Kibblesmith is a married straight white man who depicts the bespectacled Jolly Ole Elf as a black -- ebony-colored -- gay man who after years or decades and even centuries of living together with his white partner finally marries David who promptly became Mr. Claus.

David Claus does help Santa by making various shopping mall appearances but he is careful to always identify as "Santa's husband," not Santa himself.

"Santa is so busy during Christmas time that sometimes his husband, Mr. Claus, even helps out by sitting in for him at the mall ...," the book explains. "Some folks get confused and say this is Santa Claus himself but those people are mistaken -- it's Santa's husband."

The 32-page Santa's Husband, illustrated by Ashley Quach, and published by HarperCollins, is geared toward the 4-year-old to 8-year-old set. It is the type of book which would be read during Kindergarten story hour or even at the Drag Queen Story Hour held at the local library. It is also being read on YouTube.

"Offering a fresh twist on Kris Kringle, a clever yet heartfelt book that tells the story of a black Santa, his white husband, and their life in the North Pole," HarperCollins explains about its new Santa tale. "This witty and sweet illustrated Christmas tale introduces us to Mr. and Mr. Claus, and gives us a glimpse of their lives together."

The targeted preschooler is young and impressionable. Santa's Husband is filling their little minds with lies about the sanctity of marriage and the makeup of the family unit.

Surely the youngster will outgrow Santa realizing Daddy or Uncle Chuck is Santa in his household. But the real damage done to his young mind may be permanent and cement a secular and cultural worldview warping his view of marriage and the family and his own budding sexuality.

"Santa's married to a man," he will reason. "There is nothing wrong with gay marriage because Santa does it and he's happy."

The book starts out with: "This is Santa Claus," introducing a smiling and waving roly-poly black man with a light gray beard, wearing a red Santa suit, Santa hat and black boots.

On the next page the story continues: "This is Santa Claus' husband, Mr. Claus."

The portly Mr. Claus has blue eyes, snowy white hair and a full beard. He looks like a traditional American Santa Claus but he's wearing a blue ski sweater and brown sweatpants. He's most people's American image of Santa sans the red, ermine trimmed suit.

The kicker on the bottom of the page succinctly reveals: "They are married."

Santa's Husband is a typical children's book with few words in large print and big colorful pictures. But, this book is different. It is pure propaganda targeting the preschooler. It is designed to confuse young children about the family and using a charming and familiar lovable character to do it -- Santa Claus who dances in youngster's dreams and to whom children write with their biggest hopes and deepest secrets.

Obviously, Santa is a fairy tale. But his is a fairy tale which is deeply rooted in the culture. Books are written about him (The Night Before Christmas); movies are written about him (Miracle on 34th Street); songs are written about him (Santa Claus is Coming to Town); and children wait with great anticipation to meet him and whisper their Christmas list in his ear.

Santa Claus goes by a variety of names: Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, and Sinterklaas. His modern version is a corruption of St. Nicholas, the fourth century Orthodox Bishop of Myra on the southern coast of Turkey. The real St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children.

The familiar Christmas icon ushers in the shopping season when he appears at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade riding in his gift-filled sleigh. He is visible in every store, on season greetings cards, and in lawn displays. He is the cultural symbol of the season. Sadly, there are more Santa's on display than manger scenes.

Santa can easily be displayed on the courthouse lawn, but should a Nativity scene be put up, it is cause for legal action.

Now Santa has been taken over by the gay agenda. What next? A transgendered Santa wearing a rainbow-colored holiday suit?

Not only does Santa's Husband bring in gay interracial marriage, it also touches upon global warming, labor relations, gay bashing, race relations, as well as diversity, inclusion, and equality.

But the big push is "marriage equality." Even though Santa and David -- who is always called by the formal Mr. Claus -- might have a marital spat they kiss and make up over milk and a plate of cookies.

After years of living together, the North Pole power couple get "officially" married, although "Santa and his husband have been married in their hearts for a long time. But it wasn't yet official. So, it was a big day when they finally tied the knot."

Frosty the Snowman is the officiant and wedding guests include: the Easter Bunny, a Jack-o'-lantern, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, a leprechaun, a pilgrim, Parson Brown, the Pope, and a broadly-smiling Jesus, as well as several others.

The impetus for Santa's Husband came from a 2016 incident where the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota hired Larry Jefferson as its first black Santa. He was met with Internet backlash.

This year the Mall of America added an Asian Santa and a Spanish-speaking Santa to its annual Santa Experience.

Kibblesmith was aware of the 2016 incident and vowed that he, and his then soon-to-be wife, would teach their children that Santa is BLACK and any white Santas their children see will be told that "He is Santa's husband."

The author sees his book as a child's first book about Santa and a way to help "normalize" modern living arrangements.

The book has been picked up by librarians and placed on library shelves. The culture is now so jaded that for the most part Santa's Husband has received overwhelming positive reviews.

Of the more than 500 customer reviews on Amazon, Santa's Husband received an 87% five-star rating; a 4% four-star rating; a 2% three star rating; a 2% two-star rating; and a 5% one-star rating.

FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
Some of the reviews read:

✓An absolute must for preschoolers.
✓One of my son's favorite Christmas books. Makes me laugh the whole time too. I love that it's irreverent towards the narrow, traditional representation of Santa, while also keeping the joy of Christmas in mind.
✓This story is adorable and depicts a very happy marriage full of love and understanding.
✓Great gift for your pastor!
✓My Santa loving heart is about to explode with joy!
✓A Santa for the 21st Century
✓An enjoyable book for kids and adults - very good representation of race and orientation to promote diversity.
✓A family keepsake that tells a beautiful tale of Santa and his husband.
✓Instant classic about love and acceptance.
✓An important part of liberal indoctrination/the gay agenda.
✓A wonderful book destined to become a Christmas classic.

ONE-STAR REVIEWS

Some of the reviews read:
✓I'll never understand the obsession with teaching children things that children don't need to know.
✓My wife's son absolutely hated it.
✓Frankly this is an attempt to demean the great festival of Christmas and many children' fantastic and lovely fantasy of Father Christmas.
✓Sick political propaganda targeted at kids.
✓Horrible child grooming book.
✓This garbage DOES NOT need to be anywhere near a children's library whether at home or school!! It's morally wrong and mentally deranged!!
✓The book is an inappropriate twist on a cultural symbol, aimed at children. By redefining basic characteristics the book implicitly aims to redefine an important element of our culture, caricaturing it until it turns into a grotesque no longer having anything to do with the original culture and message.
✓This book is an insult to St. Nicholas, (Santa Claus), Christmas, and childhood innocence.
✓Anyone who supports or allows children to read this should be charged with child mental abuse. This is a blatant form of child brainwashing.

In reviewing the book Dana Schwartz, of the New York Observer, said that the negative viewpoint on Santa's Husband was held mainly by the conservatives.

"Conservatives love getting mad at the war on Christmas," she wrote. "This year, there's a new thing to be furious about: a parody children's book from Daniel Kibblesmith called Santa's Husband (HarperCollins) in which Santa is a gay, black man."

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline