About the book
What is “The Stolen Christmas Sack” about?
Christmas is about to be cancelled. Fourteen-year-old Max discovers at the North Pole that Santa does not read the children’s letters, and he takes the Christmas sack. In a small village in Thuringia, twelve-year-old Lena hears elves searching for the sack on her homemade radio. It is a Christmas story about responsibility, self-belief and compassion.
What happens when Santa is robbed?
In “The Stolen Christmas Sack” the sack with the children’s wishes is missing. A teenager takes it, a radio message sets the search in motion, and in the end the question remains who actually looks after Christmas.
Which editions are there, and what does the book cost?
The English Legacy Edition is available as a paperback and as an e-book (UK). The German Legacy Edition (“Der gestohlene Weihnachtssack”, paperback, 158 pages) is on Amazon. New in October 2026 is the Spanish edition “El saco navideño robado”. A German e-book is in preparation. Amazon sets the price and it varies; at the moment the UK paperback is roughly £18 to £21.
What is new about the Spanish edition?
The Spanish edition appears in October 2026. It was translated by Elihana Milán Estupiñán, who is also named on the cover, and gently adapted for Spanish-speaking families in Latin America.
Will there be an audiobook?
An audiobook is possible but not decided yet. In December I will read the story aloud instead: at least eight pages every day, as a video on TikTok and YouTube. You will hear how I shape the story and what matters to me.
When and where is the story set, and why between East and West?
The story takes place in the winter of 1978. Max lives in Hamburg, Lena in a small village in Thuringia, and then there is the North Pole. Germany was divided at the time, and the prologue of the book tells of a border that ran through fields, forests and hearts. A letter from a boy named Bryan from Bristol, which lay unopened in one of the sacks at the North Pole, plays a central role.
Do I need to know “The Seventh Pearl”?
No. “The Stolen Christmas Sack” is a story of its own. It belongs to the Seventh Pearl Universe, and at the end there are hints of “The Seventh Pearl”.
Who wrote the book?
The Christmas story is by Falk Odebrecht and belongs to the Seventh Pearl Universe. It began many years ago with a puppet-theatre play by his grandfather.
What is the magic cocoa about?
On his journeys Santa drinks a special cocoa that keeps returning in the story and brings people together. The story behind it and the recipe are on the page “The Magic Cocoa”.
All about Santa Claus
Is there a Santa Claus?
Children have asked this for a long time. The most famous answer is the one from the New York Sun of 21 September 1897: eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon had asked, and the editor Francis Pharcellus Church replied with the editorial “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”. It was reprinted again and again at Christmas for decades. How to answer the question for a child is for parents to decide. Our book is about what makes Christmas: people who look after one another.
Who invented Santa Claus?
No one on their own. The figure goes back to the legends of Saint Nicholas of Myra but is not the same as him. According to Wikipedia, the “Weyhnachtsmann” is first attested in 1770 in the Berlin weekly “Mannigfaltigkeiten”, Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann” in 1835, and from 1863 Thomas Nast drew a bearded old man on a sleigh for Harper’s Weekly. Coca-Cola says it did not invent Santa Claus; its advertising from 1931 with pictures by the illustrator Haddon Sundblom did, however, help shape today’s image.
What is the difference between Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus and the Christkind?
Saint Nicholas goes back to Bishop Nicholas of Myra from the 4th century and traditionally comes on 6 December. Santa Claus is a figure of his own who gives gifts at Christmas and grew out of the Nicholas legends. In the course of the Reformation, the day for giving gifts was moved in many countries from 6 December to Christmas; the Christkind is connected with that change.
How do I write to Santa Claus?
In many countries there are Christmas post offices that collect children’s letters and often answer them. In Germany, Himmelpfort in Brandenburg is well known. According to Wikipedia, letters without an exact address are forwarded to a Christmas post office. The current address and the last posting date are given on Deutsche Post’s page on Himmelpfort (see sources), and they can change. A reply is not guaranteed.
How do I write a wish list?
It does not have to be perfect. Write down what you wish for and, if you like, whom you wish something for. In our story the boy Bryan writes no wish for himself but one for his little sister. His letter is on the page about the book.