Jakie's Christmas

Jakie's Christmas by Lida B. Robertson is a children’s Christmas short story written in the early 20th century. Centered in the rural American South, it explores a poor boy’s search for Santa and discovers instead the deeper meaning of generosity, love, and community.

Jakie, an orphaned country boy living with his grandmother Mamsy, sees a picture promising Santa’s gifts in town and secretly sets out to find him. After a farmer gives him a ride and a few nickels, the child becomes lost and freezing, until a kind young woman, Frances Bestor, rescues him, outfits him warmly, buys him a toy, and even provides a new cloak for Mamsy and a hidden sack of Christmas treats. Grateful, Jakie and Mamsy send her a turkey and fatwood as their own love-gifts. Jakie then brings cheer to their lonely neighbor, Mr. Cripple Jim, persuading him to hang a stocking and, on Christmas Eve, sneaks in dressed as Santa to fill it. On Christmas morning Jakie finds an express wagon and a harness for his billy goat, shares his stocking with Mamsy, and Mr. Cripple Jim rejoices over his surprises. The story affirms that the true Santa is anyone who acts with tender-hearted generosity.