Article content continued

Late last year, Canadian independent publisher and smoking cessation advocate Pamela McColl decided to “update” the nearly 200-year-old poem by deleting mention of the stump of his pipe and the wreath of smoke around his head — a move she hopes will deter children from picking up a pack.

[np-related /]

The cover of the book, published this month by Grafton and Scratch and, according to Ms. McColl, picked up this week by Indigo booksellers, proclaims to have been “edited by Santa Claus for the benefit of children of the 21st century.”

Parents, Ms. McColl said, have been tearing the smoking-related pages out of their books or have had to console teary-eyed children who see Santa’s pipe and think he’s going to die as a result of his habit.

“Wouldn’t it be sad if we saw a poem that’s so incredibly influential in our celebration of Christmas cast aside because we didn’t make a simple edit and took out a simple verse that’s offensive to modern children?” she said.

Other classics have been updated to fit the modern times — the man in the yellow hat from Curious George doesn’t smoke anymore, she said.

“I had someone say to me ‘You can’t do that, he’s an historical figure,’ and I said ‘Santa is not a historical figure to a five-year-old. He’s literally a real guy smoking in their living room.’”

But her nicotine-free Saint Nick has been met with criticism, the publisher plied with accusations of over-the-top political correctness and blatant mucking about with Clement C. Moore’s intended depictions of Santa. Others worry that such a brash tweaking of the poem will mean children miss out on historical learning opportunities and water down a treasured and iconic piece of literature.