Like millions of other children, 5-year-old Eldon Tullous wrote a letter to Santa Claus.

But instead of asking for the latest popular toy, he asked for a surprise gift.

Courtesy of H&E Press

“Can you also give a toy to someone who needs one?” he wrote.

The letter inspired his mother, Merideth Tullous ’03, to consider what Santa might write back. “I really wanted to show my son that his little, kind, unselfish letter can make waves and can affect other people’s lives,” she said.

The result was A Gift to Remember (H&E Press, 2020). The dance teacher went to Self-Publishing School, an online education company, to learn to write, market and publish the children’s book. She said the tools she gained in TCU’s dance department carried over to her new endeavor. “I have found so much correlation in becoming an author with the same disciplines.”

Courtesy of Meredith Tullous

Tullous connected with editor Kathryn Palmer, who specializes in cadence, to craft the rhyming Christmas story.

“Children have an easy time remembering rhymes, and then parents really enjoy reading books in rhyme at times,” Tullous said. “Sometimes the kids start filling in the blanks, which is fun as well.”

Santa writes to Eldon about a conversation he had with Mrs. Claus. She had asked the jolly man about his one ideal gift. He replied, “The gift of remembering.” He then asked the elves to sprinkle glittery “remembering dust” on all the gifts so children would think of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Accompanying illustrations by Kosova-based artist Ylber Cërvadiku seem to glow with their own light.

The book earned a Mom’s Choice Award in poetry, a respected honor for family-friendly media, products and services.

“The reviews it’s received are just very humbling, much more than I ever would have expected,” Tullous said. “Hopefully children will enjoy it and it will become another Christmas classic.”