** This story was updated on Tuesday, Dec. 3 to include the new date of the book reading. **
The Sault’s Marcus Dias has written a children’s book that portrays the character of Santa Claus in an everyday human type of way.
One aspect of the book is that - like real people - Santa has to take bathroom breaks. In his case, he must do so and not stop for a snack as he delivers toys to children’s homes.
Dias, a married father of two young daughters who teaches Grade 5 and 6 children at Queen Elizabeth Public School, has published his first book entitled Santa's Surprise Number Two.
The inspiration came in part from one of his two young daughters, Dias said.
Like many other parents, Dias left milk and cookies in plain sight in his home on Christmas Eve, 2022 to assure his daughters that Santa would have a snack while delivering gifts overnight.
“We put out the cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning it looked like Santa had only a couple of bites of a cookie and a little bit of the milk,” Dias told SooToday.
It was his job to consume the milk and cookies to make it all look real for his daughters but he didn’t finish the treats.
“Silly me. The cookies weren’t fully eaten. Later, my wife asked me ‘you didn’t eat it all?’ My daughter wondered on Christmas Day ‘why didn’t Santa eat all the cookies and drink all the milk?’ I said Santa had to have an emergency run. He’s human too so he may have to use the bathroom once in a while,” Dias said.
Hence the ‘Number Two’ in the book’s title.
“That was the basis of it, that he had an emergency and he couldn’t finish the cookies. He had to run. The book goes through all the things Santa plans for.
"He plans treats for the reindeer. He makes sure he gets to everybody's house. He plans for both houses and apartments but he also plans for bathroom breaks throughout the night. I’ve written it so that it can be enjoyed by parents as well. The illustrations are really humorous,” Dias said.
Santa's Surprise Number Two is the first book by Dias.
“Writing a book is something that I’ve wanted to do but I never really had the right idea. This idea came about last Christmas and I couldn’t get it out of my head. So, I spent part of Christmas last year writing it, had it illustrated and self-published it by May.”
Dias will be reading the book to children from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library North Branch at 232 - C, Northern Ave. E.
Santa Claus will be there.
Admission is free.
The intro to Santa's Surprise Number Two is below:
It’s Christmas Eve and you are super excited for Santa to visit. You set out milk and cookies for Santa and try your hardest to fall asleep. In the morning, you notice that something isn’t right . . . Santa only had a small bite out of one of the cookies you left, and only drank a little bit of milk. What happened? Did Santa not like what you left out? Did he get distracted? Is Santa okay? We know that Santa is busy on Christmas Eve - he has to make a plan for everything if he is going to make it to every child’s house before morning. Read to find out about Santa’s plan and how, sometimes, even the best plans can have a problem.
The book is available for purchase through Amazon and copies will be available at the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library North Branch.
Word of the book spread among the author’s family members and friends and out of 200 copies printed, approximately 160 have been sold, Dias said.
“It feels good. The story’s kind of goofy but it was a lot of fun to write. I don’t think there’s any underlying message I’m trying to relay. Almost all kids’ books have a message but I was just writing one that’s fun.
"Everybody has to use the bathroom. Everybody has emergencies. It’s a little bit of an uncomfortable thing to talk about, but this addresses it in a fun way. If one of the illustrations makes a kid chuckle then I’ve accomplished what I was going for.”