I guess I’ve been living in some kind of “three monkeys” world, but I had never heard of the “Elf on the Shelf” until this year.  After reading the post by Kasie Whitener over at Life on Clemson Road about the “Elfing,” I did a little research and found out parents have been using these innocent little creatures to torture their children for several generations.

According to Wikipedia, the first version was told in the 1960s by Flora Johnson to her own children. It became a family tradition. When her grandson called in 1983 to tell her about the Elf who had showed up in his home, she decided to write her story down and publish it for other children to enjoy. For the next fifteen years, she made over 10,000 Elves and sold them with a children’s story book called “Book One: Christopher Pop-In-Kins Pops In” that her husband, Al, hand published. Her version of the toy and book has won numerous awards and can still be purchased today either online or at select toy stores listed on the company website.

The version reviewed by Kasie was written in 2005 by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell with illustrations by Coë Steinwart.  Their version is slicker, more modern and (dare I say, commercialized?) also available at various locations.

However, while the original story was mostly fun, with the little elf coming to spend December playing with the children and only returning to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, the newer one makes the Elf a spy for “that jolly old Elf.”  Watching to see if the child is “naughty or nice” and reporting back to Santa every night.  ( Read more )