Santa's Husband
Front cover of an edition of Santa's Husband
AuthorDaniel Kibblesmith
IllustratorAshley Perryman Quach
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's literature
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)
Pages32
ISBN978-0062748744
WebsiteOfficial page

Santa's Husband is a children's book written by Daniel Kibblesmith and illustrated by Ashley Perryman Quach. It depicts Santa Claus as a black man married to a white man. Reception of the book was divided along political lines, with liberals praising it for inclusivity and conservatives deriding it as inappropriate for children. Kibblesmith said reception for the book was predominantly positive, while the New York Observer said reactions on Twitter were mostly negative.

Synopsis

Santa's Husband "tells the story of a black Santa Claus and his white husband who both live at the North Pole. Santa’s spouse frequently fills in for his husband at malls."[1] The book highlights various activities Santa and his husband experience, such as playing games and dancing. [2]

Background, development and publication history

In the wake of criticism hurled at Larry Jefferson's stint as Santa Claus in the Mall of America's Santa Experience during December 2016,[3] Daniel Kibblesmith, staff writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, had announced on his Twitter account that he and his then-fiancée now wife,[4] Jennifer Wright, "[had] decided our future child will only know about Black Santa. If they see a white one we'll say 'That's his husband'."[5] The tweet went viral with "8,400 likes and 3,300 retweets"[6] and the eventual Los Angeles-based illustrator, Ashley Perryman Quach,[7] responded with "boom. new children's book."[8] Quach, who Kibblesmith had never met, later made a single copy of a Santa's Husband Christmas card,[4] which Kibblesmith owns. Esquire noted that Quach's "illustrations tend to add a little bit of snark."[7] Afterwards, "Kibblesmith brought the card and a brief pitch to his agent, who was shocked no one had ever done something similar before."[4] While Kibblesmith had intended "a story strictly for children," his agent convinced him that it "should be for all ages."[6] There was debate in the team between approaching the story as a "narrative like 'The Night Before Christmas.' Or...incredibly straight-forward Kid's First Book About Santa."[4]

On Tuesday, March 28, 2017, Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollin's Publishing, confirmed the release of the book for October 10.[1] On December 17, both author and illustrator were interviewed by Victor Blackwell on CNN's New Day Weekend, where Kibblesmith commented that his inspiration came from "the annual tradition we have in this country of pretending that there is a giant 'War on Christmas'...and reading [on] the Mall of America hiring a black Santa Claus."[9] As such the book is also, "in part, inspired by Megyn Kelly's comments on her Fox News show in December 2013 where she vehemently said that Santa was white in response to an article claiming that Santa shouldn't be white anymore because that excludes non-white children."[8] After the book's release Kibblesmith stated that copies had been sent to Kelly as part of media outreach and expressed "[he] would be extremely interested in coming on her show, and having the actual conversation about it."[10] Kibblesmith told Paste, "Megyn, if you're reading this, I would love to come do your show. I think it would be really cathartic."[4]

The book "is meant for all ages,"[1] yet its suggested reading audience is children between the ages of 4 and 8.[9] Kibblesmith has stated that he and Quach "were very careful not to have anything offensive in the book."[10] According to journalist Rex Huppke, the book aims to show how Santa and his husband's day-to-day life is different, yet similar to depictions in traditional Christmas books.[11]

Reception

Even before the release of the book, Santa's Husband was the subject of criticism[12] and Kibblesmith and Quach were both "trolled" on sites such as Gab and The Daily Stormer.[10][13] Kibblesmith allegedly "found his picture on a white supremacist's blog trying to 'out' him as Jewish,"[14] since his "Jewish mother and non-Jewish father...celebrated [every year] Christmas and Santa Claus brought us presents."[7] Kibblesmith has reacted by stating that the majority of criticism "come from the general uneasiness of change... I disagree with their reaction, but also, part of me wants to comfort them."[14]

Some reviewers on Amazon have criticized the book as "brainwashing children with degeneracy", yet according to Kibblesmith, "more people seem to love it than hate it,"[8] at a rate of "80% of the people who hear about the book LOVE IT. And the other 20% are not giving it a chance because they're uninformed."[4] Far-right activist Laura Loomer criticized CNN for the segment, tweeting, "@CNN is really trying to mke "Santa's Husband" a thing for children...", sentiments which were shared by WorldNetDaily, who tweeted "[Degeneracy intensifies]."[15] The Chicago Tribune noted that "[w]hat it's really about is accepting that every family sees Christmas in a different way."[16] As the book has received praise for its inclusion of a Santa Claus in a gay relationship, Kibblesmith "hopes Santa's Husband goes beyond just this one fictional character and helps lead the way for more diverse representation."[6]

The reception on Santa’s Husband is divided along political lines.[17][18] Dana Schwartz of the New York Observer analyzes tweets to reveal a negative viewpoint on Santa’s Husband, held mainly by conservatives.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Chan, Melissa (March 28, 2017). "Santa Is a Gay Man in an Interracial Relationship in This New Picture Book". Time. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ Huppke, Rex. "'Santa's Husband' — A Christmas Book that Celebrates how Normal it is to be Different."ProQuest, Nov 23, 2017
  3. ↑ Schmidt, Samantha (December 2, 2016). "The Mall of America's first black Santa: 'Santa comes in many different colors'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wilbur, Brock (December 6, 2017). "How a Colbert Writer's Tweet About Santa's Husband Became a Book". Paste. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  5. ↑ Kibblesmith, Daniel (December 3, 2016). "Me & @JenAshleyWright have decided our future child will only know about Black Santa. If they see a white one we'll say "That's his husband"". Twitter. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Romblay, Shaquille (April 14, 2017). "'Santa's Husband': New Book Gives Old Icon a Queer Twist". NBC News. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 Holmes, Jack (November 1, 2017). "'Santa's Husband' Is War-on-Christmas Trolling at Its Finest". Esquire. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Gibbs, Constance (December 4, 2017). "New Christmas book depicts black Santa and his husband". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Levine, John (December 20, 2017). "Santa Claus Is a Black Gay Man in New Children's Book 'Santa's Husband'". TheWrap. Archived from the original on December 23, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Rodrigues, Ashwin (November 20, 2017). "How a Tweet About a Gay, Black Santa Turned Into a Children's Book". Vice. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  11. ↑ Huppke, Rex. "'Santa's Husband' — A Christmas Book that Celebrates how Normal it is to be Different."ProQuest, Nov 23, 2017
  12. ↑ "Again Controversy: 'Santa's Husband'". A Book Geek. March 30, 2017. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  13. ↑ Kane, Vivian (December 25, 2017). "The Only Christmas Book You Need Is This One About Black Santa and His Husband". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  14. 1 2 Valentini, Valentina (October 10, 2017). "This Author Is Under Attack for Making Santa Black and Gay". Vice. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  15. ↑ McCormick, Joseph (December 20, 2017). "People are outraged at a kids book about black gay Santa's husband". PinkNews. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  16. ↑ Huppke, Rex (November 23, 2017). "'Santa's Husband' — A Christmas book that celebrates how normal it is to be different". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  17. 1 2 "There Is Nothing Funnier Than Conservatives Triggered by Gay, Black Santa". Observer. March 30, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  18. ↑ "'Santa's Husband' — A Christmas book that celebrates how normal it is to be different". Chicago Tribune. November 23, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
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