Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a male reindeer with a glowing red nose. He is known as Santa’s ninth reindeer and is the leader of all the reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. His nose is so bright that it leads the path through the harsh winter weather. The story of Rudolph has been changed into many forms such as a song, television special, and a film. In very many countries he has become a figure of Christmas Folklore.

The story tells the experiences of Rudolph’s life and his unusual bright red nose. The other reindeer bullied and excluded him because he was different from the others. Rudolph proves himself one Christmas Eve after Santa Claus sees Rudolph’s nose and ask him to lead his sleigh for the evening. After Santa asked him that he was finally treated better by the other reindeer for his boldness.


Robert May’s parent lived through the great depression and lost all of their wealth. In the 1930’s he moved the Chicago and got a job as an advertising copywriter for Montgomery Ward. Every year for Christmas they had been buying and selling coloring books. May’s boss thought that creating their own book would save money, so he told May to write a “cheery” Christmas book and suggested that an animal should be the star of this book. In 1946, May got an offer from a company that wanted to do a spoken-word record of the poem. Since Montgomery Ward held the rights to the poem, May could not give his permission. In early 1947, Sewell Avery, Montgomery Ward’s president, gave May the copyright rights of the poem. The sales of the spoken-word version of the story was a big success.