Our Story

The Christmas Imaginarium was launched off of the back of the worldwide success of the Santa Claus: The Book of Secrets series. Author and illustrator, Russell Ince was born in 1980 on the Isle of Wight, a small island off of the South Coast of England.

Having attended film school at Universal Studios in Hollywood, where he studied screenwriting under the likes of Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean writer Terry Rossio and producer, writer and director John Favreau of Iron Man and Elf fame.

Russell returned to the UK where he became a professional illustrator and graphic designer. In December 2008, he married his wife Claire and the arrival of their daughter Millie in 2012, inspired Russell to pursue his dream of becoming a writer and illustrator of children's books.

2013 saw the official release of Santa Claus: The Book of Secrets and in the years since Russell has so far written and illustrated a further eight books along with the release of the monthly Santa Claus Magazine. The books have been a worldwide success and Russell hopes to continue spreading magic and publishing many more titles in the years to come.

The success of the books led to Russell's illustrations being developed into a merchandise range, which has in turn, progressed to Russell now designing and developing Christmas products and decorations that are sold across the world. After supplying products to prestigious retailers such as Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Hamleys and Macy's, Russell and his wife Claire decided to open their own retail outlet and The Christmas Imaginarium was born.

After 4 years in the original Christmas Imaginarium it had become clear that we needed a larger premises and fortunately the opportunity arose to move to the perfect property just two doors along the same road. In July of 2022 the brand new Christmas Imaginarium opened its doors for the first time.