ROCKFORD—Christopher Fenoglio’s children’s book, in the poetic tradition of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” is hot off the presses for Christmas. 

 

“Every Christmas, thousands of parents are faced with a dilemma,” Fenoglio says. “Do they tell their child the truth about Santa Claus or do they wait to enjoy the innocence just one more year?”

 

He hopes his book will help parents move “from Santa Claus to the manger in a loving and empowering way.

 

“The poem recreates the same method and words my wife and I used to tell our three children about Santa Claus,” he says.

 

Fenoglio graduated from St. Bridget School in Loves Park and Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford before attending the University of Notre Dame. 

 

Now living in Nashville, he has won first place awards from the Catholic Press Association for his Reel Life Journeys columns about films, faith and family. He formerly worked for The Tennessee Register.

 

Fenolgio will be signing copies of his book Dec. 9, 1-4 p.m., at Barnes and Noble in CherryVale Mall.

 

Published Nov. 7 by Treehouse Publishing Group of St. Louis, “The Secret of the Santa Box” is available through major book distributors in stores and online.