This was the first time that we hired a 'Santa' for our annual family Xmas party. There are 6 boys from the ages 1 to 10. So, it was a 'tough crowd' to begin with. I had asked that 'Santa' read "The Night Before..." aloud and hand out 'autographed copies' of the book (provided by me) to each child. Of course, they only listened for a few mins. before rolling around on the floor & making silly faces etc (as little boys do...). But, 'Santa' kept reading and tried over & over to engage the kids. He spoke to each personally (or tried to), & he stayed the entire hour (which couldn't have been easy for him). I'd hire him again in a min.- not sure he'd come back:(