The Elf on the Shelf is the name of a 2005 American picture book for children, written by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell, and its accompanying toy elf. The book was illustrated by Coë Steinwart and tells a Christmas-themed story, written in rhyme, that explains how Santa Claus knows who is naughty and nice. It describes elves visiting children from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, after which they return to the North Pole until the next holiday season. It came in a keepsake box that featured a hardbound picture book and a small scout elf. The story was inspired by a family tradition that started with Carol Aebersold when she was a child, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and which she later carried on with her twin daughters, Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts, in Georgia.