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Global warming alarmists, picking up where the Grinch left off, are trying to steal Christmas, some critics say. From children's books to school plays, the climate change crowd is dreaming of a green Christmas, angering opponents who say 'tis NOT the season to be preachy.

The children's book "Santa Goes Green" by Anne Margaret Lewis tells how a young boy named Finn gets Santa to leave the North Pole to help him track down Leopold, a polar bear he has adopted, because the sea ice is melting and Leopold's home is in danger.

“You see, it’s like this Santa,” Finn tells Santa in the book. “I’ve adopted a polar bear named Leopold. He is in danger of losing his home. I’m sure you being in the North Pole you know about the melting glaciers. All I want this year Santa, is to save Leopold and his home.”

Santa is so inspired by his visit to the polar bear that he decides to re-use last year's wrapping paper, recycle toys and start using wind to generate power for his toy shop.

The book ends with a note from Santa urging kids to send him notes on how to take care of the planet.

But the content has left some reviewers feeling bearish about the book. "The global climate change alarmists are now trying brainwash our kids by infusing their unproven and baseless climate change rhetoric into Santa books," T. Wilkinson wrote on Amazon.com, giving "Santa Goes Green" a one-star review.

"Sad. Really sad," Wilkinson wrote.

Lewis, the author, told USA Today she was inspired to write the book after reading an article with her son Cameron about melting glaciers destroying polar bear habitats.

"He asked how we could help the polar bears, so we started going around the house every time we left a room and shut the lights off," Lewis told the newspaper. "Then we would say, 'We just saved another polar bear."

Another environmentalist Christmas tome that hit store shelves this year, "When Santa Turned Green," by Victoria Perla, says that global warming is causing the North Pole itself to melt, potentially leaving Santa homeless.

The publisher, Thomas Nelson, a publisher of Christian and inspirational books, writes: "The North Pole is melting because of something called global warming! Faced with the reality of what this could mean for Christmas, not to mention the planet and the future, Santa is determined to turn things around. To do so, he calls upon the people he knows better than any other -- the children."

The book has been given the nod of approval by former Vice President Al Gore.

"'When Santa Turned Green' helps even the youngest child grasp the importance of caring for our planet and solving the climate crisis," Gore said, according to the publisher's Web site.

A musical, "Santa Goes Green," for children in grades 4 through 8, also made its debut this year. The 40-minute production features seven songs.

"Melting ice caps, global warming, surfing reindeer! The North Pole is going green this year and everyone is excited – everyone, that is, except Santa who likes things just the way they are," publisher Hal Leonard's product description says.

While Santa finds going green "inconvenient," the reindeer and Mrs. Claus sing to change his ways.

Song titles include: "Recycle the Fruitcake," "The Greenhouse Effect" and "Turn Off The Pump (And Plug In The Sleigh.)"