Literary Executive Review: Albert G. Thayer, “Christmas for a Fish Out of Water”
by ReadersMagnet | November 12, 2025 | Literary Executive Review | 0 Comments
The holidays are just a few months away, so I don’t think it’s too unusual for me to be reviewing a book about Christmas this time of year.
In this case, it is a neat little book titled Christmas for a Fish Out of Water by Albert G. Thayer. Thayer is a retired Texas State Civil Servant who has been around many parts of the United States as well as the world. He had served in the army and was stationed for seven years in Germany. He also had some work experience in the timber industry in Massachusetts and Vermont.
These all seem quite relevant given the content of his book! It is not so much a story, but a collection of essays on popular holiday customs like Christmas trees (as well as their possible origins). These essays are also about how holiday traditions differ across the Atlantic (particularly in Germany).
This is quite an interesting angle to approach a holiday-themed book. However, given its intention of cultural exchange and education, I’m certainly all for it!
From St. Boniface to Black-Eyed Peas
The book is a fairly short read at about 30 pages or so. There are four essays, with the two longest ones focused on the origins of several German Christmas traditions.
The one essay that focuses the most on a saint features the legends of St. Boniface. I admit, I may have heard this story before. St. Boniface is said to have been famous for chopping down a tree that was worshiped by pagans before Christianity arrived in Germany.
Today, he is the nation’s patron saint (much like St. Patrick is to Ireland). But even if this is all common knowledge, I do like the very conversational way Albert Thayer shares this story while also placing it in the context of explaining how St. Boniface’s legends have been tied to those of the Christmas tree.
It is like I’m travelling with someone in Germany (like the very places where St. Boniface is venerated), and he is telling me all these local legends as we’re striding up to Mainz cathedral during a holiday trip.
It is a very friendly, casual travel guide type of tone that I read in each of the essays. If his goal was to provide a handy book for people visiting Germany come Christmastime, then his delivery certainly does a good job of it!
It is also not as preachy as some might expect from a book that focuses on religious figures influencing today’s holiday customs. He even uses a bit of his woodworking expertise to hypothesize how Boniface could have felled a large oak so quickly.
In the second essay, he gives a pretty thorough explanation of the famous three days of Christmas that are celebrated in Germany. I was also pleasantly surprised when he tied this with another well-known saint: Saint Nicholas.
And as expected, this second essay also dips a bit into how he inspired Santa Claus and how he is different. Still, I would not underestimate the amount of information in this essay, so I will not give it all away. I will say that it is very handy for teaching about the possible origins of so many popular Christmas traditions (like stockings, tree decorations, and more).
The two smaller essays deal with smaller topics like the origin of the song Silent Night, as well as how the very Texan tradition of eating Black-Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day came to be.
And again, much like the essays on German holiday traditions, these were also written in a gentle and conversational style that made the less-known history of the practice sound more impressive.
Gentle and Colorful Christmas Illustrations
Reading these essays was also more enjoyable since they were accompanied by several colorful illustrations. I liked how they were very simple and did not have too much going on. I can even imagine a few of them making for excellent Christmas cards.
It also brings to mind the kind of audience that Albert Thayer seems to intend for his book. My guess is that even kids of around nine and above would find this a very entertaining and educational read. I’d dare say it’d be great for casually teaching a few first lessons about world history and some cultural knowledge.
After all, that is clearly the intent of the book with its title. Those who may be travelling to Germany (or even to Texas) for the holidays would find this to be a delightful gift for the kids to read along the way. Readers can certainly feel less like a fish out of water, especially with the addition of a few more lesser-known facts that the author was kind enough to include. The next time you go on a holiday trip, I highly recommend checking this book out and having Albert Thayer’s handy essays teach a lot of fun things along the way.If you’d like to get a copy already, then you can find Christmas for a Fish Out of Water already available on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
