner and danger both stand out dark against the snow.
Theo’s Christmas Eve experiment Turn out the lights. Hold a flashlight beside your nose and point it at a bicycle reflector across the room. Then hold it far out to one side. (Never shine it in anyone’s eyes. Not even Pepper’s.) Does it shine back? Yes No Beside your nose Far to one side
Stump your grown-ups! What color do reindeer eyes shine in winter? What color in summer? What can a reindeer see that you can’t? Score: out of 3.
Dear Theo, I have flown these reindeer for a very long time, and I never knew why they don’t get lost. Now I do, because you asked. Keep asking. Pepper may keep snoring. Yours, Santa P.S. Well done on that tooth.
By order of the North Pole Excellent Question Asker is awarded to Theo who asked what the helpers couldn’t answer, and found out anyway. Santa & Pip Christmas 2026
Theo at six So you can look back one day. He asked How do your reindeer see in the dark? Best friend Pepper, who snores Lost this year A top tooth New this year Riding a bike What will you ask next Christmas?
Goodnight, Theo. And far away, over the roofs, two small blue lights turned for home. Merrywick
Santa, Father Christmas, or a winter story with no Santa at all, starring a kind old mapmaker.
Pick the day and we’ll email the link that opens it like a present. Choose December 24, and it’s waiting on Christmas morning.
Your letter sits just inside the cover, and you read the whole book before anyone else does.
Ask their mom or dad for a question and a photo, then fill it in and write your letter. It opens on the morning you chose, wherever they are.
After checkout, your book’s page asks for the question, a few true details, your letter, and a photo if you’d like.
We draw three versions of them with AI. Pick the one that’s most them, with one click.
We read the sources and write the story at their age, and our team checks every fact. Our design team directs the AI that makes the pictures, then edits the book.
You see it before anyone else. The title, their name and your letter stay yours to edit until you approve.
Within 5 days of receiving your answers, not counting time we’re waiting on you, it’s ready, and it goes out on the date you chose.
Made to order, within 5 days of receiving your answers, not counting time we’re waiting on you
Begin their bookBy December 15 is comfortable. We need up to 5 days from when you send your answers, and you’ll also want time to choose a drawing and read it first.
No, it’s digital: a PDF and an EPUB. Read it together on a tablet, or print the PDF at home or at a local print shop. So there’s no shipping, and it can’t be late in the post.
Curious “why” and “how” questions about animals, snow, stars, the body, everyday things. We don’t take questions about health worries or anything we can’t answer kindly and truthfully. If they’re asking whether Santa is real, please choose another question. That one is yours to answer.
Tell us what they love, and we’ll suggest three questions for you to choose from.
A photo is optional: you can describe them instead. For the question and a few true details, ask their parents quietly. No question yet? Tell us what they love, and we’ll suggest a few.
Yes. Choose the winter story on the form, and a kind old mapmaker answers the question instead. You can also choose Father Christmas.
The book itself has no sources, no AI note and no shop details beyond a small mark on the last page. Sources go on your private page, where you can read them. The link they open says only who it’s from.
Yes. We read the sources and our team checks every fact. For our sample: University College London on why reindeer eyes change color, and National Geographic on what they can see.
Our design team directs the AI that makes the illustrations, then edits the book before you see it. The three first drawings come straight from the AI tool, so you’re the first to see them.
We use them only to make this book. Their character is drawn with Google Gemini’s paid service, so the photo passes through it. Under Google’s terms for that service, it isn’t used to train its AI. We ask for a first name only. We delete the photos you sent within 7 days of delivery and your answers within 30 days. Details are in our Privacy Policy.
Stripe processes our payments through its Link service, so your receipt and statement may show that name.
Email support@chirppal.com.